Bell Edmonton dumps Virgin Morning show

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Bell Edmonton dumps Virgin Morning show

Postby Rocky » Wed Nov 21, 2018 5:14 pm

Yesterday, Bell in Toronto eliminated 6 on air talents from CKFM Virgin Radio.

Earlier today, we found out the morning team at Virgin Radio Edmonton (CFMG-FM) was also a casualty of Bell's latest blood letting. Ian MacKinnon and Chelsea Bird have both confirmed on social media that they are no longer part of the team at the struggling CHR outlet.

Name changes are quite likely at all the Virgin branded stations across the country. Always sad to see air talent being the ones to pay for mistakes made by those at the top who have no business being in the position they are in.

Once again, ain't radio fun. Merry Christmas!
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Re: Bell Edmonton dumps Virgin Morning show

Postby slowhand » Wed Nov 21, 2018 5:30 pm

Three CHRs in a market the size of Edmonton, with an economy taking the fast lane to the dumpster. Something had to give.
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Re: Bell Edmonton dumps Virgin Morning show

Postby Aaron » Wed Nov 21, 2018 5:39 pm

Rocky wrote:Name changes are quite likely at all the Virgin branded stations across the country


No, they really aren't. This false rumour has been pushed by the same PSR contributor for at least a year, and it keeps getting re-circulated as truth. The brand has been very successful on all but one of their CHRs.
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Re: Bell Edmonton dumps Virgin Morning show

Postby groundskeeper willy » Wed Nov 21, 2018 7:29 pm

At this point, nobody really knows what the reasoning is for the Toronto & Edmonton dismissals.

Bad ratings? Station politics? Budgetary issues?

From what I've seen of the station's PPM's, both were pulling respectable numbers in key demos, so I highly doubt ratings would be the culprit for either of them being tossed aside.

Could it be an issue of chemistry & personality fit within their respective buildings? With both teams having a few years tenure in their time slots, probably not. Any outstanding issues should have been dealt with a long time ago.

Bell is always looking to trim expenses, so it's a possibility both locations needed to shed a certain number of dollars in order to hit budget targets, something that's just a cold, hard reality these days. Absolutely nothing to do with performance, simply an accounting issue usually based on economic conditions beyond anybody's control.

As for the axing's being a precursor to a branding or format change? Uh, yeah, sure, there's always the possibility that Bell may drop the Virgin branding package, simply because somebody in a corner office in Toronto may have made the decision to no longer pay the hefty licensing fees once the existing contract is up. Or perhaps focus group testing has indicated that the Virgin brand is no longer seen as being favourable with key demos, that, perceptually, it's now viewed as being tired or old with the kids. Or maybe an insecure individual in upper management has decided to make widespread format changes just for the sake of making changes, shaking things up a bit and helping to justify their existence within the corporate org chart. It is a bit of a leap to assume that this round of pink slipping will result in wholesale revamping's across all of the Virgin-branded stations nationwide. More hard evidence (and less wild hypothesizing) is required on this particular idea.

Instead of speculating about why things happened, how about if we focus on the people affected. Losing your job sucks at the best of times, but going through it heading into the holiday season can be especially tough. If you know any of the individuals at either station involved, reach out to them. Spend a few moments and text, email or call; let them know that, even though they're out of a gig right now, they're still connected within the industry.
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