CHUM-AM Going All Sports

[jon]

Although rumoured on other sites (e.g. - SOWNY.ca), RadioWest.ca member Marty Forbes is blogging as fact the switch of CHUM-1050 in Toronto from the voice track of All News CP24-TV to "Action Central" for TSN Sports Radio:
"Mike Richards, formerly of The Fan, Calgary's sports station owned by Rogers Communications...is...heading back to 1050 on the radio dial debuting the new TSN Sports radio service, now owned by CTV."
ref. - http://radiowiseinc.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... egins.html

[jon]

The Globe & Mail is confirming the story:

Usual Suspects
TSN Radio a reality
BRUCE DOWBIGGIN
Globe and Mail Update
Published Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 1:56PM EST
Last updated Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 1:58PM EST

TSN Radio is a reality, and Mike Richards has been signed to become the morning drive host in Toronto.

While officials at TSN declined comment Friday, The Globe and Mail has learned that the long-rumoured radio operation will go ahead later this year, after BCE Inc. takes full control of CTV Inc., the parent company of TSN. The radio initiative to challenge The FAN 590 and extend the brand to its TEAM stations across the country has been one of the prime projects championed by BCE's Bell Canada unit as it takes over operations.

Richards has signed on for the proposed new station that will broadcast on the 1050 band in Toronto.

Richards, who declined comment Friday, did not appear on his FAN 960 show Friday morning and his identification is being removed from the website. Sources tell Usual Suspects that the 47-year-old sent his resignation late Thursday night to the station where he’s worked the past six years. While no dollar figures were revealed, it’s believed that Richards will have full creative control over his show, which will likely be simulcast on TSN or TSN2.

Richards will no doubt be a controversial figure. His comic subjects include everyone from Foster Hewitt to TSN’s Darren Dutchyshen to John Daly, and he has been the subject of listener complaints about his satirical material. But he gives TSN an immediate presence in a market where Richards worked in the past on The TEAM and the FAN 590.

During his time at The FAN 960, the former comic took his sports-talk show from virtually nowhere to No. 1 in the lucrative male 25-54 demographic - virtually unheard-of for a sports-talk format in radio prime time. It appears that Rogers made some efforts to keep Richards within the company, but wanted him to remain in Calgary for the time being. The Toronto native, however, had decided for family reasons that he wished to return to Toronto.

It marked the second attempt by Rogers to sign Richards, who’s been operating without a new contract for the past few weeks. Last summer he was the first choice for The FAN 590‘s morning show, but the sides could not reach an agreement. Richards will likely be positioned against Andrew Krystal at The FAN 590, the man who assumed the job last September when previous negotiations to bring Richards to the station broke down.

No announcement has been made on who will host TSN Radio’s afternoon show against Bob McCown’s powerful Prime Time Sports.

ref. - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/b ... le1878887/

[jon]

Unless I am misinterpreting this, from the same G&M author a couple of days ago, I think it also refers to CHUM-1050:

"In addition, Rob Gray, the program director for TEAM 1040 in Vancouver, has apparently been entrusted with getting the Toronto TSN station operational in the near future. The Vancouver station, owned by TSN sister company CHUM Radio, has posted strong ratings of late and the veteran radio hand is to co-ordinate hiring for the new station. A firm start-up date has yet to be established."
ref. - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/b ... le1875378/

[Mike Cleaver]

As much as I detest professional sport and all the free advertising this multi-billion dollar business gets, anything would be better than what's being broadcast on 1050 Chum now, the audio from a tv news channel.
The sports thing was tried before (The Team) and failed miserably after costing CHUM millions.
Doug Thompson alludes to some of the problems of the original incarnation in his post on SOWNY.
The whole enterprise was mismanaged from the start with far too many cooks in the kitchen and no one taking overall responsibility for the project.
Bell has a lot of money stolen from Canadians over the years by overcharging for all of its "services."
All Sports and All News programming still are the most expensive formats to run, given the fact you actually need talented people on the air, not just a computer.
IF this goes ahead, it remains to be seen if it will be viable without making the mistakes of the previous sports network incarnation.

[pave]

CHUM will always have an opportunity to go for an "Oldies/Gold/Classic"-whatever... format.

All they have to do is find someone who can deliver it to what is still... a contemporary, but older, wiser and more discriminating audience.

Perhaps "rocket surgery" after all.

[Mike Cleaver]

I beg to differ about "strong ratings" for the Team and it's sister AM station in Vancouver.
The last PPM ratings (2+) gave the Team a 3.5 and the former CFUN at 1410 a .7.
You can argue all you want about the so called "money demo" but no one's provided any figures.
Along with the fact CTV recently spent 7 million dollars on a new combined transmitter site for the two stations and the fact they'll be in a bidding war with Rogers and possibly Shaw/Corus for the Canucks broadcast rights, they'll need to sell a lot of advertising to get out of the red.

[radiofan]

I beg to differ about "strong ratings" for the Team and it's sister AM station in Vancouver.
The last PPM ratings (2+) gave the Team a 3.5 and the former CFUN at 1410 a .7.
You can argue all you want about the so called "money demo" but no one's provided any figures.
Along with the fact CTV recently spent 7 million dollars on a new combined transmitter site for the two stations and the fact they'll be in a bidding war with Rogers and possibly Shaw/Corus for the Canucks broadcast rights, they'll need to sell a lot of advertising to get out of the red.

The money for the new combined 1040/1410 transmitter site came from the sale of the land that previously housed the separate 1410 and 1040 sites. There was no red ink on that deal.

[PMC]

CHUM will always have an opportunity to go for an "Oldies/Gold/Classic"-whatever... format.

All they have to do is find someone who can deliver it to what is still... a contemporary, but older, wiser and more discriminating audience.

Perhaps "rocket surgery" after all.

1050 CHUM was an AM powerhouse... was... nothing can save it, in the long term, because the consumer won't be on the AM band, when there are other options like FM, which replaced AM, because the consumer is there.

[pave]

The death knell for music-on-AM has been ringing for so long it has become no more than background, white noise. However, so long as people keep tooting that horn, Opportunity just screams out.

The only things missing from the wreck that was 1050 CHUM for the last twenty years were the sounds of screaming tires, crunching metal and grinding teeth.

These guys were slaves to the formatics that, for awhile, were good for generating no more than "kiddie-cumes" back in the day, but who couldn't program a cab-stand after.

This is a circumstance that continues to this day for those who continue to attempt "Oldies" on AM.

To radically and incorrectly paraphrase my friend, Anotherwpgguy: "It's the Programming, stupid!"

[Destro]

The death knell for music-on-AM has been ringing for so long it has become no more than background, white noise. However, so long as people keep tooting that horn, Opportunity just screams out.

I have to agree with Pave. I still think there is a future for AM radio. Provided you can buy up the failures for next to nothing, then you don't need much to get started.

Some branding, some elbow grease and some internet and presto-bingo-bango... you might be able to cobble together an audience!

[PMC]

To radically and incorrectly paraphrase my friend, Anotherwpgguy: "It's the Programming, stupid!"

It is also promotion of the same...1050 CHUM was formatted, and in the glory days, most worked around it... who lasted the longest on air... my guess is Roger Ashby, that did nights.

A sales/business point in CHUM's favour, and perhaps someone here and now can learn from it. On the all night show with Ashby was a constant customer called Knob Hill Farms... appreciate the size of Toronto, and this was a place to buy fresh veggies after midnight... it is a marketing success story.

[pave]

Quite so. There were times I was cruising Yonge Street at 2 in the morning -- diggin' on 1050 CHUM -- and knowing there was an actual "live" person talkin' dirty an' playin' the Hits.

This was the difference that made the difference.

Radio was more than the music. Now it's just an excuse to consider pounding the dashboard and hurling expletives at a voice-track prepared by some innocuous jock who can't hear me anyway -- all the while speaking as if he knew I was actually listening, never mind paying attention.

But if CHUM wants go All-Sprats-All-The-Time.... it's theirs to piss away.... again!