Look What They've Done To My (Station) Ma!

[BossRadio]

I was in communicaton with another long time broadcaster this week, and he urged me to pass on this story. So, here it is ,a rant about the decline of a small market heritage Ontario AM, and its FM sister.

75,000 watt AM CKPC Brantford (pop 94 K) has been around since the 1920s,and its massive-signalled FM sister from the 60s. Until recently, both were the domain/toy/obsession of Dick Buchannan. His family started the shop,and when he took over as sole owner,did so with an iron fist and a stated policy of "my way or the highway". Hiring and firing-wise,if Dick had been a gunfighter,he'd have had more notches than gun handle left at the time of his passing, three summers ago. 'Curmudgeon' best described him. It was understood that the 'red phone' ringing while on air meant he was listening,he was pissed,and a jock might find himself looking for work the next day, if he or she didn't have a "Dick-proof" explanation of the offending bit.

Dick was an old school radio guy, one of the last independent station owners in the province. Yes,he was feared by staff members for his temper and outburst,and lost a lot of buisiness for his stubborn attitudes and refusal to lowball rates or take on contra,but he was also respected(though not well liked) city and province-wide for his business accumen and his commitment to keeping local folks employed and on the air. He believed in local content and community-oriented broadcasting,and having live bodies in the buildlng whenever possible 24/7.

There were 11 announcers(!),plus an off-air PD and a couple of part-timers,spread out between his AM and FM sticks. Then,there was the newsroom. "South Central Ontarios Largest!", as he would proudly state,with seven newsies on staff when he hired me in '02.If there was an event going on in the city or area, you could bet that either the AM or FM people would be there. It wasn't unsual to have 2 remotes per station, per day on any given weekend. Oh yes,a full time dedicated sports guy, 2 engineers,copy,traffic,reception,and accounting staff,plus half a dozen salespeople.

The average age of his veteran airstaff,other than the occasional newbie or intern, was 45,with most of us having at least 25 five years in the biz and a couple pushing well past 30. Plenty of past major and medium market chops on the air, and it sounded damn good,imho.

Listeners and clients apparently thought so too. Local sales were substantial. Both stations constantly ranked top three in Brantford BBMs ,sometimes edging higher,while up against a huge number of bigger market corporate-owned powerhouses.Good books came and went, because of relevant programing done by hard-working pros who made the broadcasting machine purr. And it ran smoothly,even after his passing three summers ago,until the corporate radio types got their grubby,uncaring hands on it a year later.

The properties went on the open market,and remained in limbo til summer 2009, thanks to the executors and the legal beagles. Staff were told that we would be "informed when any developments occur",but other than a couple of "rah rah,your doing a great job,and we have three potential buyers" sessions, we were treated like mushrooms. Read: kept in the dark and fed sh*t for a year.

Well,those three buyers became two,then one..and when we were gathered together for the 'big announcement', there was a collective gasp and groan when it was announced that the Evanovs were to be our new bosses. I tell you,I have never ever seen such a black mood decend so quickly on any given group. Lets just say that company's reputation proceeded them,and they are far from the most employee-friendly entity around. We were told officially though that although Bill Evanovdidn't want to meet with us just yet, he would eventually,and we had no worries, because no changes were expected until at least the new year! So,be happy! Make good radio! And we did. Until two months later.

By the middle of September,when our owner had still not bothered to come by and and meet any of his thirty or so new employees,we should have seen the writing on the wall,but we were trusting of the folks who had been our supervisors for so long. Managment met him,sure,of course.The peons? Nada.Not once. But,because our jobs weree deemed secure,or so we believed,nobody had an inkling of what was up when we were called upon to be in the GM's office on the next tuesday,one by one. OK, great, maybe now we get a chance to meet and greet the mysterious BIll Evanov,right? Wrong.SO wrong.

I was hustled in at nine am, and saw no sign of B.E.,just the GM, the PD and some junior grade "doogie howser" lawyer,still wet behind the ears. Took under two minutes for them to ambush me with a pink slip,followed with an escort from the building. Just like six other veteran news and on-air people,one after the other."So sorry, the economy,blah blah blah,here's your mimimum settlement, sign here". Boom. Gone. "Next?"

SInce then,both stations have been poorly reformatted more than once,and pretty much dismantled,with three announcers per side and a weekender. Live(?) programing from 6-6 MF,one live show per day on weekends.Three newsies on staff and no news after 7pm other thant the CP feed(which,btw resulted in NO local coverage of the recent federal election until the next morning. This,from stations that would send everyone and their dogs out to cover elections previously). Nada community presence now,and minimal recognition of the city of origin on the air over the past two years (apparently corporate policy). VT's seem to be huge at any given time,and sales figures,as you may imagine, have tumbled,with the reps told to push harder into the bigger Kitchener market to the north,and screw the locals,who needs em?

The lack of effort to be a "Brantford" station has been obvious in the BBMs over the past couple of years. Both stations,in particular the AM, have dropped out of site on the ratings radar, after constant gains prior to the takeover. How does the heading of "OTHERS' sound? Yes, at BBM time,the once loud and proud local voices barely register in in their own hometown anymore.


Imho,if the beancounters have their way,it won't be long,until real radio ceases to exist anymore,except on archived airchecks and from low powrered community signals. I stlll feel for my fomrer co-workers that remain and wish them the best in a bad situation. Makes me sad, angry,and resigned to tell wannabes to "stay away from radio". What a shame.

I'm now out of the buisiness,and it was one that I loved.It happens. Damn it.
BR

[hagopian]

Too many here have been treated with the same lack of respect.

I hope you dust yourself off and get another career, if that's your choice.

Being thrown out of what was once your life is heartless and handled poorly by scrapers like the Family mentioned and by most of the rest.

Take care.

[Neumann Sennheiser]

Almost anyone with any significant history in Canadian radio has no more than six degrees of separation between themselves and CKPC (specifically) and Brantford (in general).
Back in the day, it was the "training/starter station" for a large number of people who went on to the majors in Ontario (like what CHAB in Moose Jaw was to the West) and, like Bossradio stated, it was also the place where a lot of veterans landed when it came time to wind down their careers.
Know or worked with someone who worked there? Bet you did. Somebody submit a list of alumni please.
I worked with Bossradio decades before his tenure there and Pat St.John, a PD who hired me in two different cities, got his start there before moving on to CHUM in the early 70's.
In the 1950's the studios were housed in an Addam's Family looking house on Colbourne St. (now the local Shriners Club) and then, in 1965, moved into your typical steel and glass, post-modern radio station kinda building where the station(s) remain today.
BTW, what's that empty concrete pond looking structure on the front lawn anyway?
A fountain?
Somebody oughta fire that puppy up again and throw some colored lights on it.

Wayne Gretzky.
Alexander Graham Bell.
Jay "Tonto" Silverheels.

Brantford's a great place to come from.

[Jack Bennest]

I am not a long time broadcaster - I am a good time broadcaster.

There are so many possibilities outside of radio - search and find a new path

Treasure the good time - your history - your CKOK etc. Time to move on. BR

At one point in my life I was at the top and decided I really didn't want to go to Nelson and work the night shift.

Time to move on. BR - now maybe you can use your real name.

[BossRadio]

Yes guys, I have moved on,to the next phase of life and what will hopefuly be a sucessful new career..but it was one HELLUVA fun-filled ride for the better part of thirty years. Like a lot of ex-jocks, all I have left now are memories and skills learned,..along ,of course, with some fine friends gained on the way. That makes things tolerable.

Thank you all for your kind replies to my longwinded post.( special thanks for not mentoning the burgeoning number of typos near it's conclusion. I was a tad emotional by that time) Kudos to Jack the B for nudging me into it. About time I vented, and it feels a bit better now.

NS, ole buddy, old pal, you have NO idea how much your note touched me. Muchos Gracias. And yes. it is a fountain, still there..its not on anymore(budget cuts and all I guess) but it would be soaped by local kids,pissing Dick B. off to no end' at least once every summer,and he would swear to have it taken out, but then have it cleaned and ready to go again soon after. A pic of a "sudsing"is included in the group provided by ex-CKPCer Pete Byerlay in his album below.
]
Cheers everyone, and crack a mic for me sometime will ya?

Ken 'BossRadio' McKim

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21648236@N04/sets/72157603863209810/

[Karen]

Good luck to you on your new journey Ken.

The Evanov people sound like the Ontario version of Vista. As you may recall, there used to be quite a nice batch of Mom n Pop stations in the interior and on the Island.

God damn the CRTC for ever allowing Vista to grab up all the stations they did and letting them run them into the groud.

If there is a bright spot, I hear the stars are not aligned for Vista these days.

How sad.

[PMC]

I still remember you as `Brother Ken'

As the others have said, vent, get it out of your system, and move on. You can't change the past, but you can certainly do something about the future...there are better things to be found and all you have to do is keep an open mind and go for it.

[radiofan]

I spoke with (the late) Douglas Johnston several times when he was at CKPC and he loved the place. He really enjoyed his time there.

Look where working for Evanov in Newmarket got him.

All the best with your new adventure, and keep posting on RW!

[Jack Bennest]

McKim - may your toupee always stick - lol

[PMC]

Look where working for Evanov in Newmarket got him.

A friend of many years worked for them in Ottawa and he got seriously screwed... they have a track record of it.

[PMC]

Ken, check your personal mail...