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Stuart
Caplan doesn't listen to AM radio anymore. "I just abandoned it," said
Caplan. "AM just got to the point where there was no music." "When
they did play something, it was oldies crap like I heard It From The Grapevine,"
said Caplan, 23, who runs the industrial division of Niagara Nailing Systems. These
days, he flips through pop and hip-hop stations, maybe stopping for some HTZ-FM
97.7" "I
think I'm like many, really - I've no loyalty and a complete lack of attention
span when it comes to radio. I just forward the dial." If
Caplan were the exception, it might not be so bad. But he's not. In many respects
he typifies Niagara's new tough radio audience. Times
are difficult in the turbulent world of local radio. As AM declines, formats are
suddenly changed, and stations are sold and amalgamated. Well known radio personalities
get the axe, and one Niagara station soldiers on in bankruptcy. Perhaps
even worse, the turmoil is met with waves of indifference from listeners. Ratings
show listener split their time between Toronto and Niagara stations, and show
scant loyalty to any station. It is estimated more than half of Niagara's available
radio audience listens to out-of-town radio. Joey
Otta, 17, is a fan of "classic rock," including HTZ-FM and Toronto's
Q-107 FM. He, too, dumped AM radio as a teen. The Lakeport Secondary School student
switches the radio on when he's tinkering with his car, but just for background
music. From
time to time, "a new song comes out and sometimes they overplay it,"
he said. When that happens, or if HTZ-FM starts thumping out hard-core metal,
he'll turn to Toronto stations. Rose
Campbell, 39, likes to "see whatever's out there" for the two hours
a week she tunes in - often in the car. Sometimes it's contemporary rock like
CKEY-FM The River, other times classical.
"I've also noticed a lot more coarse language on the rock 'n' roll stations
during the day" said Campbell, a St. Catharses graphics designer. "Maybe
I didn't notice it before or perhaps they just allow more of it now." It
wasn't long ago that things were much different. As
late as the 1980s, two or three stations might sew up a Canadian market. Listeners,
especially kids, strongly identified with a station and its radio personality. In
its place is mostly cutthroat, lower profit business. And while the industry maxim
- especially for AM radio - is local content rules, many say the revamped stations
sound more and more generic. An FM dance show in Nanaimo could be a ringer for
one from Niagara Falls. Niagara
is a ruthlessly competitive mid-sized radio market. And the ensuing disruptions
is taking a toll on staff. "I
hate my job," said one broadcaster who, like others, spoke on the condition
of anonymity. The
personalities spoke of the awful impact the revolving door has had on morale in
the industry that's one of the lowest paying in the media. "Morale!
Honestly, what morale?" laughed one St. Catharses broadcaster. "It
couldn't get any worse," said another broadcaster from a rival station. "You're
always looking behind your back, worrying that you're next." Ninety
stations are jammed cheek-to-jowl on the Niagara dial. Toronto stations fill 24
of those spots and Buffalo 20 more. Only Detroit, Los Angeles and New York City
airwaves have more. "There's
no doubt the industry is facing huge, huge challenges. The biggest being there
are so many choices," said Clyde Ross, general manager of the top-rated stations:
CHTZ-FM (HT-FM 97.7), CHRE (Light 105.7) and CKTB-AM (Newstalk 610). "It
is bloody competitive in that respect." Just
before Telemedia bought the stations from Hamilton's Affinity Radio Group in 2000,
17 employees were laid off in May. Among those out the door was radio host Randy
Taylor. Over
lunch in a bustling downtown restaurant, Ross described those layoffs as the worst
time of his professional life. "Yes,
we've been through these tremendous changes, but they aren't unique to the Niagara
Peninsula," he said. "It's happened to everybody." The
latest changes in Canadian radio come on the heels of Canadian Radio-television
and Telecommunications Commission regulation changes in 1998, which allow more
same-company-ownership of different stations in one market. "The
changes really had to take place for the health of the industry," said Ross.
He called the CRTC's changes a turning point for a troubled industry, especially
AM. "Quite
frankly, until that point, there were a lot of these broadcasters not making money." But
critics suggest the profit is coming at the cost of local content. In one month,
CKTB-AM dumped open line host John Hardy and Rob McConnell, producer
and host of the paranormal radio show X-Zone which has been picked up by CFBU-FM
103.7 Niagara. And
in the background of changes at CKTB is the yawning reversal of fortune in AM
and FM radio. In
the lst half of the 1900s, the total number of hours Canadians listened to English
AM radio plunged 27 per cent, says CRTC data. Meanwhile,
FM grew in listenership by 22 per cent, leaving about three out of every four
radios across Canada tuned to FM. CRTC
spokesman Denis Carmel said recent changes were solely needed both to help stations
compete and to secure Canadian talent. "The
whole industry had to rationalize," said Carmel. "Part of our mandate
is to ensure, through the ups and downs of the economy, that we maintained a level
of Canadian talent." "We
told these companies, 'Yes you can have increased concentration of ownership,'
but with that comes a couple of catches." As
of 1998, any company buying a station pays 6 per cent of the value of the transaction
to a Canadian musical development or marketing fund. Canadian content was also
increased to 35 per cent from 30 per cent. Carmel
said if radio stations don't commit to one-third regional programming, they can't
use local advertising. The CRTC monitors this through logs and typically acts
when competitors or consumers file a complaint. Still,
critics charge the industry has become more homogenized as it seeks to capture
"spill factor" - listeners from outside the region. National
advertisers may like spill because it gives them a broader audience, but affected
stations can feel compelled to torque their programming to appeal to a wider area.
In effect, a station loses some of its local character. And
radio ad revenue everywhere is diluted as stations cannibalize each other's audience. CKTB-AM
and HTZ-FM are examples of stations which draw from outside Niagara, according
to insiders and Bureau of Broadcast Measurement reports. HTZ-FM knows this, billing
itself as "southern Ontario's best rock." Even The River's programming
in Niagara Falls, Ontario, often has an American feel to it. And
lately, CKTB-AMs programming seems jammed with U.S.-orientated syndicated shows,
with fewer regionally based news and talk shows. The
change is coming at the cost of local content. According
to former CKTB-AM broadcaster, John Hardy, who was canned in February,
AM syndicated shows are ruling the roost - especially in smaller markets like
Niagara. In fact, he was replaced by one. Aside
from CKTB, perhaps half of CHRE's weekdays are pre-taped, he said and "likely"
70 percent of the weekends. "It
seems the focus of a smaller market station like CKTB-AM is no longer the commitment
to quality radio, as much as trimming overhead and minimizing the losses,"
said Hardy. AM management, he said, is struggling to stem the hemorrhaging
of listeners and profits. This
is disputed by Tim Denis, CKTB-AM's morning show host and assistant program
director. He said local content has improved since the sale. CKTB-AM has 11 hours
a day of in-house news magazines and open-line shows, Try doing that on local
television, he said. "The
talk format is the most expensive and labour intensive format in radio,"
said Denis, and station everywhere are trimming staff. "Cost alone
prohibits us from being local 7-24... but we know our lifeblood is local radio." There
are seven full- and part-time reporters and other stations are holding the line
on local coverage, he said, an assertion Hardy challenges. Noelle
Sinclair was employed by CKTB-AM on-and-off for 10 years as a reporter and
news anchor before she lost her job in December. "I
can't agree markets are turning away from local and going satellite," said
Sinclair, although she said CKTB-AM may be heading that way. "It'll
be unfortunate, if that's the way it's going to be," she said. Vince
Carlin, chair of the school of journalism at Toronto's Ryerson Polytechnic University,
said with corporate radio concentration comes an increase in cost-saving syndicated
shows. "The
tie to the community was always news," said Carlin. "When stations eliminated
that, it left the door open for homogenized programs." In
the past, he recalled companies like U.S.-based Westwood One leading the way with
mass programming, tailored by local radio stations who snuck in local weather
and traffic reports. "But
if you look at the ones that succeed, they're still often tied to community, or
at least give the appearance of it." Radio
has successfully adapted in the past. Carlin notes it was expected to be wiped
out by television in the 1960's but: "What happened is radio shifted its
focus and survived very nicely for quite a long time." This
time may be different. "I don't think local radio stations are the licence
to print money they used to be." For
a time in the early 1990's, only about half of AM radio stations made money, and
collectively lost $30 million in Canada in 1999 alone. No
one knows the hardscrabble AM story better than Doug Setterington, president and
owner of CHSC-AM's Coultis Broadcasting Ltd., which owns 1220 CHSC. Setterington
speaks with a resonant, authoritative voice - a hallmark of radio hosts - turned-managers.
He spoke about amalgamation and its effect on the industry. "And of course,
you know our debt story," he said. He
was CHSC-AM's morning announcer when the station and it FM sister, now CHRE-FM,
were launched in 1967. His company Coultis Broadcasting Ltd., bought it from Redmond
Broadcasting Inc in 1990. CHSC-AM,
which employs 22, has been operating under a bankruptcy protection proposal since
1994, carrying a debt of more than $4 million to secured creditors. The court
domed it bankrupt Dec. 2, 1999 and KPMG took over the station. Keeping
an AM station afloat has been a tough job, really tough. "AM's
technical characteristics are not as attractive to the listener as FM's, no question,"
Setterington said. "It's also true that 35-and-under probably aren't even
familiar with the AM band. It's tough to get them to even try it." Setterington
notes the station's location doesn't make the ratings quest any easier. "In
the entire country, border markets are unique markets. And they're particularly
difficult to operate in. They're very competitive among the owners and competitive
in advertising spill." Eric
Rothschild, of Toronto-based Rothschild and Co. media consultants, said the corporate
drive to operate more cheaply has pushed AM and FM radio to programming aimed
at advertising-friendly demographics. He said there is a "new flexibility"
in radio, as media conglomerates coordinate programs for all stations and tweak
them for local content. Advertisers
like the lucrative 18-to-24 year-old males, followed by 24-to 34 year-old females.
The 25-to-49-year-old adults category is third choice, he said. Sinclair,
the former CKTB-AM anchor, doesn't think such a narrow focus is healthy for the
industry. "Radio
is taking away it's older audience and they shouldn't be doing that," she
said. "These
people want their home town radio station and I think they may have lost it on
CKTB-AM." Added
Hardy, "Once they change too much, listeners decide it's hot a comfortable
pair of slippers anymore. They leave." One
of the disaffected is Stuart Caplan's father, Paul. The 55-year-old is from a
generation that showed more allegiance to one radio station. Now he's a casual
CKTB-AM listener and tunes in only to open-line shows. Paul,
an accountant, has been riled by some of the radio personalities on CKTB and the
firing of at least one broadcaster there. After he phoned to complain, he was
recruited to sit on a focus group But
he doesn't listen to radio closely, he said. "I sit at a desk and push a
pencil around, so I have to have some noise in the background,." Radio
stations in volatile markets like Niagara's are rolling up their sleeves to win
back drifting, disaffected listeners like Caplan. David
Dancy, vice-president of CJRN 710 Inc., which owns Niagara Falls' CJRN-AM 710
and CKEY-FM (The River 101.1) said his stations have weathered the storm well,
even if they're not exactly Niagara rating stars." "We
haven't gone through those major ownership changes, or the difficult times others
have gone through." "The
rough ride recently was partly due to the economy and partly American (radio)
penetration," said Dancy. But
there have been changes in format at the station - the River's FM licence was
a transfer from CFJT-AM 530 in 1991. Since 1966, the format has zig-zagged from
dance to alternative music to adult contemporary. "It's
a mainstream format now," said Dancy. Welland's
Spirit 91.7 also successfully switched their AM licence to FM. CHOW-AM 1470 became
Spirit 91.7 in 1998 and will have been on the air for two years this May. "Well,
we're the new kids on the block," said Suzanne Rochon Burnett, president
and CEO of RBI Communications Ltd., which owns The Spirit. It's
format was massaged from traditional country to new country and the numbers have
improved. Spirit
is drawing younger listeners, she said, and they're drawing from outlying markets,
which national advertisers like. Despite
its relative successes, she said Spirit 91.7 will need to reach those who "don't
know we exist." Responding
to the onslaught of upstart FM music stations like the Spirit, many AM stations
abandoned the 1970s-style hits formula. Instead, they're chasing a mature audience
who enjoy 1950s music or talk-radio. A
number are doing "extraordinarily well," said Setterington In
several markets across the country, like Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver, AM stations
are at the top of the ratings heap - even ahead of FM. But
a bigger revolution is on the way. It may make the rivalry between FM and AM moot. It's
digital radio. And it offers a CD quality signal in a new frequency, separate
from AM and FM, called "L" broadcast band. Rothschild
says FM and AM will be eliminated and replaced by it. The
prospect of stereo radio may be another factor driving the flurry of corporate
amalgamations, say media observers. "It's
simple, the more sticks - or transmitting towers you have - the more digital radio
stations you'll have," Setterington said. (The CRTC is awarding digital signals
to existing radio-operators first.) But
digital is in its infancy, with transmitters restricted to a few stations like
CHUM in Toronto. Digital radio receivers are still hard to find and cost more
than regular receivers. While
Ross was bullish on digital, Setterington warns technology is filled with hits
and misses. AM stereo was once touted as a potential saviour, but because a non-starter
when the radio industry balked at investment in the 1990s. Receivers were also
expensive and never sold well. "How
wonderful it would have been to sit in the front end of eight-track-cartridges
when they were first introduced," said Setterington. "But it didn't
last very long." "The
only thing I see about this digital radio is it may take as long to catch on as
FM did,"said Ed Eldred, a 30-year radio veteran and CHSC-AM news director.
"From the time FM came out back in the 1960s, it took about 10 years to get
its stride. Plus, the receivers aren't there right now." Niagara
radio owners note their medium has weathered multiplying entertainment distractions
- 130 TV channels, computers, compact disc players, DVD and satellite music. "It's
such a big part of our lives, it's like breathing," said Ross, who predicts
radio and home computers will soon be linked. "Do
you think something so important and routine in life will just disappear?"
said Setterington. "I can't see that happening." "Most
people wake up in the morning to their clock-radio alarm and the news; their day
has to begin this way.""I tell people,'Imagine what would happen if
all the radio stations were shut dead tomorrow.' It's a scary thought." To
Setterington, radio speaks to the soul of a community in a unique way. The social
beast craves the comfort and human contact of the local station. The
key, said Hardy, is to build on that goodwill. To stop listeners from tuning
out, the industry has to remind itself what makes listeners tune in, in the first
place." "Consistency,
reliability, loyalty," he said. "Keep them entertained and informed." And
never, ever forget that a listener's heart is where he lives. [End] 
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