Bill Good Retires from CKNW

i love it when people believe the BS. Retired? Another force out. too old. not relevant anymore. will be interested in what they do. something cheap. I stopped listen about 5 years ago.

Wouldn’t be surprised to hear McComb is going to retire once he gets back. Retired and coincidence is BS. Can’t wait to see what they’re going to do, they should fire Ekford, he is absolutely dreadful.

First Till on July 31, then Bill good on August 1. A major BC Day long weekend format overhall in the works?

God… Everyone’s a PD.

Significant that Good did not make the announcement on his show today. The ‘resignation’ was announced to the staff by Koenigsfest two hours after the end of the Bill Good Show.

They left him on the air 10 years too long.

But I guess he was needed by the BC Liberals to whitewash their numerous scandals and to give a forum to the other two Fiberal propagandists, Vaughn Palmer and Keith Baldrey.

the broadcasting race to the bottom continues unabated.

I think his contract was up and CKNW (Corus Entertainment) and Bill Good could not come to an agreement. On the Global News segment tonight , he said he was looking over his contract recently, so that mean a new contract was needed. Either CKNW offered him less or Bill Good wanted more. Also Bill said he was looking for new things to do after a break, which indicates he still wanted to work. Reading between the lines, CKNW let him ago because they could not agree on a new contract.

Similar Sara needs to ‘retire ‘as well, might as well do a complete sweep

I agree wih you Brad. I’ve been finding her topics very boring lately, to the point I just don’t listen anymore. In fact after I get my ‘fill of bill’, the news, then my much needed injection of reality check with Bruce Allen, I listen to her afternoon offering, and think to myself, and please, no offense, but I loved that call from the dude who felt MS Sara should be at home looking after her children… right on! 😉
seriously though… she really should go too! her time has also expired, to the point I believe she is also responsible for bringing the station to their knees with what she thinks or perceives is engaging conversation.

I wonder who will replace. Someone already on CKNW or someone completely new?

From CKNW:

Sean Leslie
Mike Ekford
Simi Sara
Mike Symth

People who think Bill Good was soft on his guests by not asking tough questions show not vote for Simi Sara. She is one of the weakest on radio. Mike Symth asks the toughest questions but he is not popular. I don’t really care for Mike Ekford either. The best choice is probably Sean Leslie but I am not sure CKNW is going to hand him the keys to prime time.

From Outside CKNW:

Maybe the thinking from management is someone high profile. Former politician perhaps. Someone from the media but outside of CKNW.

Mike Smyth is the best choice for the 9 to 12 slot – he’s young, smart and current. He’s also very funny and upbeat – just the shot in the arm that NW needs now!

Jon McComb gets my vote.
Bring back some passion to the show

I congratulate Bill Good on a long career. I always thought though that he was more suited for the afternoon show. Mornings were always more enjoyable when Frosty led into Rafe or even Bannerman. The morning person needs to have a little back bone and a strong opinion. It didn’t matter if I agreed with Rafe or not I still needed to listen. The last number of years I mainly just tune in for reality check or if I hear Mike Smyth is on I will tune in, he’s no Rafe but still enjoyable.

Mike Smyth is young?? LOL
AM radio has been dead for quite some time… it’s a shame that NW let things start sliding a long time ago… the cutting of jobs and letting good people go for such a long time, leaving idiots like Koeningfest still in place just shows where their heads are at.
Best of luck to MR. Good on his retirement/pushing out.. he’s worked hard and who can blame him if he let the last number of years not be his best work — can you blame him, when he probably was dictated by Koeningsfest as to what topics he could discuss.
With Good and Til leaving the same weekend, I am sure there will be a format change, and most likely not for the better… sad how NW was once the “Top Dog” and now look at what it is.

Cheap
Oblivious
Redundant
Uneventful
Snoozing

In the Global News piece from last night Bill basically said he wasn’t ready to retire. Please tell me , how does this Koenigsfest fellow keep his job or is the announcement of yet another ‘NW “retirement” still to come as the great ‘NW Purge continues? Even the guy who owns The Canucks knows when it’s time to fire your coach and manager.

On the topic of replacements, say what you will about his delivery and although I don’t always agree with his politics, Michael Smyth always had me LISTENING.

Caller,
I am not a shill for the liberals
I have no opinion I just ask questions
The radio station does not tell me what to say
I have no position on the teachers strike
I will defend BC Ferries to the death.

Bill Good began his Friday program with the Aug 1st departure announcement, and his wonder at the legacy of Jack Webster and “sitting in his chair.” He pointed out that over the past 50 years, only 4 people had been in the CKNW morning time slot .. Webster, Gary Bannerman, Rafe Mair and himself.

He indicated he is not really ready for retirement, and will take a couple of months to see “what else there is out there.”

Good also begged the listeners to hold off on commenting on his departure until August 1st.
Good luck with that!

On Bill’s show today he stated that he did not know what he was going to do after NW, but that he is, “not the retiring type”. That was pretty clear.

Looking forward to what Harv has to say…

I’m not sure what programs some of the commenters here are listening to, or how much experience they have with actual journalism, but they’re way off the mark when it comes to Mike Smyth, Simi Sara and tough questions.
Smyth is shrill and his idea of entertaining, informative radio is to yell questions at guests, then yell different versions of the same questions several more times when he doesn’t get the answer that agrees with his POV. Further, he has a thin skin and just can’t handle it when someone, whether a guest or caller, doesn’t share his opinions.
FYI, battering and belittling guests is not tough questioning and it’s not productive — it doesn’t get you closer to the truth, it doesn’t provide insights, it only gets people’s backs up.
As for Sara, I find her topics varied and engaging, although I understand that people who believe the relentlessly self-referential and self-aggrandizing Mair and Bannerman were the epitome of talk radio wouldn’t like her, but those people probably think politics is the only suitable topic for chat shows.
And for those of you who find her “soft” — I believe that’s code for “She’s a woman and this work should be left to men, preferably old, white men” — I suggest you dig deep into the podcast archives for the time she interviewed the two apparently homophobic Vancouver School Board trustees a couple of years ago after a video surfaced of them shilling for ethnic votes. Sara seemingly smiled, kept her cool and methodically carved them. Actually, no, she didn’t. She asked questions based in common sense and research and let them hang themselves.
One more thing for the commenter who loves Bruce Allen’s Reality Check. Allen’s segment are the rants of someone woefully out of touch with reality. Just two examples of his fact-challenged commentaries: He slammed TransLink for not including faregates when it built SkyTrain — never mind that the Socred gov’t built the Expo Line and the NDP under Glen Clark built the Millennium Line. And he slammed the mayor of New West, saying he should ban trucks from the Pattullo Bridge — something over which he has zero control.

If it was a perfect world they would also show Simi Sara the door as well. To me she is the female version of Bill Good.

They need someone from the same mould as Webster, Bannerman & Mair.

I think Michael Smyth or Jon McComb would be suitable replacements.

Perhaps I am being a little naïve.
But surely NW management saw this coming and has some form of a plan .
Contingent or not in mind?

Dear QRC
Bruce Allen’s Reality Check is simply the most engaging, insightful, and yes “contentious and controversial” thing on CKNW.

The guy is often flying around the world (obviously with the Bryan Adams and Bublé tours) yet he manages to phone in a local, “hot button” editorial EVERY DAY…. AND it’s more topical and entertaining than anything the regular NW hosts and their “producers” can EVER do.

If Bill Good or Simi had the skill to pull off a Bruce Allen (or Rafe Mair) style of OPINIONATED, take-no-prisoners editorial to kick off their shows every day, they’d have the phones ringing off the hook for 2 hours.
THAT would be worth listening to.

I turn on CKNW at 12:11 pm “precisely”, and turn it off at 12:13 pm precisely.
There’s no other reason to listen.

Anonymous above has encapsulated the appeal of Bruce Allen’s segment. Topical every day, without fail. Of course he couldn’t sustain it in a daily 8:30-noon slot but perhaps he could lead off a segment in the morning show each day.

Bruce Allen:

Topical? Yes, and credit to him, although I would argue his frequent forays into the minutiae of the music biz qualify.

Contentious and controversial? Yes. Good, no.

Entertaining? Sure, if you like the foaming-at-the-mouth style of commentary (and he sounds to me like he is literally foaming at the mouth).

Reality? Far from it. (see first comment above)

Insightful? I don’t think “Gregor Robertson is the antichrist” and the world is full of idiots ad infinitum counts as insightful. “Insightful” suggests providing opinions that nobody else has expressed. Allen simply pounds his brief bully pulpit with all the insight of the guy next to you at the bar who’s five beers in. Further, that kind of daily 2- to 3-minute rant isn’t sustainable in a 3-hour talk show.

Now, you may be thinking, “You don’t like Bruce but you listen. Ha!” I used to but now, most of the time, I hit mute button on my computer keyboard the second his intro tune comes on and turn the sound back on about 3 minutes later. The odd time I’m preoccupied and find myself listening, I’m reminded why I hit the mute button. It’s the same reason I stopped listening to NW sports because of the buffoon Neil Macrae and the reason I no longer listen to the horrible, horrible morning show on Team 1040 (which sounds like two guys in two different studios doing two different shows on two different stations).

correction to above:

Topical? Yes, and credit to him, although I would argue his frequent forays into the minutiae of the music biz DON’T qualify.

They should bring in Raccoon Carny for the 5-8:30 slot and then bring in Bill Courage in the 8:30-12:00. The rest of the day might look like:
12:00-1:00 News
1:00-3:00 – Erin Cebula
3:00-6:00 Nardwuar
6:00-7:00 News
8:00-10:00 Sports (Eric Dwyer)
10:00-12:00 Rockinitis (Michael Wilmore)
12:00-3:00 David Berner
3:00-5:00 Old time radio

CKNW is a lousy radio station that’s about to get worse. The radio station is run by empty suits. Sycophants and no talents who’s only talent is holding onto a job they aren’t qualified for. It’s going to wind up like KGO in San Francisco. A bottom feeder that still makes money for the mothership.

I agree with Anonymous above (time-stamped: July 11, 2014 – 11:02 am) who astutely typed the pseudo/ quasi show producers in quotations (“producers”). I share this sentiment, exactly.

I believe the inappropriately named “producers” have contributed their fair share to CKNW’s woes by not diligently researching topics that Bill and Simi are obviously, obliviously, and perhaps even deliberately, unfamiliar with.

For the sake of fact & audience, I’ve repeatedly emailed Bill & Simi with peer-reviewed research and have even suggested certain qualified guests; only to be ignored. My solution? …the off button.

NW has to watch what they do in the next few months as the whole thing might implode.

It sounds like they are after a new sound that goes after numbers lost to the CBC and a younger audience. If that means more sugary coated meaningless talk with weak hosts and ridding themselves of older folks they risk going after a younger audience that wont listen regardless of what IK dreams about and an older audience that goes onto greener pastures.

A year from now when they find out the whole experiment was a flop they will have blown away the older audience they had and attracted no more young people than they had which will relegate the station to 4-5 share if they are lucky.

QRC.
Nobody’s saying Bruce Allen should have a “talk show”.
The point is; he (like Webster & Rafe) knows how to do an attention grabbing editorial to get people thinking, disagreeing, & talking.
That’s the whole point of the exercise/medium/industry – isn’t it?
… And, that “skill” seems to have been forgotten at NW lately.

QRC – you almost sound like you want go back to the days when many stations played the “The Ray Conniff Singers” all afternoon.

Kraz – Cool suggestions re Erin Cebula and David Berner.
However, Erin’s a bit green in terms of experience, and David… probably can’t be bothered.

Nobody’s saying Bruce Allen should have a “talk show”. The point is; he (like Webster & Rafe) knows how to do an attention grabbing editorial to get people thinking, disagreeing, & talking. That’s the whole point of the exercise/medium/industry – isn’t it?
================

Agree to a point. People have to face it the Webster/Mair/Burns/Bannerman days are gone and will not come back to Vancouver radio. Its a different era in media and the perfect storm is not there anymore.

I will agree though that an aggressive, opinionated, go after all sides talk show host would be more successful than the pablum NW has been spewing in recent years. BC Talk Radio needs someone who will go after the NDP’s and Liberal’s craziness with just as much vigor and not appearing to take anyone’s side. Unfortunately I cant think of anyone fitting that mould. And if they do scrounge one up they will definitely not be able to find a second one.

Don’t care for Kraz’s suggestion at all. I agree the whole slate needs to be wiped clean, but I don’t believe the personnel mentioned would do anything to help, more newbies and has beens. Wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if it goes to all infomercials and national network shows, seems to me content is the last thing anyone at Corus is interested in, only the money. The Ted hour is a total waste of time, as is Mike Eckford and The Shift. Fiona Forbes wouldn’t be any better. Such a shame, I’ve listened to NW my entire life. Talk about a fall from grace, NW is a pathetic shadow of it’s former greatness. I heard Drex say no way he’d be getting up at 3am for the morning show, but I have a feeling that is where he is headed. Maybe Jill Bennett moves to a slot during the week, she is miles ahead of Simi Sara. I’d like to see Mike Smyth go full time, I love that he doesn’t ask soft questions, but he can sound a little too hyper at times. Will be interesting to see what happens, I’m ready to turn NW off for good.

I find it hilarious that while the majority of you are whining and moaning about how “NW is now going down the drain” you’re all failing to notice that the change you have all been begging for is about to start. Things happen slowly in corporate environments. When you restructure the business those payouts need to fall below a bottom line somewhere within the business model. And most of you are also forgetting that Koenigsfest has been the PD for less than a year at NW. Change doesn’t happen yesterday, it has to be planned and carefully calculated and then executed. Are you going to agree with the changed Corus will make? Probably not, but at least give the guy and whom ever he chooses for those slots the benefit of your doubt and let’s see what they come up with. It takes time for new shows to find their feet and ratings wont come back over night, it can take years to rebuild radio stations that have been systemically destroyed by bad management. Thankfully though some of you are realists and have some great ideas.

Don’t think Bennett is headed for a talk show, she was awfully scorned when Simi got the job in the first place and I like the strides she’s made at Global.

But hey, maybe becoming the savior on the mid-day show is enough to entice her to return.

Not like IK didn’t have input with management for years prior either. To say he’s only been in charge for a year and it takes time would make sense if it was someone from the outside, he’s not. What’s his ever growing shelf life? 20+ years there now?

Of course he had input, to the newsroom though. he was the News Director, while Plasteras was running everything else.

Bruce Allen? Give your heads a shake, the man is an imbecile and not relevant to anyone but himself and the over 60 crowd.
Here’s a though, NW management could us their brains and try to find someone and something that prys younger people away from the internet, and don’t say it isn’t possible. It is.

This crap where some host blathers on, then we here a bunch of ignorant phonecallers is DEAD. It no longer exists. Why? Cause on the internet you can sign on and read what ignorant people have to say all day long and get pictures to boot.

If NW wants to pull through it needs to offer quality, controversy real controversy, not manufactured as in Good’s trademark “have you been a victim of crime, do you think courts are too easy on criminals?” crap he spat out twice a week.

Further to that, no politicians. Politcians are IN the news, not covering it and they are inherrently biased and lack integrity.

Here’s a though, NW management could us their brains and try to find someone and something that prys younger people away from the internet, and don’t say it isn’t possible. It is.
=====================

leo you’re delusional—younger people not listening to radio is rampant all over North America and to think a small AM station in Canada can pull it off is dreaming in 3D.

The future is in streaming where you compete with product all over the world which probably makes things even harder to be successful.

If management at NW understood anything about good radio, they would have fired Good last year and replaced him with Alex G. Tsakumis. He is educated, smart, funny as heck and not a Christy Clark lapdog like Good. He’s exactly the kind of talent NW needs. I know people who didn’t always agree with him when he was at CKPM but never missed his show.

It looks like NW has rolled out a new news theme. And the Imaging voice is the same guy as 97.3 KIRO Radio Seattle, and opens with “Thank you for following CKNW, here are the stories we’re following right now”

HAHA… Alex G. Tsakumis! Maybe he can bring along his supposed “1000’s of online listeners” with him from his extremely short lived CKPM show.

Get your facts right Ash, it was between 100,000 and 200,000 thousands listeners 😉 With Alex G. Tsakumis Corus would have to open up an entire floor in the “Black Tower” filled with nothing but lawyers just to sift through the various defamation lawsuits. Just think how much it would cost to buy all those oak desks and leather sofa’s, money I would say Corus isn’t willing to spend.

In my opinion, Michael Smyth is the guy. ‘NW doesn’t need someone to do BBC or NPR or even CBC style , in depth interviews like QRC is suggesting. They need someone with a bit of flair, with personality, someone who asks the questions the average Joe on the street would ask. Who cares if those questions are asked three different ways and at different volumes everytime.

They need someone not afraid to hold an opinion and stand by it even when a listener calls in to totally disagree. In my view, that’s what good, entertaining talk radio is all about. Remember, it’s about entertaining the listeners. Getting people to take notice , maybe getting them a little pissed off at you , but first and foremost getting them to LISTEN.

“…the reason I no longer listen to the horrible, horrible morning show on Team 1040 (which sounds like two guys in two different studios doing two different shows on two different stations).”

The above may be the most accurate, 100% on-target comment of the year. The 1040 morning show is abysmal on a good day, and an insult to humanity the rest of the time.

Surely the management of 1040 can hear for themselves that their afternoon show is light-years up the quality/entertainment/information scale from the morning show and do something about narrowing that gap this coming fall.

I’ll give Pratt credit for 1 thing: he makes McCrea appear to be knowledgeable when it comes to sports, and that takes some doing, Jake Edwards never laid claim to being a sports guy, so his lack of sports insight is excusable. What is inexplicable is the decision to put someone with no sports chops into the role in the first place. If the intention was to rely upon Pratt for informed/relevant sports information, that decision must have been made by a recent arrival to this planet.

LOL, people still listen to the radio?

Re: Tsakumis…

there is no credible data to support the audience numbers he claimed. Presumably his dormant website is a testament to these highly questionable numbers.
https://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1378444302/
It would appear that Michael Smyth is the only viable replacement candidate for Bill Good at this time, unless of course there is a complete format shift away from NewsTalk. However, IK would appear to have nixed that option.

The bigger picture of course is the future of terrestrial AM radio altogether. Several countries have already retired that spectrum, I believe Switzerland most recently.

Although I appreciated the way Tsakumis was covering the BC Rail story, I failed to understand the personal and ‘vicious’ attacks against Christy Clark? “Trash Christy” appeared to be his ‘mantra’ on both his website and his short-lived show on CKPM. I found it interesting his time at CKPM came to an end shortly after Christy got in with her majority government. I saw the problems he had created, and for a wanna-be talk show host like Alex, there it was, staring him right in his face, now that Ms Clark had taken over the palace, he had absolutely no one in government to talk to or interview. Not sure if that was a directive from the Premiers Office, or what?Needless to say if I was his employer, Matthew McBride at that time, I would be considering the political ramifications my so-called ‘hot item’ talk show host was reporting on. I would certainly have reason to part ways with the man if it appeared to be a problem.

I also tired and found offensive, Tsakumis’ remarks and attacks upon Bill Good. Perhaps some of the comments were noteworthy, but his venom upon the man, in my opinion was also a slight upon Corus and CKNW in particular. DUH!!!

To be so critical of a man like Bill Good, astounded me. This man with very little experience in the world of radio has no idea what is involved in keeping a show alive and active with the material one has at hand. Good has the experience and background, something this man doesn’t seem to understand. I commend Bill Good, although I too, found him too soft with politicians. Perhaps it was his CBC early years and the in-bread thing at one time to be A- Political… Yes, I believe the CBC was once run like that. Just Imagine! CKNW knew what they were doing and getting when they put Good in the mid morning slot, replacing the fired Rafe Mair. A decision many opposed, including me.

let’s get back to the story, earlier this year when agt called a Surrey councillor a whore. That’s crossing the line for a talk show host in my estimation. There are those who believe most politicians are whores, but come on, thankfully we haven’t swooped down that low in the industry, yet!

I believe the man has the talent, if he really wants to become a noted and successful talk show host, which is more than possible. But there needs to be an ‘attitude’ adjustment, on his part!

IMHO he strikes me as a bit of a loose cannon, something radio station PD’s like IK would obviously shy away from.

just sayin.

Is somebody actually suggesting that Tsakumis was fibbing about his “massive” following?
Oh heavens. Oh mercy me. Who could EVER conceived of such a thing!

The trouble with CKNW is WAY too many commercials. WAY too many. At least they are always at the same time so you can change the channel. I think you get about 15 minutes per hour of “content” in the afternoon (McComb) slot. Terrible …

AM radio is far from extinct in the USA.

Rush Limbaugh has over 14 million weekly listeners.

Sean Hannity has over 13 million

Dave Ramsey, Glenn Beck & Mark Levin have over 7.5 million each.

The list goes on an on.

QRC;
The only reasons Sima Sara got the afternoon job is:

1. She is a woman.
2. She is from an ethnic group.

The latter reason is why Jill Bennett was passed over even though she has more experience. CKNW wanted someone of color and she was a woman to boot. So they filled 2 criteria right away for their quota system. CKNW did not want all their talk show hosts to be all old white men.

CKNW and Corus Entertainment are too political correct to have anyone who is opinionated. That is why they serve up pablum. That is why they do not allow controversary topics like gay rights and abortion unless the hosts agree with them. Its like Justin Trudeau’s declaration that all MPS must be pro choice. I am sure they vet people to make sure they are political correct. That is why we will not see characters like Bruce Allen as hosts.

Have to agree with Pigtail. Tsakumis was obsessed with Clark in a kind of creepy way where he would crawl over broken glass to continually criticize her. This was part of his downfall as well as the big head attitude that made it sound like the guy had a personal relationship with everyone.

He probably might have made a half decent talk show host but only in select situations. He made it sound like he should be heir to a morning show with virtually no on air experience or numbers to show his success. The fact he spent a lot of time reading emails on his radio show suggests he didn’t get too many calls which suggests the audience claims are somewhat exaggerated (haha).

Its good to read comments from others that dont care much for AGT. His blog was an endless anti liberal- christy rant that spewed venom but never spewed facts or proof.
I think that the obvious choice to replace Good is Mike Smyth. Some of the other names come with so much bias that they would never have credibility. Sinclair, Bateman etc. These guys have a background that wouldnt allow them to be neutral when doing a radio show. Mind you that might be what NW needs. A totaly biased NDP exe politician from8 to 12 and then a die hard liberal supporter from noon till 3. Or even allternate the morning show , one day liberal one day ndp and allow the green party 5 minutes once a month.

@ Anonymous July 12th, 10:34pm

You’re assuming that gay rights and abortion are topics up for debate. You would be incorrect.

Tough to argue the posting about Simi being a woman. Look at some of their recent news hires and it extends even further with some of the specially challenged people they employ as well.

I mean ‘Simi being a minority’.

A totaly biased NDP exe politician from8 to 12 and then a die hard liberal supporter from noon till 3. Or even allternate the morning show , one day liberal one day ndp and allow the green party 5 minutes once a month.
>>

Historically talk shows from the left dont rate well. Either someone on the right that the right likes and the left loves to hate or someone who hammers anyone the right or left would be a good choice for starters.

Ray Taliferro had a pretty good 34 year run for a “lefty” on KGO…..

Re. Anonymous (July 12, 2014 – 10:34 pm)
“The only reasons Sima Sara got the afternoon job is:

1. She is a woman.
2. She is from an ethnic group.

The latter reason is why Jill Bennett was passed over even though she has more experience.”
====================

Are. You. On. Drugs?

I like Jill Bennett when I hear her and I’m no publicist for Simi Sara, although I quite enjoy her show and her approach when I listen, but does the talented Ms. Bennett have, as does Ms. Sara, (I’m estimating) 25+ years as a newspaper, radio and TV reporter, plus as a host of several TV shows, plus as a host of a talk radio show?

Please.

I won’t bother addressing “2. She is from an ethnic group.” Your comment, sadly, says it all.

Anyone who creates this much buzz over retiring apparently still has something. Congratulations, Bill.

Two people with nearly identical resumes apply for a job, one’s a white male, mid 20s and the others a mid 20s, female who is of ‘darker skin’.

I guarantee you that woman gets chosen. Tad naive to believe that ethnicity doesn’t play a role these days.

Last anonymous post is pretty much right on. QRC is totally naïve.

There have been some (to many) race and gender comments made on this forum in recent days, and frankly they sicken most people.
The fact is; that pendulum swings both ways. (You’re telling me that Good, Till, and McComb weren’t – at some basic level – gender and race hires?)

If the trend has swung at bit too much the other way in recent years, it’ll swing back.
Talent, ratings, and the all mighty $ always win out.

Yes, this is how it is… radio used to be a “all boys club” and everyone was okay with that… but now, heaven forbid the workplace show a reality of the ethnicity that make up the city in which they live!!
Bottom line, if you hire, hire based on talent/merit not on quota’s — but if that is how it is done, then don’t blame the person who is hired, blame the person who did the hiring.
If we look at other talentless hacks who have jobs (Tamara Taggert — really did she deserve to go from weather girl to news anchor??), there would be no room on these messaging boards!

Right again. I don’t for a moment blame the person being hired. Call it what you will..”flavor of the day or political correctness”…this not only happening in our country. If you have a station in Houston, you better have a balance of female, black and Hispanic on your staff.
But I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that talentless individuals are being hired for prime spots. Surely, there must be more talented people out there.

Real Tom Steele:
QUESTION: Why would the on-air staff at a radio or TV station in Houston be a mix of female, black and Hispanic?
ANSWER:
Because THAT’S – Duhhh – the ethnic make-up that market.
Because THAT’S – Duhhh – good for busines$s$.
It’s not “political correctness” or “flavor of the month” … It’s about the money honey.

If you owned a furniture store, restaurant or car dealership in the Lower Mainland, would you staff it primarily with old white guys & gals?

The problem with some people “posting” here is :
A) They’re pretending that Vancouver’s “demographic mix” is the same as it was in 1972.
B) They forget they were once under 30, and were once interested in NEW and DIFFERENT things.
Remember? … when you made decisions on cars, clothes, records and radio stations, based on the fact they were NEW and DIFFERENT.

And finally; “talentless individuals” have ALWAYS been hired for prime spots in broadcasting … going back to the 1920’s.
If you haven’t found a way to “deal with that” by now, well…

Far too many broadcast executives have no background in broadcasting. They are hired because they once headed up an accounting firm or a law firm or an ad agency. Some were sales execs for agencies or other corporations. They may have been good at those jobs but without a well-rounded knowledge of how radio or TV worked they were doomed to failure; and those they hired along with them.
Again, a case of power hiring power. The old boys (girls) club in action. Scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Qualifications are down the list from the top.
In spite of what the CRTC thinks, there is no better training for broadcast management than starting small (market) and working your way into a major market. Then you know how everything works and why. Picking up a few people skills along the way!
Time for the industry to return to the wonder years of the 1950’s and ’60’s. Licenses granted to serve a local community not shareholders who constantly demand a larger return. Newcomers report to small stations, learn their craft and then, when they’re ready, report to a larger operation and work their way up the ladder.
Following these criteria, the industry and it’s people will be much healthier and happier.
Here’s to those days!

The permanent host replacing Bill will not be someone from CKNW as they are looking for someone outside. That counts out Mike Smyth.

From the Globe and Mail:

Mr. Koenigsfest said there will be a wide-ranging search for Mr. Good’s successor.

“We will look everywhere. It may take weeks or months but we’re going to be absolutely sure that the new person who hosts the show continues to deliver our brand promise, which is compelling, relevant content every day,” said Mr. Koenigsfest.

“I am looking for a great storyteller, a great conversationalist and someone who provides compelling content and allows us to diversify our audience and someone who realizes that the CKNW brand is still very strong and we have a commitment to listen to what Vancouver is talking about and reflect those conversations.”

Rumor out of the Black Tower has Eckford running his mouth, telling people he’s off to AMs.

What is AMs???

Interesting, to read those that dont think people are hired or not depending on race and or gender. While it isnt a factor every time someone is hired to deny that it doesnt occur means its time to remove your rose colored glasses. The days of simply looking for the moat qualified individual are long gone. Multicultural political correctness you name it have become the norm. Look at the idiotic policies adopted by the BC NDP. Hiring Simi Sara was probably a combination of her talent , but to think her race and gender didnt make human resources happy would be naive.

AMs = mornings?

Presumably “AMs” is a reference to mornings. Put another way, Eckford is off to handle the morning show post-Till.

It could work. Certainly more interesting development than “the new sound” TED slots which can’t draw much above infomercial level.

“13”…
Have you “noticed” the Lower Mainland’s ethnic make-up lately?
Oh, and that includes TWO genders. (Can you name them?) You know, the ones who are BOTH earning incomes, and paying the household freight, and making consumer decisions ….

Mr. Koenigsfest said there will be a wide-ranging search for Mr. Good’s successor………………….“I am looking for a great storyteller, a great conversationalist and someone who provides compelling content and allows us to diversify our audience and someone who realizes that the CKNW brand is still very strong and we have a commitment to listen to what Vancouver is talking about and reflect those conversations.”

===============

Huh? Any idea what he is talking about. Storyteller? Diversifying audiences? Maybe he can start looking at story-time at the library.

Koenigsfest reminds me of Mike Gillis in his last couple of years with the Canucks. When you heard he was looking at or had made a trade, in the back of your mind your thinking “What has he done now”. Then enter a guy like Benning who makes you feel he really knows what he is doing and he makes more positive movements in a couple of weeks than the other guy made in 2-3 years.

How NW handles the replacing of the morning show host as well as the open line show from 9-12 will determine whether NW returns to double digits in ratings or falls to 4-5 numbers. If I was Corus Koenigsfest wouldn’t be the guy I would want to see making these decisions where he will tie up the station with contracts that should have never been entered into.

Since TED talks isnt on any Corus station other than NW tells me this was a decision made by Koenigsfest and it really has you scratching your head. He replaced a relatively decent national show’s first hour with a show which probably belongs at 1 or 2 AM. NPR in the US is a blip on the radar screen in US markets and as much as he might like the show the only question is how long until it is moved or scrapped. If this is an indication if his decision making powers the flagship personnel he is going to be hiring in the next few months are going to be very interesting to say the least.

Before making any changes Corus needs to have their version of Benning making the key decisions on the future of NW rather than someone who might be a good guy but is in over his head.

“Ted” ? Excuse me.
“Ted”?
Why would anyone in their right mind even mention a U.S. radio “thing” that’s recycled locally at 11:00 on Saturday mornings.
… Exactly the right time when nobody listens to radio.
Ted?
Come on.

I don’t care if a person is black, orange, male, female, , yellow, gay or straight. As long as they have some TALENT. Be funny or informative and engage in some intelligent conversation. And learn how to ad-lib for crying out loud. Read a damn dictionary and learn some words that have more than one syllable.

The Pia Shandel show that was on CFUN would be a good show on CKNW I think as she was good on CFUN
I wish you luck Bill as I remember you from CKNW in New Westminster BC where it all began back in the days of radio

Nobody listens to radio at 11:00 AM on Saturday? Who listens to radio at 6 AM on Saturday?

I am sorry to see both Phil and Bill go as they have been a part of my life for years, it’s how I’ve started my day. I believe they and their teams work very hard at researching interesting topics so we, their audience can be given insightful, thought provoking radio. I wish them both good luck and I believe that CKNW has some pretty tough shoes to fill in order to keep us listening.

http://rtdna.org/article/women_minorities_make_newsroom_gains#.U9aRsYBdU_1

Could Bill Good resurface on CKPM?

Eckford would go well in the morning, actually.

The best interviewers and commentators are people who won’t back away from an unanswered question. Mike Smyth, Rafe Mair, and Phil Till come to mind.
CKNW has always claimed to hold peoples feet to the fire but when you let government politicians spin their way out of answering questions, or the opposition party politicians complain about policy without realistic, workable alternatives, you can hardly make the argument that you are holding anyone’s feet to the fire. I won’t waste my time listening to scripted interviews anymore.
I can’t listen to Simi or Mike Eckford… Neither are worth the time, and their seeming ignorance and lack of common sense on some issues is startling.

Interviewers come in different flavours. On the one hand you can have a hard hitting political interviewer (not sure if there are any left) who hammers everyone regardless of political leanings and then you might have a good interviewer who gets people talking by nudging them into saying stuff they normally wouldn’t say like Howard Stern. I don’t know if NW has any of these types.

I think NW really started going downhill when they would let the talk show producers air their personal life dilemmas. i.e. Should Jessica Gares keep her maiden name when she gets married? They did a half hour segment with phone-in on this subject. Or Jessica’s other dilemma-she doesn’t want to be in bridal parties anymore, because it’s getting too expensive. Another waste of air-time is Jon McComb’s daily chat with Chris Gailus of Global TV. I’m 45 now and was raised on NW, but I find now more often than not I’m turning NW off. I only listen to the news, and then back to other stations.

I like Jessica Gares and the other airhead talking about whether there should be unpaid interns. That was a weekly segment for a while.

I wish Bill and Phil well. But the radio business is all about ratings and entertainment. So naturally when you see the once mighty, proud, top dog N.W. slip from a 17 share to a share 7, heads had to role in the tradition of Jimmy Pattison letting go the low man on the totem pole in his used car lot.

The name of the game is to entertain, this is why giants such as Pat Burns, Jack Webster, Rafe Mair and Gary Bannerman dominated the ratings. Besides being entertaining they were very knowledgeable on a wide range of topics. They would do their research and would bring on guests or discuss topics which were not retrieved from page 2 of the Vancouver province.

I feel sorry for the current N.W. staff. I suggest people get a copy of the late Chuck Davis out standing book on the first 50 years of N.W. It is a fascinating read and shows what an important role this once great station played in the G.V.R.D.

Sadly the blue suits, bean counters of Corus took over and quickly to quote the late Al Davidson started throwing nickels around like man hole covers. They lost the rights to the Lions and the Canucks which significantly hurt their audience.

Talented people were let go with replacements brought in at a much cheaper rate. The idea of not paying interns is repugnant to say the least.

Two topics that were discussed 4 times in the last month typify how low the subject matters had sunk on the station. One discussion was on Simi’s program where she thought the listeners would be fascinated to learn whether they use their hand or foot to flush a public toilet.

The other was brought up by Bill twice in one week when he discussed should people bring their dog’s doo doo home and flush it down the toilet. To quote the late Dick Cavett I kid you not. The only flushing was that 7 share of ratings being flushed further down the toilet.

The other evening one of the hard working eager beavers mentioned that if a certain new tax came into effect he would have to look for a 4th job. Yep here was a talented young guy working hard 5 nights a week needing to have two other jobs as N.W. paid him peanuts. I don’t think he realized what he had just said.

Others have indeed pointed out the rapid change in demographics, the boomers getting older. Quite frankly I think poor N.W. is at the stage of being a Jim Pattison production of a radio station. For those of us who grew up with the top dog N.W. it is indeed a sad day.

Bill has an interesting interview in the Globe and Mail. Here he reflects on the current state of radio, particularly that of CKNW:

There’s no question CKNW has been hugely influential over the years but the ratings have been in decline recently, and there are some big personnel changes here [morning show host Philip Till’s last show was Thursday]. What’s going on?

It always changes and there’s no question this is a difficult time for talk radio around North America. A few years ago they instituted something called [Portable] People Meters (for ratings), which requires people to wear little pager-type devices, and my understanding is that this audience isn’t terribly inclined to wear those things. They also give FM stations a huge advantage because if you walk into your doctor’s office and they’re playing an FM station at a very low level, they get a rating for it, even though people aren’t really listening to it. Plus our signal has deteriorated terribly downtown; we’ve tried for a long time to get an FM signal and the CRTC hasn’t seen that our way. But with the e-mail I get and the Twitter activity and Facebook and the phones, I don’t get any sense that there are fewer people out there or that they care any less about the issues.

Funny how anyone who raises the “doctor’s office” PPM scenario never seems to mention the flaws of the diary system where stations would get credit for hours of tuning that never even took place. I’ll take the flaws of PPM. Give me actual tuning over perceived tuning any day.

My sis an avid cknw listener says , Chris Galius to replace Bill Good and she’d like to hear Kevin Newman too !!

I just find t all so sad. Radio hosts who previously asked tough questions, engaged the audience, and were actually informed and had (with their producers) done some research made it fun. Now it is vanilla pablum… George Nory (who is okay but not hours and hours… too much spaceship . American crap)..the new “TED” NPR (aka ‘sell out”– so we don’t have to have local hosts paid). Let’s get rid of Dan Russell. Rick Quinton, throw him under the bus too. Simi’s Ok,..but she is also a host who plays it safe…. CKNW decimated their sports dept. Sheldon is great, Addison is good too…but as an audience we get a sense that this once wonderful ship is sinking. For me at the end of the day, CKNW has lost their sense of being a local Vancouver radio station with an ACTUAL INTEREST and effort to research Vancouver issues.

I called in today on the afternoon show… with this Aussie fellow (and as all Aussies are, he was of course, cute and overly cocky) today about an issue and he and this “Devon Taylor” were so good to talk about “Bitch” and “Douche”, and when I asked her about recommendations that TRANSLINK had made years ago. So I asked what these recommendations were, which, she said ‘I posted them on facebook,,” and went to commercial.” There’s NW today. I was surprised, but not really…This is CKNW journalism (or last 5 years or so) . ..It has gone downhill steadily. Pathetic trash “journalism.” I heard Devon Taylor had talent…not with her “douche” comment today. She is certainly a professional. As CKNW is too now.

Anonymous @ 8:44.

I was the Australian you spoke to, and we were coming up on 3:29 which is the time i have to jump out for news. I wanted them to keep you on the line so we could talk about the recommendations in that first report, which we did later in the show anyway. As for Devon using those two words, it would help if I explained the context of why they were used, Devon was called a “Bitch” by a man on a ferry in front of his children, and she was recounting that story on air. She did in fact call the man a Douche, and she later apologised for using that word as it was in the heat of the moment.

I do appreciate the feedback though.

Anonymous @ 8:44.

Devon is a talentess hack, much like Sheldon.

The only one that i see keeping the ship afloat is Jon McComb. He seems like what a real dirt digging ass kicking non-biased radio host and deserved title of journalist is. He or his masters should end that nauseous session with that sad excuse for a journalist Chris Gailus though. What a joke. If he were to take a place at CKNW then the ship would sink like a rock. But it is going down anyhow with so many holes in it. Simi has the potential but jams out too fast and too much on tough subjects.She needs consistency. I like Till and Bruce Allen. The rest can’t even stand on the same ground as Rafe, Webster, Bannerman and other real tough butt-kicking journalists and reporters like Harvey Oberfeld, Alex Tsakumis, Laila Yule and on. No, they never will. I think some became more infected with and what I call the sissy disease, like a virus would do when Christy Clark came through. I think one hole in the ship was plugged I hope permanently when Good retired. Too smoochy with government, like Baldrey. Smythe is a good engaging personality, but why jump on board when the water is at the wheelhouse or leave a good job. McCcomb could replace no problem anytime, Bill’s spot or Bennett’s or Eckford or even Simi’s for now and maybe even Leslies, not sure about him yet, and I would listen way more. CKNW gross mismanagement is mostly to blame for allowing this sad fall of a once great institute and forgot about fighting for the common little guy and gal.

Bill Bland is no loss to broadcasting. He was nothing more than a washed up jock who somehow found himself reading news and not very well at that. If it wasn’t scripted he stumbled and stammered. He never met a politician’s keester he wouldn’t kiss. When Rafe was on ‘NW, politicians would hardly come on his show for fear of getting the drubbing they so richly deserved…but they flocked to Bland’s show because he made every effort to avoid them having to risk a bad sound bite. I have spoken to people who have worked with Bland and they described him as a 6 foot 6 year old. He was the frequent butt of many jokes when Frosty was on the air and he always whined about them. I suspect BB will soon be selling BMW’s but thankfully and hopefully we’ll never hear the man on the air again.

I used to listen to NW all the time but now I only tune in when ‘Cutting Edge of the Ledge’ is on or Mike Smyth is filling in for someone. Too bad they didn’t pick up Smyth to fill a vacant slot – he’s one of the few worth listening to anymore.

I wonder why Smyth didnt find a time slot at NW. He had the early pm slot until Simi replaced him. Was that a temp job or was he moved out to make the politcally correct crowd happy? Was he offered a job but turned it down? Or was the likely senario the one where he wasnt as cheap a fix as simply moving the on air talent around and hiring Drex at a smaller salarie than Smyth would have demanded.
I wonder how Eckfords disjointed rambling incoherent style is going to fly all afternoon. Personaly I cant stand the shift . Its hard to listen to for all of the aforementioned reasons. 2pm till 6pm will force me to change the dial on my radio. Goodby NW hello CBC

Oh yeah, the new deal where NW hosts spend hours chatting with their producers and other production staff isnt fooling anyone. Its a cheap way to avoid getting real guests. A cheap way to avoid the need for real stories and real news. Mr Eckford is the worst offender . His entire show was nothing but a gabfest between him and his production crew. Boring would be a compliment

This is an old thread, but I’ll continue.

What the hell has happened at NW? I’ve been listening for years, literally, and through all the changes there’s been good and not so good. Now, over the last few years it’s pretty much all just, well, bland. I can’t tell the difference anymore between NW and the CBC, and that’s saying a lot! The CBC for god-sakes!

I’ve found the talk-shows have become a pabulum of PC irrelevancy. All the hosts have identical PC view-points, and don’t speak to me at all. Yup, that makes me part of the silent conservative majority !Apparently doesn’t speak to many since the listener numbers at NW are plummeting, and I can see why. Your new man, what’s his name, Drex? Holy smokes, what a terrible radio personality. He has nothing much to say, is boringly predictably PC, but says it for hours.

Yesterday, some poor fool went off the rails about the possible accumulation of 15cm of snow. Yea, 15cm, and he was sounding like a meteor was going to hit the earth. When people emailed in to tell him to calm down he told the audience they would be responsible for the mayhem on the roads??? But during the show he didn’t have one substantial subject or opinion that I couldn’t hear better from an uninformed nine year-old. What a waste of time. I kept switching between NW and CBC, that’s how desperate I was, and finally just switched to FM music.

Honestly, there isn’t anything that attracts me to NW except boredom. I find myself switching away to other stations or scanning to see if there’s absolutely anything of interest on. I guess the days of well spoken knowledgeable hosts is gone. I mean people like Charles McLean and Pat Burns. Oh well, perhaps you’re playing to a younger demographic, but the they’re not listening, and those of us in our 40’s and up are tuning out. I always wondered why no one in Canada ever thought to follow the lead of American conservative stations that absolutely dominate, with a large D, the airwaves to the south. I’ve always suspected that nobody is listening to the silent majority in Canada. Perhaps I’m wrong, but the listener numbers and my switching away suggest I am right.

So, I guess NW goes into the night not with a bang, but a PC whimper. Too bad. Click….