More Corus cuts

[rtirdnewsguy]

Longtime CHQR Calgary newsman Wayne Nelson is the latest victim of Corus ' cost-cutting '.
I worked with Wayne for many years and in my opinion he was one of the last credible voices on QR.
No matter what he was asked to do over the years- Wayne was always accommodating and a true professional . He has an excellent
on-air presentation and I found him a great guy to work with - I hope he quickly lands somewhere .CHQR is also shortening its morning show with Bruce Kenyon by an hour. They now run the networked Norrie show until 6 am . The station has been deluged with complaints ! Calgary has always been and still is an early city and to my thinking that first hour of a News/Talk format from 5 to 6 am is absolutely crucial !
What is Corus doing ? Its tearing all of its News-Talk stations apart --- to what end ?

[groundskeeper willy]

On paper it sounds like a bad idea, but really, losing that 5a-6a portion of the show isn't much of a loss. Very little content during that first hour, other than Kenyon (who sounds like he's struggling to wake up most days) reading sports scores pretty much ad nauseam before introducing a taped weather segment from the "specialist" over at Global TV. Oh, and can't forget about the bumper music that eats up another 8 to 10 minutes of the hour. Every other show on the station uses a 10 second music clip coming off a spot break as a way to transition back into whatever they were doing, but Kenyon usually just plays the entire song.

Sad part about Nelson being shown the door is that management is most likely just realigning the shifts for the remaining news staff, same amount of work needs to be done, but with fewer bodies to accomplish it. And many of those remaining bodies being recent SAIT grads who have great difficulty reading, a skill which, at one time, was a necessary prerequisite for being an on-air news person.

Corus is struggling hard right now, they're going to cut and slice and dice wherever and whenever they can, and if that means saving a few dollars by losing an hour of the morning show, that's what they're gonna do and our opinions about it mean squat.

Still hearing plenty of rumours about the amount of chain-wide networked programming that may be rolled out in the very near future on CKNW Vancouver, QR77 Calgary, CHED Edmonton, CJOB Winnipeg and AM640 Toronto. From an accountants point of view, you sure can save a lot of money by reducing those pesky local mid-day, afternoon and early evening shows.

[yycroof]

I just changed my alarm clock to 660 this week after rudely waking up to the tin foil hat weirdos on Monday morning at 5:30 am.
I'd prefer if they just ran the Best of segment again from 4AM-6AM.
Bruce Kenyon did not lose an hour, but gets to sleep in an extra hour. His show now goes from 6-10AM.

[rtirdnewsguy]

You are right - I found out later that Kenyon goes from 6 to 10 am - and he is not happy about it.
QR newscasts are also being cut by a minute so the bizarre circus continues !

[yycroof]

Another alternative to the tin foil hat weirdos is simulcast the first hour of the Global Morning Show from 5 to 6 AM.

[jon]

Starting CHQR's Morning Show at 6:00 a.m. makes no sense at all.

CHED has had different scenarios over the last decade before 6:00 a.m. but seems to be happy with their current setup where Bruce Bowie begins at 5:30 a.m. Even Capital-FM has had Rob & Audie start at 5:30 since the day they arrived at the station.

Coming from Vancouver to Edmonton in 1975, I was struck by the number of employers in Edmonton with business hours that began at 8:00 a.m. instead of the 9:00 a.m. I had been used to. Though heavily influenced by Engineering, which favoured the 8:00 a.m. start, even government offices, with their shorter workdays, were starting at 8:15. The only thing that has really changed since then is FlexTime when many employees choose their own office hours within a broader range. Which means a significant number coming earlier to avoid Rush Hour. Traffic always seems to be increasing during the earlier hours. It is no longer "dead" on the streets at 6:30 a.m.

Then there is the huge Construction sector. 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Even though it violates City Noise bylaws, in an area where new houses are being built, you'll see guys arrive at 6:30.

Bottom line: a lot of people in Alberta get up before 6:00 a.m. every weekday morning. And they want local information on their Radios. Which takes me back to a subject discussed earlier: early morning TV here includes Traffic reports because it has become an alternative to Radio being played at Home while people get ready to go to Work. Starting a Radio Morning Show at 6:00 a.m. is going to drive a lot of listeners who are up earlier to another station, whether it be Radio or TV.

[Rocky]

I think Corus has lost touch with reality.

Like out in Vancouver, until last week, you have a second rate former newsperson guiding a once very successful radio station into the ground. The PD err I mean Brand Director may know something about news, but doesn't have a clue about programming to a mass audience. Like Vancouver and Edmonton, the credible talented news people have been retired or simply fired because they cost too much and have been replaced by kids fresh out of SAIT, NAIT and BCIT who have no business working in a major market at this stage of their career.

You pay peanuts, you get monkeys working for you.

Starting Kenyon at 6 rather than 5 makes no sense whatsoever. Calgary always has been and always will be an early rising city.

Will 6 to 7 now be the hour that Kenyon tries to wake himself up and pretend he's half interested in what he's doing?

[Neumann Sennheiser]

Starting Kenyon at 6 rather than 5 makes no sense whatsoever.
Will 6 to 7 now be the hour that Kenyon tries to wake himself up and pretend he's half interested in what he's doing?

“There's an old joke ... two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions."

[rtirdnewsguy]

An update this morning - looks lke QR management has perhaps heard the uproar about starting the morning show at 6am. Today the fill-in for vacationing Kenyon ( Jock Wilson ) has mentioned several times that the morning show will start at 5 30 beginning Monday ! The Breakenridge-Kincaid show will run from 9 30 am to 1 pm !
This rather quick change of heart can perhaps be tracked to social media with many QR listeners taking to twitter and facebook to vent about the morning show moves. Will be interesting to hear how ' brand manager 'John Vos explains all of this !

[yycroof]

The response from John Vos:
http://www.newstalk770.com/2015/08/21/schedule-changes/

Sometimes when programming a popular radio station like News Talk 770 a guy in my position can, well, make the wrong decision. Last Monday, I made a change that upset many of the station’s faithful listeners. Specifically, you told me that starting The Morning News weekdays an hour later at 6am was a mistake. Via email and phone calls and texts you let me know what you thought and you were unequivocal in your opinion- a 6am start time for the show was too darn late for your morning routine.

You spoke. We listened.

Starting this Monday, The Morning News will begin at 5:30am. The earlier start time, based on your feedback (and boy did you feedback!) will again provide the news, weather and information you’ve come to depend on from The Morning News and News Talk 770. The shift will deliver an extra half hour of the show early in the morning and from 9:00am to 9:30am as some of you have asked.

One other note to thank those that reached out with your thoughtful responses and at the same time the expression of loyalty to this radio station.



Regards,

John Vos