In a release to the media, reported in today’s Province newspaper, CITY-TV publicist Julia Caslin (one of the more misanthropic PR people I’ve ever had the displeasure of working with), announced that longtime Vancouver media maven Fiona Forbes has been, as the Province reports, “sent packing”.
CITY-TV moved quickly to update their Breakfast Television web page to reflect Forbes’ departure. No word from Forbes’ longtime co-host, Michael Eckford, who (no doubt due to shock and amazement at his co-host’s fate) was given the remainder of the week off by CITY-TV management.
In this Sunday, February 29th update, CITY-TV announced the departure of Forbes’ longtime co-host, Michael Eckford.
Category Archives: Vancouver
CFUN Solid Gold Weekend: Daryl B & JB Shayne
Earlier in the month, VanRamblings posed the trenchant question: Whatever happened to J.B. Shayne?
Although we haven’t come up with the answer to that provocative question, as yet, while research continues, reader M. David Eaman has forwarded an aircheck of J.B. and Daryl B, broadcast in all their glory one Friday afternoon in October of 1979.
Whatever happened to J.B. Shayne?
The state of radio in Vancouver is such that virtually no one’s interests are attended to. Radio stations programme music off the American Billboard charts, personality radio is almost a thing of the past (save Rafe Mair at AM600 and Frosty Forst at ‘NW), music with a huge following (ambient, techno, progressive house, electronica) has no place on local commercial airwaves, and the situation continues to deteriorate.
VanRamblings will weigh in, from time to time, on the state of radio.
Stay tuned.
Brain Trust Brain Dead
Reading Greg Douglas’ column in the sports section of The Vancouver Sun on Saturday, he reported that CKNW programme director Tom Plasteras has announced that MOJO radio, AM 730, will be losing its unsuccessful Radio For Guys orientation, in favour of becoming Vancouver’s 2nd all-sports, AM-based radio station.
Now, MOJO radio was born in response to AM730’s previously failed “All News” format (which never rated higher than .7, while competitor CKWX hovered in the 2.3 – 2.8 rating range). MOJO Radio, over the course of the past 18 months has also never climbed higher than a .7 (percentage of all Vancouver listeners tuned to radio at any given time) rating.
So, what does the brain dead brain trust at Corus Radio (owners of CKNW, MOJO Radio, CFMI and CFOX) plan for MOJO’s replacement? How is it that these folks think that a second all-sports radio station in Vancouver is going to achieve a higher rating than their CHUM Radio-owned Team 1040 sports competition (which itself has never managed to climb out of the 1.0 ratings basement)?
Joe Leary, in his Province newspaper column published this past Monday morning, reports that MOJO has fired most of the on-air personnel.
Why didn’t Corus just turn AM730 into a jukebox, and voicetrack it? At least that would have made economic sense.
But a second all-sports radio station? Please, give all of us a break!