CHUM, CKLW and CFRB

A look back at various radio stations

Postby jon » Fri May 11, 2007 2:21 pm

Tomorrow's Today in History has events for CHUM and CKLW. Which got me to thinking: I want to verify some things I think I know about CHUM, CKLW and CFRB.

If you know anything to contradict the following statements, I would really like to know about it:

(1) CKLW-800 Windsor had the largest audience of any Canadian radio station ever (in its glory days, with top personalities and a Drake Top 40 format, centred several years either side of 1970).

(2) CFRB-1010 Toronto had the largest Canadian audience of any radio station ever (in its glory days, in the 1960s and early 1970s).

(3) CHUM-1050 Toronto had the largest Canadian audience of any music-based station ever (in its glory days, in the 1960s and early 1970s).
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Postby Mike Cleaver » Fri May 11, 2007 3:34 pm

No arguments here!
'LW covered a lot of territory in it's heyday with that great signal on 800 booming into the US for hundreds of miles.
'RB was the ratings king and the one (it may have been more) fall book that CHUM beat them in cume sparked one of the best parties ever, held at the old Ports of Call at Yonge and Summerhill.
CHUM's 50th Anniversary celebration is on the 25th and 26th of this month.
The entire week before that will feature former jocks, I believe, along with Gord James on the morning show.
There's a VIP staff only blowout on the Friday night, to which I am delighted to have been invited, station tours on the Saturday and a free concert Saturday afternoon in Nathan Phillips Square.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the surviving people with whom I worked at 1050 over a period of three decades.
Sadly, many of the greats have passed on but former and current staff will give them a good remembrance during the event.
I'm taking my digital camera!
Mike Cleaver Broadcast Services
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54 years experience at some of Canada's Premier Broadcasting Stations
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Postby Dan Sys » Fri May 11, 2007 4:34 pm

Hey Mike:

Make sure you pick up a few sets of goodies (ie-stickers, magnets, buttons, etc.) if they have anything available along those lines for the promo collectors in the group like RadioFan & myself. It will definitely be worth a pint or 2 on June 10th.

I noticed on the CHUM website that they have scanned the entire CHUM chart collection (all 30 years worth of them). Absolutely fascinating:
http://www.1050chum.com/index_chumcharts.aspx
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Postby jon » Fri May 11, 2007 4:53 pm

Dan is right. But they did it smart. You can search for songs, artists, etc. I've used it quite a bit when I want to talk about how well a song did even though I gave away my chart collection in the early '70s. Between that, Joel Whitburn's books and on-line search service, and Ron Smith's WLS Chicago chart books, I get a bit of a feel for how well a song did.
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Postby Mike Cleaver » Fri May 11, 2007 4:56 pm

Yeah, there's one in there with my mug on it, a very much younger and prettier mug than now, from the '70s.
I only have one side of it saved so I'll have to search through the file to find the exact year and month.
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Postby johnsykes » Fri May 11, 2007 7:45 pm

Mike, enjoy each and every minute. I've been to a couple of these things for different stations. They are few and far between these days. I'll look forward to a full report from you.
Look forward to seeing you on June 10
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Postby segueking2 » Sat May 12, 2007 10:16 am

Just wish that we could have a get together with ex - CFTR types.

Working in Toronto was really a whole lot different from any other market I worked in.
If we were caught even talking with a CHUM jock we could get in trouble, but that didn't stop us.
I would cruise up to the fabulous CROWSNEST on Yonge, and meet Daryl B. and we would head out and have a few laughs.
The rivalry was intense, and I can tell you that CFTR at the top had close to or over a million folks in the cume, and we had one hell of a great time.
Red Knight, Jim Brady, Rick Hunter, Paul Godfrey, Dick Joseph, Bobby Day, they were all pretty skookum jocks.

Sad to say that we have lost the sparkle and maybe the innocence in our business - and it has been usurped by Paul Ski clones. Suits that could care less about the people in the trenches as long as the bottom line gets fed.

CFTR was in 25 Adelaide Street. I could sit in the jock booth on the 11th floor and watch the parking lot attendant move my car with reckless abandon, while my brilliant operator, the estimable Carlo Raponi took care of me.
The Christmas Parties were stuff of legend.

Hope all CHUMMIES go the reunion. I hope Bob Wood is invited. Bob was one of the finest minds in the business. I have fond memories of Rolling Stones at the El Mocambo and sneaking over to the CHUM table and having a quick Heinie with him. He is now working on launching an Aboriginal Station, I think. Fricking genius.
Ask him about the legendary 1982 Hallow'een party at CFUN <grin>.
He was dressed as a GORILLA and JJ Richards was the Jay-Atollah....hilarious.
Stu Ferguson came as a Blue Meanie!

I am eternally greatful to Robert for deciding that CHUM wanted me back in the fold and managed to get my one year contract bought out, at CFTR (* and spirited me away from Tom Maclean - the stupidest PD in the world) - and I got to come home to Vancouver. Think I kissed the ground when I got back. TO has the worst climate in the world, and it was not the friendliest place.

For all you 'young guns' out there...some advice.
ENJOY every shift and realize that it is all fleeting. Savour the pulse and energy and above all make sure that you have a plan 'b' - to fall back on - so when you get sick of PD's and the 'book' and the smarmy sales folks - you can get a real job!

Mike Cleaver (* one talented guy and great writer) Bob Magee, Daryl B., John Rode, Too Loud McCloud, and so many more deserve a round of applause for making CHUM a GREAT radio station.
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Postby Mike Cleaver » Sat May 12, 2007 1:47 pm

Thanks for the kind words, segueking2.
I'm pretty sure they've invited almost everyone who's still alive, despite what might have happened in the past!
I remember the first time I left CHUM to go to CJCA in Edmonton, Dick Smyth wrote that I "would never work at CHUM again!"
I did work there again, twice, in Toronto and at CFRA in Ottawa.
It's just sad that so many of the greats are gone now, including Tom Rivers, Daryl B, Jay Nelson, Terry Steele, Jon Mahjor, Bob Humenick, the worlds best op, John Gilbert of talk show fame, Zeke Zdebiak, production genius, Richard Scott, who used to call me "neophyte," and others too numerous to mention.
It sucks to get old and lose friends of decades.
JRW is (was) the best PD for whom I ever worked, even though we had our battles, such as the McDonald's theme jingles CHUM used in the '70's, which I dubbed "hamburger helper."
I'm sure he'll be there along with a lot of people who now work at competing outlets in the "big smoke" and in other cities across Canada and the US.
I certainly hope that everyone who was invited is able to make it.
I'm going to be taking lots of pictures and if we all had more time, do interviews with some of these people before they're gone.
As I've said before, radio sucks at preserving it's history.
At least at CHUM, they've had Bob Laine and Doug Thompson working on this for a couple of years now.
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Postby Charlie O » Sun Jul 01, 2007 5:45 pm

Jon:

you're right about CKLW. The weekly cume was over 2 million.

That number was taken only from the nearby rated Arbitron markets: Detroit, Ann Arbor, Toldeo and Cleveland. Plus a couple hundred thousand from the Ontario side in that.

Windsor was rated - but add in Chatham, London and beyond - whew - big number.

A note to Mike Cleaver - nice to meet you in Toronto recently at the CHUM party.

Charlie O'Brien
Playing records for a living - can't beat it.
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Postby douglasm » Sun Sep 16, 2007 6:03 am

Charlie's got that right. Between CKLW in Windsor and WJR in Detroit I'm suprised any smaller market station within 120 miles of Metro Detroit had a ghost of a chance of either having listeners or making any money.
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Postby soundguys » Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:58 pm

jon wrote: I want to verify some things I
think I know about CFRB. If you know anything
to contradict the following statements, I would
really like to know about it:

CFRB-1010 Toronto had the largest
Canadian audience of any radio station ever
(in its glory days, in the 1960s and early 1970s).


In the 70's it wasn't uncommon for CFRB
to hold a 30 plus share with the highest
cume close to 1.75 million. The sales people
rarely showed up at the office. Many used the
same phrase on their answering machines,
" Sorry, we have no avails for six months."

CFRB was home to some of Canada's biggest
heavyweights in the industry. Gordon Sinclair,
Jack Dennett, Betty Kennedy, Bob Hesketh,
Wally Crouter (50 years on the morning show)
Pierre Berton, Charles Templeton, Dave Hodge
and Bill Stephenson sports, and so many other
personalities that were household names.

It's doubtful another private radio station in
Canada will ever achieve such numbers again.

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Postby douglasm » Thu Sep 18, 2008 5:09 pm

I just looked, and that post of mine was a year ago + 2 days. In looking back at that statement, I got to thinking. In 1971 I did a short stretch at WBBC-FM, Jackson, MI. Our AM, WIBM (a rocker) was #2 in the market following the Knorr Broadcasting station (WKHM?). That's IN the market. If you factored out of market stations in, it was #4, WJR was #1, CK, although their signal degraded very badly at this point, 120 miles west of Detroit, was #2. Scary. When they said "Covering 6 states and 3 Canadian provinces" they really meant it.
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