pave wrote:While a single share point - given the vagaries of the ratings systems - is hardly worth a raised eyebrow, poo-bahs and frommages will be losing their freakin' minds. (It's part of the job description.)
However, I suspect the loss of Rutherford may have some impact. That is, unless some homeless guy can be brought in, thrown on the air and generate broadcasting miracles.
I think, Rocky, it is important to realise that, no matter how much the Calgary market has changed and grown over the decades, "QR has always been around the 10-share mark - give or take a point here and there. Like everybody else in town, they have had every opportunity to dominate. And, like everybody else in the market, they have failed - utterly.
Until QR went talk in 1992, it spent most of it's life being radio's version of Charlie Brown. No matter what they did, it never quite paid off or became a market leader. It's it's first twenty years (1964-84)
they had something like 13 or 14 PDs (Mel would know the exact number). There's no real way of counting the number of Morning Shows over the years ... (let's see if I can remember what was there from
83-92 .. Jim Brady, Ray Collins, John Fox, Murray & Dave, Norm and Dave, Jim and Dave, Greg and Dave, Dave & Danusia, Jim and Dave (again), Johnnie Walker, Dan Wilmott, Ronald T. Robinson,
Johnnie Walker, Gerry Forbes ... did I forget anyone??).
The two biggest mistakes made by QR in the 80's was letting Norm Edwards get away just as the station was getting it's real first taste of success (thanks to a huge promo after the move to 770). The other
was a boneheaded move on the part of a sales manager who was tired of having people tell him QR only had cume because of The Flames. He wanted to prove the station has listeners without The Flames.
had it not been for that move, The Flames would likely still be on QR today.
Even the talk format got off to a rocky start ... They kind of jumped the gun announcing Daryl Janz as the 9 - Noon Talk host [he backed out before he signed] so they had to open up the back doors of the
Brinks truck to woo Terry Moore away from his perch at CKNW. How many show hosts lasted more than 6 months? (Dan Wilmott, Sharon Edwards, Susan Booker to name a few didn't). The PD (Rick Lewis)
barely lasted a year, his replacement (Frank Callaghan) wasn't there long enough for the ink on his business cards to dry!).
In the last few years, QR's 10 share has made them a market leader. For many years, their 10 share (in a then 7 station market) was nothing to brag about.