The Canadian Press
June 14, 2023
TORONTO — BCE Inc. is cutting 1,300 positions, around three per cent of its workforce, and closing or selling nine radio stations as the company plans to “significantly adapt” how it delivers the news.
Employees were also informed that Winnipeg’s Funny 1290, Calgary’s Funny 1060, Edmonton’s TSN 1260 Radio, Vancouver’s BNN Bloomberg Radio 1410 and Funny 1040, along with London’s NewsTalk 1290 would shutter.
Read Much More HERE
This is so sad. However, I certainly expected this with the ratings being at the bottom for AM 1040 comedy. Fortunately 820 hamilton is still running so far. I still have a feeling that 104.3 will get sold to corus sooner than later and switch to a cknw simulcast. Actually, I hope the sports station that replaced CISL will shut down outright too, just like am 1040 comedy and bloomberg 1410.
Like Cam, and many who will add their comments to this post, I’m not surprised, but it still leaves me shaking my head. Keep in mind, this is the same company that received $25 million in COVID relief from the federal government and then kicked everyone out the door at TSN 1040, among others. Stingray has already gutted its stations including the, once mighty, Radio NL in Kamloops. Rogers will follow suit after buying Shaw. They’re already moving government funding meant for Global to its City News operations. Tell me, again, why we have a CRTC…
they have finally realized they can still profit by staffing with new graduates and just running doggie home videos
Hey Radio Guys & Gals,
How many of you have thoughts about buying the 1410 frequency and relaunch as CFUN… lets have a news room to compliment a great slate of disc jockeys here in Vancouver.
For you radio guys in Edmonton, you have CFRN and in Calgary CFCN….
To Radio Man: actually that’s a great idea. Red robinson is no longer around, but tom lucas still is fortunately. Casey white will come back as a dj, and there will be others. That way, there will actually be an oldies station around again. 60s 70s with some 50s and 80s, like the old CISL format.
As someone said on another radio board, local ownership is best. Maybe a non-profit radio society could take over either 1040 or 1410. Bit of an aside, but it would be neat to see a community station in Point Roberts too.
Sadly the costs to keep an AM stick on the air are crazy. Most AM transmitters consume a lot of Hydro, and the Safety Code 6 rules are making it almost impossible for an AM station to be viable. I suspect you will see more AM stations go dark in the next 12 months. Lasty the CRTC could help the radio industry in Canada by reducing regulations, or you soon see FM stations going dark as well.
Some interesting comments. Funny radio 1040 deserved to die. However, I am sad to see the Bloomberg 1410 is being closed as well. Bloomberg had business radio, talk, and some sports. Too many formats, I would say. The business format was interesting and informative.
Does anyone remember Roundhouse Radio? The station broadcasted on FM on an obscure, low-power frequency and could not attract an audience because of this. Perhaps it could be resurrected on one of these AM frequencies that are being abandoned.
I don’t want to see Roundhouse get revived – it was a commercialized SJW version of the equally-SJW CBC and few people were willing to listen to it because of that.
As for 1040 itself, after the switch from TSN Radio to the Funny format and branding, it should come as no surprise that it would end up descending to the radio ratings basement in Vancouver, a far fall from its sports format days (and even before then, pre-2001, when it was broadcasting adult standards music). I’d like to see a local ownership group buy 1040 and 1410 and revive both frequencies with anything other than comedy, business news, all-traffic, all-news/news-talk or a Roundhouse-style format (preferably music, because we already have enough news stations as it is).
Is there a list of fallouts at CTV Vancouver/CTV Two Victoria? I could only find names of National News let-gos.
Some of these people were pushed to get the jabs to keep their jobs and now they’re out of work. Sad!
Someone needs to open a local station on one of those 1040 or 1410 freq’s. Bell should be fined big time for closing down the stations.