from the NL Facebook page
It’s a historic day in B.C. Broadcasting.
Newfoundland Capital Corporation, also known as Newcap Radio has announced it’s purchase of NL Broadcasting and it’s three stations: CHNL-AM, CJKC-FM, and CKRV-FM.
NL Broadcasting General Manager Garth Buchko says Newcap’s culture stood out.
“We were going through the bid process with the number of offers we had, Newcap Radio aligned so perfectly well with our culture that it was a no brainer to sell to them.”
NL Broadcasting first went on the air in Kamloops in 1970.
The sale still requires approval from the CRTC. New Cap currently operates 95 radio stations across the country.
Wow!
Who knows the outcome of the mighty NL news, now ? Will it be even a news station, anymore, as Newcap has a bad rep for operating a skeleton news department. Will they fire all the newspeople at NL, just to save money ? If I were at NL, I would be very nervous. It’s an end of an era, for sure.
Must tell you that in general, the sale of NL Broadcasting has been taken in stride. Robbie Dunn and his partners all getting older and ready to retire. The longevity of the staff here should tell you something. We’ve had a hell of a run. I’ve been the voice of the NL Morning News for 28 years. Nervous? No. What will be, will be. In the news room, the Jim, Angelo and Bob era was going to come to an end sooner or later. What changes on the air for the listener? We hope nothing. But again, que sera sera. Pending approval from the C.R.T.C., this is NewCap’s station now. When you lay your money down, you get to make the rules.
So, just for curiosity sake… what would a cluster like this be worth $$$? Pretty unprecendented in the region.
Have to agree- they had a hell of a run, and is a top notch tight sounding station. This station is the definitive authority in the city and you can tell they enjoy what they do.
Will miss the entire news crew if that era does come to an end – nothing like experience and voices you know you can count on day in and day out.
To turn it into just another jukebox with yappy TIME & WEATHER announcements and outside programming will be terrible – and there is likely no doubt, that this is the direction it will be headed if NewCaps history says anything.
But guess we have to give them a chance!
If nothing else – have to thank Robbie and the crew for holding the ship together for as long as they did – thats true dedication to the staff and the community! Hope they can enjoy the fruits of their labour and dedication now!
Mr. Price: Fair enough. But, as one who has followed the NL news for years, including yourself, and also, devoted his entire career to radio news and sports, (but I wasn’t good enough in those days to apply at NL and, some of us were frankly too afraid to work at NL?) I saw, with awe, the perpetual wire stories from NL, first hand, from you, harrison, angelo, etc. and I feel bad that the “era” of stellar, dependable journalism at Radio NL must end at all ?
When you/we wake up in the morning, one day, and the mighty NL newsroom is no more, what will you guys do ? Many of us will feel sad that you may not be here.
There are far too many radio newsrooms in Canada being dismantled by the new generation of broadcasters. Many of them are not journalists. They are bean-counters with degrees, or salesmen, mostly, but so what, in the new era, they follow the commands of the h.o. or risk losing their jobs, themselves.
But, I say this: “If it ain’t broke, why fix it ?”
Unfortunately, we in the Okanagan saw how Newcap butchered/dismantled the former Giant FM, a few years ago. First, they fired all of the on air staff, some who had been there over 20 years. Then, they brought in a henchman to fire the rest, including the salespeople, then the henchman got fired, after the dirty deed was done.
Good luck to all of you, and thanks for your good work.
I suspect that we will be just fine. Times change…and we all have no choice but to change with it. That said, worrying about something you have no control over is a waste of emotion. For me and my colleagues…bring on the future. We’re big boys and girls! And besides, we replaced somebody as well…so if Bob Price doesn’t do the morning news and Jim Harrison stops doing his editorial on NL, you’ll get used to it! Look forward to the future…and see what happens.
Just a comment to the last comment made by notapennypinchingcon. You stated:
“Unfortunately, we in the Okanagan saw how Newcap butchered/dismantled the former Giant FM, a few years ago. First, they fired all of the on air staff, some who had been there over 20 years. Then, they brought in a henchman to fire the rest, including the salespeople, then the henchman got fired, after the dirty deed was done.”
Newcap took a station that was a poor performer by ratings and turned it into the market leader. Good for them. It is unfortunate that some people lost jobs – but others gained jobs. How is taking a mediocre radio station and making it a market leader bad?
In the NL situation, they rate very very well According to the fall 2016 Numeris, NL is #2 in the market – only behind CBC. Why dismantle a winner that is (most likely) profitable?
Lemme guess, “just an opinion” ? You work for Newcap, right ! LOL
They (Newcap) threw out the baby with the proverbial bathwater. There was no good reason to fire Dennis Walker, for example. When the popular, hard working morning deejay got fired, (20 years plus on the job) did you read/hear the fallout on the Giant FM facebook from his numerous fans ? People were pissing mad and rightfully so. Dennis later started his own radio station and became “Penticton’s new business of the year,” only a few years ago.
Casey Clark is very talented, but Dennis already had his fan base and he was a damn good news/sports reporter as well. It takes years to develop good news and sports sources and Dennis has the clear edge over Mr Clark when it comes to journalism skills.
The other aspect about the transition to Country 100.7 is the fact that the people of Penticton were let down – they got a new country station, but MUCH less news and sports out of the package. Giant FM was a news and sports information station with live, 24 hour news bulletins. Country 100.7 also delivers news, but a LOT less.
People all over the Valley relied on Giant FM for up to date local news and sports scores, which has not been replicated by any of Newcap’s stations.
I happen to run a long time sports group with success at the international level and getting Newcap to broadcast our tournament results is next to impossible. Whenever I called Chris Cleaver about our presser, it was thrown in the garbage.
If I had phoned Radio NL, i think they they would have been more than happy to interview a two time, former coach for the Canadian national team in my sport.
Bottom line? The profit of the radio station is just one factor in its success.
To Bob Price:
I heard you do the news the other day on Radio NL and you seem like an outstanding, smooth, veteran radio newsman, not ready to hang up your microphone, yet ! Why do you think that is ? LOL
– NAPPC
Why do you think that I’m not ready to hang up the microphone yet?
I’ve been doing this for a long time…approximately 40 years. I came up through the Moffat and CHUM groups and those connections moulded my style. Thank you for the kind words. Peter O and I in fact are the longest morning tandem in B.C. radio. Over the years, I’ve worked with the likes of Fred Latremouille and Norm Edwards and I put Peter in that category when it comes to wit and knowing his audience. Makes the 3 am wakeup just a little easier. But we ain’t gettin’ any younger!
Like I said before, we look forward, not backward.
Your are right, the decision to retire is always a personal choice, Bob. In your case, with all of your accomplishments, you could say that it was a great career and leave it at that. However, I hope that they allow you to stay on, as the legacy of the NL Radio Station is that news and information radio stations, if done properly, are still financially profitable and therefore, Newcap might be dismantling a real public institution. The track record of Newcap when it comes to news/sports stations isn’t promising.
My retirement certainly isn’t imminent. I’m still a young guy!
At NL, we appreciate your concerns about ownership transfer…but I suspect few will notice when the keys change hands. Frankly, I expect very little to change.
Very good news that you are staying, Bob. I have listened to your radio station for well over 32 years and your news is precise, well written and re-written. I am certain I am not the only one who shares that opinion. I hope that the others at NL, stay, as well. If you are providing an outstanding public service and it makes money, why quit at all ? Regarding the sound quality of AM 610, it (in my opinion) has already been tweeked for optimal sound. But, is digital radio the next step for NL, as it was for CKNW ?
Great to hear that nothing changes…. thanks to great hosts like you Bob my alarm clock needs no dial, always wake up to your voice on the mighty 610 from Rose Hill… and the River is what we play at work usually. Sad to see local ownership go, please keep a good thing going NewCap!
Here is what really encourages me and others on this journey. The many comments concerned about personal situations. “Are you going to be okay in the ownership change?” – a common question. That as the news gets around, people care mostly about people..not ownership structures or formats. That says something!
And this is the last thing I plan to say about this!
Notapennypinchingcon – you stated:
The profit of the radio station is just one factor in its success.
I could not agree more. Clearly changes had to be made at Giant FM and Newcap made them for the good. If a business is unprofitable, it closes or changes are made.
Giant FM was unprofitable for the previous three years. That statement was made as part of the decision by the CRTC – there were not tangible benefits assigned to the sale as the station.
Please see section four of the CRTC decision at this link: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2012/2012-97.htm
And no, I do not work for Newcap. I do praise companies that take a struggling station and turn it into a market leader. It is unfortunate that there are casualties, but the listener is the winner (and there are many many more listeners now then there were before – why might that be?).
Now that we are in 2018 we know what append to Bob and Peter.For me it was the end of listening to NL for over 30 years.The new NL has just garbage programming and I am not the only person that feels this way.Thanks to Peter and Bob for all those wonderful years.
I just saw this, Norbert. Thank you for the kind words. Peter and I are both well and chasing new endeavours after being shown the door by NewCap. No, NL is no longer the radio station you knew and depended on for so many years. Times change. I’m so sad to see what has happened to an industry I loved…as a result of earnings per share becoming more important than product and people. On the upside, my health is now better with regular exercise and more quality time with my wife of 39 years.