Time stands still!

Radio News from British Columbia

Postby Stn Brk » Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:07 pm

Did something I haven't done for a long time - took a browse through the CKNW website. And what I found was a reflection of the Corus attitude towards the once Mighty 98. Scrolled down to the CKNW history site and discovered some interesting 'facts'. Apparently, Warren Barker is still doing his daily business comments and commentary. Frosty is still there. Rafe Mair is on the air in the morning and Philip Till in the evening. Arnold Epp and John Ashbridge are still cranking out the newscasts.

The last posting on the history of CKNW is March 20th, 1998.

Now it could be that nothing memorable has happened at the Dog since 1998. Or it might be that nothing you'd want to celebrate has occurred. What about the introduction of NW-2? And, of course, the demise of NW-2. Nada. The sprinkles in the coffee debacle that led to the departure of Rafe Mair. Nary a mention.
Frosty riding off into the sunset on his bike? Nope.

CKNW - the station where time stands still........
User avatar
Stn Brk
Advanced Member
 
Posts: 167
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 10:39 am

Postby Glen Livingstone » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:38 am

Here's how I see it.

There are two different CKNWs to consider.

The first CKNW - we'll call it the 'good' CKNW - was the one that was owned and operated for years by the Griffiths family.

The second CKNW - the 'bad' one, is the one that's on the air now, the CKNW owned by the Shaws.

The differences are apparent.

The Griffiths' family cared about locally produced broadcasting that serves the community - The Shaws don't.

So CKNW got swallowed up by the Shaw-owned Corus and wallows there like a pimple on the ass that won't go away, and festers.

The Shaw corporation doesn't give a damn about CKNW's history.

To them, the past is past, all they're interested in is tomorrow, and how they can wring another buck out of the tired old Dog.

They haven't updated the history section of CKNW's website since 1998 because nothing noteworthy has happened at CKNW since then.

Except for the historical news that's occurred that's been all bad.

Rafe Mair's dismissal.

The firing of over 50 employees since 1999.

The loss of the Vancouver Canucks.

The dismantling of the news & sports departments.

The introduction of infomercials.

The cancerous spread of on-air primetime interns.

The talentless Philip Till doing the morning show.

I'm sure I've forgotten a few.

No, the current CKNW has no history and, I believe, not much of a future either.
User avatar
Glen Livingstone
Advanced Member
 
Posts: 948
Joined: Sun May 07, 2006 8:12 pm

Postby tuned » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:56 pm

I had lunch with my dear old mom yesterday and even at the ripe old age of 73 you can't slip much past her. She has noticed all of the changes at NW and isn't very happy. The words "there is nothing else to listen to" came out of her mouth a few times. Since she is part of their core audience it remains to be seen whether NW's ratings will reflect the gutting of programming. I think it will happen in the Fall book but I've been wrong before. From a business point of view they've probably whacked millions of dollars out of their operating costs in the past five years so even a decline in audience might still mean a fatter bottom line for Corus. The issue of NW and Corus is really their stewardship of the public waves. I think they are making too much money out of public resource and providing too little in return. AM730 is a blatant example, but Rogers and it's multitude of "repeaters" is just as bad. Unless the public puts pressure on the politicians nothing is going to change.
User avatar
tuned
Advanced Member
 
Posts: 1232
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 6:06 pm

Postby Stn Brk » Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:51 pm

What I found most amusing was that Corus didn't bother to record its own takeover of the Griffiths empire on CKNW's history link. Why bother having the station's history on the website, if you're not going to update it?? Sloppy work overseen by sloppy managers.

I'm not sure we'll see the old dog in single digits in the Fall book, but the decline is inevitable and no one at Head Office will care. The Corus philosophy is to achieve mediocrity at any cost. Human cost, that is.
User avatar
Stn Brk
Advanced Member
 
Posts: 167
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 10:39 am

Postby radiofan » Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:52 pm

1998 ... Rod Gunn would still be GM, John Plul would still be there, Rafe, Frosty, Cullen, Joy and Fanny would still be on the air ... Lee Powell and Barney would still be in sports along with J Paul. Leigh McKay would be in the "Penalty Box" opping for Rafe and Bill ... this list could go on and on ... and best of all...it was still W-I-C!
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
User avatar
radiofan
Advanced Member
 
Posts: 13719
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 2:24 pm
Location: Keremeos, BC


Return to British Columbia

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 132 guests