Two Montreal Radio Stations Go Dark

Above: As of January 29th, these two stations are no more.

Holy crap, I just remembered that I had a blog. LOL. Due to a reduced school schedule, I've got some extra time on my hands now, so updates will no longer as rare as they once were. So here is my first new post in more than a year. Enjoy.

The closure of two Montreal AM radio stations, CINW 940 & CINF 690 on January 29th have forced me to rethink about the future of terrestrial radio in the world.

The advent of satellite radio has made a much wider variety of programming available to the world, but at a cost for subscriptions. Terrestrial radio tries its best to offer listeners as much variety as possible for free in an attempt to keep up with satellite radio. However, over the past few years, numerous terrestrial radio stations across North America have been either reformatting or shutting down completely due to lack of an audience, or lack of interest. Drastic changes are sometimes the cause of the eroding audience.

Indeed, radio audiences have evolved over the years, with people wanting more and more out of terrestrial stations. Powerhouses like Virgin 96 and CJAD 800 have great sticking power due to their familiarity with Montreal audiences, but will they last? Will people continue to rely on these stations for the most popular music (96), or news and enlightening talk shows (800), even though satellite radio offers a wider variety of music and talk programming? It remains to be seen.

As a person who works in the industry (I'm a call screener / newscaster at CJRS AM 1650, and a huge radio geek to boot), I am very passionate about my medium. I love working in radio because it's a lot of fun, and there's always something new to learn. It is a wonderful experience. But with the announcement of the shutdown of two stations in the Montreal market, it has me a bit worried about my own future in the industry. Radio is an industry where change can happen in an instant. One minute, you might be working at a station with a steady job and enjoying yourself, but then suddenly, you and many of your co-workers might find yourselves with pink slips in hand. The management gives the usual canned response of "we wanted to go in a different direction." Nothing is forever in radio, especially in this day and age (and ecomonic situation). I like working in radio, but all of this uncertainty is forcing me to reconsider my options, which include print and online journalism.

CINW (formerly XWA, CFCF & CIQC) has had a long and illustrious history on the radio dial in Montreal. It began its life as XWA (short for Experimental Wireless Apparatus) in 1919, and was the first radio station in Canada. Originally on AM 600, it went through several different formats over the years. In the late '90s, it segued from a talk format on 600 to an all-news format on AM 940. This eventually evolved into a news talk format designed to compete with news talk mainstay CJAD. But compete it did not, forcing management to let almost everyone go and switch to an all-oldies format two years ago. The oldies format barely made a dent in the ratings, which forced Corus to shut down both CINW and sister station CINF because they were no longer profitable to run. Rather than continuing to watch them suffer, they decided to do the radio equivalent of euthanasia and shut them down.

CINF had been a French-language talk station for most of its on-air lifespan, swtching to an all-news format in 1999 (they had previously been on AM 850 with callsign CKVL). They too struggled to find an audience near the end, and they had a similar problem with their ratings too. To their credit, at least they didn't become a spinning wheel of formats like CINW did. Their all-news format remained relatively solid and unchanged over the years.

With that being said, the closure of these two stations is a blow to the Montreal radio market. The 940 kHz (kilohertz) frequency is among the most powerful in the city, but now, it will be silenced along with 690. In fact, both frequencies are clear channels, which are stations that have amazing nighttime signals that are free of interference. Both stations have been reported to have been picked up as far south as Vermont, and as far west as Cornwall, Ontario. A major media company would kill for such good 50kw (50,000 watt) signals. How the mighty have fallen.

What do you think about the state of terrestrial radio? Do you think it will last? Do you think there's still an audience for it?

Bonus: You can listen to the announcements from each station's general manager looped during CINW & CINF's last hours on air here: http://blog.fagstein.com/2010/01/29/corus-shuts-down-cinf-cinw/