RadioNL 610AM Kamloops shuts down another transmitter

[KamloopsRadioDude]

As the fall of this once great station continues, it has shutdown yet another one of its re-broadcast transmitters permanently. Previous Ashcroft transmitter was also shut down (viewtopic.php?p=12868833)
This station was once an Interior Powerhouse of excellent news, reliable reporting and integrity. It's a shell of it's former self and now seems to be an extremely poorly biased opinion based show presentation.

Former owners are probably dismayed as to what Stingray radio has devolved it to.

How long until they cut the expensive on-air staff and go to music, or flip the main transmitter to FM?

[everhopeful]

How long until they cut the expensive on-air staff and go to music

22 days apparently

[bc-radio-guy]

How long until they cut the expensive on-air staff and go to music

22 days apparently

Wow, that was an eerie sad prediction. Sad what's happening in this business.

[radioman]

Did any of these re-broadcast transmitter locations (Ashcroft, Clearwater, etc.) actually have any staff at these locations, or was it just a transmitter humming away? If there was no staff to pay and now NL can't apparently even afford the electricity to keep the transmitters broadcasting, they must be in really dire financial straits.

Just another symptomatic example of the sad financial state of affairs of media (radio, t.v., newspapers, magazines). They are all shadows of their former selves. Once great radio news outlets run the same story, un-rewritten, over and over again, even starting major newscasts with day-old stories. National t.v. newscasts feature reporters based in Ottawa reporting on stories from places such as the Middle East. Newspapers that once had an average of 50 to 60 pages during the week with 100+ pages on Saturdays now struggle to even reach the 30 page mark during the week and maybe hit 50 on Saturday. And once plump weekly magazines now are reduced to thin monthlies. And all the time we readers pay more for a copy of the newspaper or magazine and get less. Something's not right here.

And as for the music radio stations--why oh why are the disc jockeys muzzled? They say little about the music they play. The music stations are not much more than a glorified juke box--no information for the listeners about the title of the song, or any tid bits of information about the artist. When are we going to get back to the days of the great Vancouver disc jockeys such as Jack Cullen, Red Robinson, Fred Latremouille, Dave McCormick, etc. who acted as "masters of ceremonies" of their shows, if you will, and truly entertained along with the artists they were playing.

[everhopeful]

The retransmitters were unstaffed. And somewhat redundant now (during daytime) as I think I have tuned into 610 at Clearwater with decent reception. These rebroadcasters were mostly installed before the Kamloops transmitter got the OK to go from 10 to 25kw during the day.

So am I correct in thinking that CHNL has no retransmitters left?

I have a feeling that NL wouldn't have got this thrashing if it was still locally owned. Its easy to see the station as just an expense list on a spreadsheet in a boardroom in Montreal. Adjustments would still have to be made, the radio market is shrinking, but it wouldn't be hollowed out this much.

[Dan Sys]

So am I correct in thinking that CHNL has no retransmitters left?

Stingray owns and operates 86 watt CFNL 107.1 in Sorrento which simulcasts CHNL 610. Still on the air according to the ISEDC database. There are also low power CHNL repeaters on the air run by local community associations in Avola 97.5 20 watts, in Blue River 98.1 20 watts, and in Logan Lake 1 96.7 23 watts
.

[crs]

WHO in their right mind would pursue a career in radio nowadays? Any post-secondary facility selling would-be broadcasters on a false hope that "radio is where it's at" should be ashamed of taking thousands of dollars in tuition away from duped students. Any broadcaster wannabes on this site are forewarned the big corporate hacks back east don't give a rats about your careers. Corporate sucked the life blood outta radio a long, long time ago. The "no repeat workday" and "join the conversation" is the new normal. Reading pre-scripted ad-libs and keeping those newscasts SHORT (coz NO ONE tunes in for THAT) so we can resume that next 10-in-a-row...yeah that makes me tune in

[groundwave]

...National t.v. newscasts feature reporters based in Ottawa reporting on stories from places such as the Middle East.

Never mind places abroad. Last May, Global's National (news) originated their first two reports on the Oilers' playoff run from Calgary (of all places!) before hastily flying in a T.O. reporter to take over live coverage in Edmonton. Apparently, their affiliate serving the country's fifth-largest market isn't even sufficiently staffed to submit a national story.

[Bigbangboomer]

Running multiple transmitters/rebroads is really not cost effective. they probably never were in the first place 20, 30, 40 years ago - however with new regulations - especially around ISED Safety Code 6, it's cheaper to shut 'em down then pay thousands or tens of thousands for just the fencing requirements (let alone the capital replacement when they reach end of life). It's really simple Business Math.