Bell shuts down TSN1040 (Vancouver), TSN1150 (Hamilton) | EDIT: also TSN 1290 (Winnipeg)

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Just like how Bell bought out MTS whereas it stays as BellMTS.

Might also be because of how Rogers is rapidly taking over with SportsNet and such where Bell is losing money. But they've been making big moves lately.

 

[Cleetus]

In the Boston market, radio listenership is down 40% from last March

People are working from home and not listening in their cars seems to be the main reason.

Hey Fenway just curious do you know how they measure the viewership on radio?

 

[Gambitman]

I am amazed there are any AM radio stations even left. I feel bad for the people who lost jobs but talk about a dying industry, like being a classified ads salesperson for a newspaper.

I can’t remember the last time I turned on talk radio. I just find the format so annoying, commercial breaks every few minutes, only “safe topics”, repetitive scoreboard updates to fill airtime just doesn’t keep my attention anymore. If you are interested in say 3 main subjects, let use sports, investing, and travel as examples. You can find terrific long form podcasts that can keep you captivated for 1-2 hours at a time, pause when you want etc. Just yesterday I listened to Mike Tyson talk to Michael Franzese (former mafia guy) for over an hour. It was better than any talk radio segment I have ever heard.

 

[Fenway]

Hey Fenway just curious do you know how they measure the viewership on radio?

A select number of people wear these in both the US and Canada

Portable People Meter - Wikipedia

 

[VictoriaJetsFan]

I am going to miss Natasha from tsn...she was one of the sexiest women in Canada..I did enjoy her reportage as well.

 

[Fenway]

I know for a fact that many suits in the NHL listen to Pierre on CKGM Montreal at 5 PM M-F

 

[Voight]

 

[ckg927]

Harsh, but damned effective.

 

[ckg927]

I noticed that some people have made mention of the crappy way in which Bell "revealed" that the three TSN-branded stations would no longer be doing sports. It's reminiscent of the time when Rogers took CISS-FM in Toronto from country to top 40(in its first go-round): the higher ups took the on-air staff out for a party to celebrate the station's success...only to find that when they came back, their access cards no longer worked and they were out of a job.

 

[Fenway]

In Montreal, CKGM (690) occupies the same high-cost, lowish-rated territory that other TSN Radio stations did, and it’s not hard to imagine that if Bell slashed and burned down the hall at its much higher-rated sister, news-talk CJAD (800), it might have considered launching “Funny 690” or “BNN Bloomberg 690,” moving Canadiens games to CJAD (which dropped local talk at night anyway), and ditching the sports format.



In Montreal, though, Bell had a problem it didn’t face in the other TSN markets: back in 2013, when Bell bought out Astral Media, it was allowed to own more Montreal English-language stations than would usually be allowed (four instead of three) in exchange for agreeing to specific local programming commitments that included 96 hours a week of local talk.

Last fall, before the Bell cuts, CKGM had asked the CRTC to renew its license with a reduced local commitment of 63 hours a week. Bell’s argument was that the 96-hour commitment actually deprived Montreal sports fans of live play-by-play, because a live out-of-market NHL or NFL game or a Blue Jays baseball game didn’t count against the live talk requirement, while a replay of an earlier local talk show did.

It was an odd coincidence, then, that the CRTC ruled on the CKGM application just as the Bell cuts were hitting a crescendo last week – and that the answer was a resounding “no.”

Noting that the 96-hour commitment still left CKGM with the ability to run 30 hours of non-local content in its 126-hour broadcast week (midnight to 6 AM doesn’t count), the CRTC ruled that Bell had to hold to the deal it made eight years ago.

 

[Burke the Legend]

Oh is that why they replay morning talk shows instead of broadcasting actual live sports in evening?? That is messed up, way to go CRTC, really doing a bang up job there lol.

 

[Fenway]

Oh is that why they replay morning talk shows instead of broadcasting actual live sports in evening?? That is messed up, way to go CRTC, really doing a bang up job there lol.

This is the ruling which makes no sense

Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2021-55 | CRTC

Licensee’s request

1. Bell Media Inc. and 8384819 Canada Inc.,Footnote2 partners in a general partnership carrying on business as Bell Media Regional Radio Partnership (Bell Media Regional Radio Partnership) filed an application (2019-0857-6) to amend CKGM’s condition of licence relating to local programming, set out in Appendix 4 to Broadcasting Decision 2013-611. The condition of licence is as follows:
   1. The licensee shall ensure that at least 96 hours of the programming broadcast during the broadcast week is devoted to local programming as defined in paragraph 207 of Commercial Radio Policy 2006, Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2006-158, 15 December 2006.
2. Specifically, the licensee requested to reduce the amount of local programming to be broadcast from 96 hours to 63 hours per broadcast week.
3. The licensee indicated that CKGM’s typical broadcast week consists primarily of locally-produced programming on weekdays from 6 a.m. to midnight. It added that a portion of this content is focused on local sports franchises—the Montréal Canadiens, the Montréal Alouettes and the Montréal ImpactFootnote3—and that the station broadcasts the games of all three franchises, including pre- and post-game coverage. The licensee indicated that the station also broadcasts approximately 6 to 10 hours of locally-produced programming on weekends. Finally, it specified that CKGM offers local perspectives, including from local experts, on a range of out-of-market sports news and events.
4. Bell submitted that while it is committed to providing its audience with comprehensive sports coverage, the obligation to broadcast at least 96 hours of local programming during each broadcast week can at times require it to make programming decisions that result in Montréal sports fans being deprived of live play-by-play coverage of compelling sporting events, since such coverage is typically not considered local programming.
5. Finally, the licensee submitted that the broadcast of live professional and amateur sporting events as they happen is the most in-demand programming by sports fans. Therefore, it argued that a reduction in the local programming requirement from 96 to 63 hours would offer CKGM the flexibility to add non-local programming such as national and international live sporting events programming to the program line-up where appropriate.

Commission’s analysis and decision

1. In Broadcasting Public Notice 2006-158, the Commission specified that at least one-third (i.e., a minimum of 42 hours per broadcast week) of the programming broadcast by FM radio stations in competitive radio markets must be local programming. However, the Commission reiterated in that public notice that it would continue to refrain from imposing specific minimum local programming requirements for AM stations and would continue to consider local programming requirements for these stations on a case-by-case basis.
2. Local programming includes programming that originates with the station or is produced separately and exclusively for the station. It does not include programming received from another station and rebroadcast simultaneously or at a later time, nor does it include network or syndicated programming that is five minutes or longer unless it is produced either by the station or in the local community by arrangement with the station. In their local programming, licensees must include spoken word material of direct and particular relevance to the community served, such as local news, weather and sports, and the promotion of local events and activities.
3. In Broadcasting Decision 2013-310, the Commission approved a change in effective control of Astral Media inc.’s broadcasting undertakings to BCE Inc. (BCE). Given that, as a result of that transaction, an exception to the common ownership policy for the Montréal radio market was granted, the Commission imposed a number of conditions of approval, which included a requirement for BCE to submit an application to add conditions of licence for CKGM to ensure that it would maintain its current format, that not less than 90% of the programming broadcast during each broadcast day would be drawn from content categories 1 (Spoken Word), 4 (Musical Production) and 5 (Advertising) as defined in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2010-819, and that not less than 96 hours of programming broadcast each broadcast week would be devoted to local programming as defined in the 2006 Commercial Radio Policy.Footnote4 The Commission stated at the time that CKGM’s niche format, combined with the respective programming formats of Bell’s other stations in the market, would mitigate the impact that granting this exception would have on the competitive state of the market. To ensure that CKGM remains a sports station, BCE stated that it would accept conditions of licence to ensure that not less than 96 hours of programming broadcast each week is devoted to local programming.
4. The coverage of professional and amateur sports events outside Montréal is, for the most part, programming content that would not qualify as local programming. The Commission acknowledges that during certain times of the year, the coverage of live sporting events could bring challenges to CKGM in establishing its weekly schedule in a way that meets its local programming requirement. However, the station can broadcast 30 hours of non-local programming per broadcast week out of a possible total of 126 hours. The Commission considers that this level allows for a significant amount of non-local content and provides sufficient flexibility for the station’s programming offering.
5. Further, the Commission considers that the station’s condition of licence relating to local programming was an important factor in the approval of an exception to the common ownership policy. By authorizing at this time the requested amendment to this condition of licence, which was imposed in 2013 to mitigate the impact of the exception to the common ownership policy, the Commission would substantially reduce the mitigation measure put in place to justify such an exception. Therefore, the Commission is of the view that reducing CKGM’s local programming requirement is not appropriate.
6. In light of the above, the Commission denies the licensee’s request to amend CKGM’s condition of licence relating to local programming in order to reduce the amount of local programming that it must broadcast each broadcast week from 96 hours to 63 hours.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Two places I would listen to radio: in the car and in the office. Neither has been much of a factor the last year.

 

[Jeremy Hronek]

I am amazed there are any AM radio stations even left. I feel bad for the people who lost jobs but talk about a dying industry, like being a classified ads salesperson for a newspaper.

I can’t remember the last time I turned on talk radio. I just find the format so annoying, commercial breaks every few minutes, only “safe topics”, repetitive scoreboard updates to fill airtime just doesn’t keep my attention anymore. If you are interested in say 3 main subjects, let use sports, investing, and travel as examples. You can find terrific long form podcasts that can keep you captivated for 1-2 hours at a time, pause when you want etc. Just yesterday I listened to Mike Tyson talk to Michael Franzese (former mafia guy) for over an hour. It was better than any talk radio segment I have ever heard.

I would rather listen to AM than FM. Who doesn't have spotify music on their phone? At least with talk radio its live and local.

 

[WeaponOfChoice]

Hey Fenway just curious do you know how they measure the viewership on radio?

Not addressed to me but it's either PPM or BBM. One's electronic and picks up everything you hear. The other requires people to try to remember what they listened to. Obviously the electronic one is far more accurate.

 

[Gambitman]

I would rather listen to AM than FM. Who doesn't have spotify music on their phone? At least with talk radio its live and local.

True. I was thinking that fm music format was a different listener from talk radio, but Spotify is vastly superior.

 

[ckg927]

I would rather listen to AM than FM. Who doesn't have spotify music on their phone? At least with talk radio its live and local.

Maybe in Canada that's the case. Depending on where you are in the U.S., not so much. Doing live and local talk costs money. Picking up talk off the satellite is cheap.

 

[stealth1]

I personally rarely listen to AM or FM radio anymore. I mostly listen to Satellite radio. Much better stations and their hockey talk is a lot better then local radio.

 

[Mr Knies Guy]

It evolved so quickly they forgot to tell anybody at TSN 1290 about this before they posted this statement and took the station off air. What a complete joke. f*** Bell and their fake bullshit about mental health.

Unbelievable but unsurprising that they toss around abhorrently disingenuous, empty platitudes like thanking the employees and saying they appreciate them, yet behind the scenes treated them like such trash. It’s actually disgusting.

Can western society just stop with this nonsense when someone gets canned? No one believes it whenever it’s said, why waste time and it actually probably makes those fired feel even worse to have worked for such scum bags.

 

[royals119]

Not addressed to me but it's either PPM or BBM. One's electronic and picks up everything you hear. The other requires people to try to remember what they listened to. Obviously the electronic one is far more accurate.

Apparently some would dispute that. I was reading an article on Wikipedia after reading your comment and Fenway's, and there are/were local minority radio stations, and some notable personalities (Delilah) who lost ratings when the switch was made. They blamed the technology for inaccurate measurements, contending that the tones were not recognized when played under certain types of music.