Post 2377 - Radio Commentary

Hi, folks.  Enjoying the crazy hot weather?

I was doing some heavy listing last night, which tuckered me out.  Threw off my sleep pattern.  I woke up around 4:45 to check allnovascotia.com.  They had a major story about Rogers' presence in Halifax.

Let me back up.

Thursday it was announced that Newfoundland Capital Corporation, Newcap for short, was buying Rogers' license in Saint John, and that Acadia Broadcasting, owned by the Irvings, was gonna buy the one in Moncton.  These two stations were two thirds of the "network" Rogers used to justify and amortize their talk radio format in Halifax and the other two markets.

By selling the stations, what does that mean for News 95.7 in Halifax?

There was a big meeting in Halifax this morning with Rogers big wigs and local staff.  It started around 10:30.  According to my source, an unimpeachable one at the station, things are going to be status quo, at least for the time being.  Somehow, Rogers will find a way to keep the talk format going even though there won't be any New Brunswick stations to defray the cost going forward.

What this means for the soon-to-be-local programming on News 95.7 is anybody's guess.  I am hoping that Jordi's and Rick's show survive, and that there will be something between noon and three pm that is of a local nature.  I hope that the Halifax Mooseheads games continue to be broadcast on News 95.7. I hope that the early morning news wheel survives. And that we still get the weekend talk show to boot.

This leaves room to save money.  They have already been re -broadcasting  the local talk shows over night, which never bothered me.   They were also re-broadcast over the weekend, which once again didn't bother me.

A talk radio station is an important aspect of democracy and free speech.  We have plenty of radio stations in town that play wall-to-wall music, and there is a place for all of them; but there is something special about a talk station that makes its departure all the more disappointing.

Let's hope that News 95.7 can continue to survive, and maybe even thrive.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy