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It's a sad time for Radio in my other mother country, Canada.
At least a couple times last year I posted articles about Radio companies in Canada either taking stations off the air, or laying off airstaff. Three FM's near Ottawa almost went off the air -- a new buyer showed up at the last minute for at least two of them. CHML 900 in Hamilton was shut down abruptly, leaving its airstaff and listeners in the lurch.
Like a recent Canadian station in Markham, York Region, Ontario, that is experiencing revenue problems and may go off the air -- CHML was 'live and local'. A lot of folks in Radio think 'live and local' is the answer to Radio's woes. The example of CHML and other stations show that 'live and local' doesn't seem to make a difference. Either the ad money's there, or it isn't.
Bell Media got rid of several stations, and in 2023 several AM'ers across Canada were shut down completely. Some radio stations in Western Canada also combined operations with other stations last year, reducing airstaff in the process (news stations in CKWX Vancouver and CFFR Calgary did this).
Also in Vancouver and Edmonton, news-talkers CHED 630 and CKNW 980 moved their signals to different frequencies, with the stations on those new frequencies basically going off the air, and the airstaff on those stations (880 CHQT and 730 CKGO) being let go.
Obviously, Radio is in flux in Canada, and it's not just hitting the AM band.
Now Corus Media, one of Canada's larger media companies, has laid off airstaff, including some airstaff at a station I hear at night, CFFR 660 Calgary. The company says it saw a 14% dive in ad revenue over 2024. They also saw an 11% cut in ad revenue for their TV stations.
Another recent news item showed that an FM station in the highly populated York Region of Ontario, Canada -- CFMS 105.9 'The Region', located in Markham, a city just north of Toronto with over 300K people (the surrounding York Region metro area has over a million) -- is about to go off the air because of declining revenue. Markham itself is the 16th largest city in Canada.
CFMS is a news and multicultural variety station that also plays Adult Contemporary music. The fact that it is an FM station in a metro area of over a million (York Region) shows that even FM stations in populated areas can have financial issues.
Declining ad revenues are a really big problem in Radio these days. When Newport, Oregon's news-talker KNPT 1310 went off the air in early 2024, their owner said that their ad revenues dropped by over 50% since the Pandemic hit, and revenues never went back upwards. That took several stations -- AM, FM, and streams -- off the air permanently, leaving coastal Lincoln County devoid of news-oriented radio stations except for an Oregon Public Radio FM station, KOGL, 89.3.
Now we are seeing further cutbacks in the radio industry as Radio companies -- both in the US and Canada -- are feeling the economic pinch. Legacy media -- be it Radio, TV, Cable TV, or newspapers and magazines -- are all being hit with drops in advertising revenues.
Even Public Radio is seeing budget problems as increases in costs are often greater than increases in funding. Here in the US, our conservative government is trying to cut Public Radio funding from the government completely -- leaving all funding to underwriting and donations. Many stations and Public Radio networks may survive Federal government cuts, but others may see stations go off the airwaves.
This could include AM as well as FM public radio stations.
One excuse for government officials to cut Public Radio funding is the same one used by people in the Radio business whenever you talk about AM radio and Shortwave radio: 'everybody's got internet... They've got their cell phone, that's where they get their news and information.'
Sounds terrific. But if a government official like FCC's Brendan Carr says basically the same thing concerning NPR and Public Radio in the US, all of a sudden people in the Radio business don't like hearing that mantra.
The problem is that few in Radio are truly defending Radio. Because Radio is in financial dire straits when compared to previous decades, it seems that the movers and shakers in the industry are at a loss when it comes to keeping the medium, the platform alive.
They often say "we're building our digital platform" as a solution. But any content creator can tell you that online is not a panacea for media. Once you're online, you're competing with millions of other content sites and creators.
Recently, a bipartisan bill introduced in the US Congress, to keep AM radio in vehicles, got pushback from RADIO PEOPLE. I frequent several Radio forums and subreddits, and it's amazing how many Radio industry people are fine with AM being allowed to be removed from car radios and soundsystems.
When Radio people are against a Radio platform, it's no wonder that attacks on the industry by government and corporate interests are succeeding.
Who is speaking out for Radio?
IN OTHER LIFE
As I stated in an earlier article/post here, I took a respite from writing my blog. The weather got cold, I had a property issue to deal with (basically pouring water on a 'fire' that other people were pouring gas on, while lighting matches -- it all had to do with a remote piece of property where we have a dispute with neighbors). My car is still not dependable, and I have an ailing cat, Timmy, who seems to have gotten a bug and is getting better.
For a couple days he didn't show up at my front door, or kitchen window, as per usual. Finally, I looked around, and he had been hiding out -- sleeping in my living room, behind a chair on a cat bed. I had thought he'd gone outside, but he hadn't. He wasn't feeling well. Finally, I got him to eat some canned cat food with cod liver oil sprinkled on it -- he ate a little off a spoon, then would stop. Then a few hours later I got him to eat again. I placed a heating pad in the cat bed, too. Now he's up and around maybe once a day. After losing a cat just five months ago, it's heartening to see one of my cats get better for a change.
I've been DXing every night and/or morning, and although some MW stations have re-appeared from the ether that were missing since 2014, many have never reappeared on any of my radios.
The re-appearing stations? KEJB Eureka, 1480, with oldies. Eureka is a city on the far northern coast of California. KEJB plays a cool mix of oldies. I hadn't heard them in at least 10 years and they began showing up again.
KDUN, Reedsport, Oregon 1030 is another reappearance. They used to be a nightly listen in 2012-2013, then they went off the air. When they came back on the air, I never heard them until a couple months ago. They play an interesting mix of Classic Hits.
Another reappearing station is KSWB, Seaside, Oregon -- also on the Coast. They were a nightly listen in 2012-2014 or so, then disappeared for 10 years. Now they are back. They aren't as strong as they were in 2013, but it's cool hearing them. Co-channel Classic Hits station KKNX Eugene OR hasn't returned yet, though. I used to hear both of them, playing their mixes of Classic Hits. When the Solar Minimum kicked in, they both disappeared.
Which leads to my opinion about the Solar Cycle: This cycle is a DUD. I should be hearing a lot more than I'm hearing on both MW and SW. Back in 2012 I used to hear KVNS, Brownsville, Texas on 1700, nearly every night, just using a Sony SRF-42 and a small loop. I haven't heard them in well over 10 years.
I know that some out there think the Solar Cycle Peak is awesome. Sure, it's awesome when compared to a minimum. But it's a mediocre, crap Cycle we're in. Anyone who has logbooks going back several decades (as I do) can tell you that.
But you get what you get.
This isn't to say it's all been bad on SW and MW. Just three hours before posting this article I heard MALI on Shortwave! It was on 5995 kHz, after 0600 UTC (after 10 p.m. Pacific time).
I heard it on my new XHDATA D109WB radio, which I had my indoor 25 ft. / 8 meter wire clipped to. I have heard Mali maybe once or twice before, a year or more ago, on a different radio (probably my Panasonic RF-B45 and indoor wire). RTV Mali broadcasts 50KW from Bamako, the capital. The signal was not readable, but I could tell it wasn't English, some of the speech sounded similar to African accented French, and the music I could hear definitely sounded African.
RTV Mali also came in on my Tecsun PL-398, although the bass response on the XHDATA is greater, making it easier to follow the music. It came in on my Panasonic somewhere in between the XHDATA and Tecsun, with the main differences being the sound or fidelity.
I unclipped the indoor wire and my XHDATA was even bringing in the station off the whip. It wasn't readable, but it was still barely there.
The XHDATA D109 is a great little radio. I got it just before the tariffs hit on February 4th. I will have an article worked up on it that I hope to publish in a month or so, after I have plenty of time to run it through its paces.
So, even though I still think this Solar Cycle is a dud, it's much better now than it was during the Solar minimum, and I will take whatever I can get. If Mali comes in now and then -- awesome.
Until next time, when I post some of the articles I've been working on,
Peace.
C.C. February 22nd, 2025
(Washington's Birthday)
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