Radio ratings in Vancouver reveal public frustration with mediocrity
The radio ratings matter to some people, especially old radio hacks and advertisers. I’m a big radio fan, but listen to very little local radio these days. The declining audience numbers indicate that I’m not the only person switching off.
Rock music oriented radio in Vancouver is predictable and tired. Year by year it seems to get worse.
CFOX is impossible for me to listen to. There are those who continue to rawk with the Fox, but I think they should stick a fork in the whole format now. Their over-compressed audio output, dependence on lousy Can-Con nü metal and bubblegum punk, combined with advertisements for marijuana grow-op equipment are signals that they are only interested in wayward males (with no standards for good music or programming) as an audience.
The growth of soft-rock Clear FM proves that we mellow West Coasters have an unlimited appetite for “soft” stuff. You wouldn’t want to wake us from our yoga-induced bliss, would you? I thought there were meds out there to keep us from getting over-excited. Surely we don’t need Norah Jones too?
For the rest of you 40-somethings that have long since sold your Kiss and Devo records, but are not quite prepared to give up, move to White Rock and start an RESP, I urge you to plug back into Indie and alternative music. There are good bands out there worth supporting and listening to, such as Franz Ferdinand and Modest Mouse.
When it comes to radio formats, I cannot say enough about Seattle’s The End (KNDD 107.7 FM). They are owned by the huge Entercom radio corporation. Instead of forcing them to maximize market share and fighting their way from one ratings book to another, they let the station ask their audience what they wanted. They didn’t over rely on consultants, which have been the bane of radio for a generation. They dropped all radio announcers for over a month and ran a regular promo asking people to sound off about what they wanted in terms of music and programming style. They came back with an “alternative declaration“, a set of principles to support new music and to reduce replay frequency, and hired an airstaff that didn’t suck. The music is exceptional most of the time too.
The End also plays better Canadian acts, such as Metric, Tegan & Sarah, and The Arcade Fire, than Canadian radio stations do. Kind of puts the lie to Canadian content regulations that makes stars out of acts like Nickelback and Sum 41, yet allows stations to ignore our best artists.
There’s a way out of this mess for Vancouver stations, but that would require vision that appears to be lacking within local stations.
Dave Holden
December 27, 2004 @ 11:10 am
Good to see that I’m not the only one who has noticed the changes in Seattle’s 107.7 The End. (Shaw Cable FM 107.5)
They have been satisfying my ears since they “grew up” last year. I have gone to End Fest to see Echo & The Bunnymen, Metric et al. Unfortunately, I don’t see the Vancouver market creating great radio. I would be interested in seeing some stats about the (ever-increasing) loss of radio listenership and the dying youth radio market.
Mark Bignell
April 25, 2005 @ 4:43 am
I agree completely with your observation on Vancouver’s decline in radio listenership. Vancouver radio has been suffering from mediocrity for years. There hasn’t been anything even HINTING at what COAST (800 & 1040) offered 12 years ago. What’s worse is, more than ever, Vancouver’s more unique and innovative talent is continually being unjustly wasted, because the CRTC and SOCAN won’t wake up! If I EVER hear anyone from the CRTC or any other “ill-informed” Canadian organization declare the increased Cancon regulations are there for little more than to give the same old artists more airplay because there’s “nothing happening
in Canadian music today”, I’ll SCREAM!!! Visit bandcouver.com for one, you morons!!! This just covers Vancouver and Victoria! One artist I’ve been supporting for years is BOCEPHUS KING. His unique brand of Roots-rock meets a three ring circus has been around since the sad demise of Coast. This man should be a STAR. But without a commercial station even thinking about giving his music a chance, he doesn’t have a prayer. Sure there’s CITR, but, they can tend to be a tad too cliquish at times with what they play (they call themselves alternative, but, they can play showbiz mind games, which I can do without), and Co-op is soooo bogged down in political and social ills, the music (especially the type Coast played and would play now if it still existed) suffers. CBC?
I haven’t listened to Radiosonic or Brave New Waves in ages! I’m usually out at live music shows (Railway,Media Club,Pic Pub,Anza, Pit Pub, Backstage Lounge, Rime, candy Bar etc.)on weekends. From what I’ve heard in the last 12 years, even the non-commercial stations are a huge dissapointment! CFRO has suffered from a “Ghetto-ization” of its music. Music shows that just play Reggae, just play Jazz, just play Celtic. This kind of programming doesn’t work for me.I believe this is one of the major reasons CFRO still has a comparably small audience. I would enjoy Co-op far more if its musical programming was more varied. I’ve been hosting an eclectic, local indie music show for years at CFRO (Radio Bandcouver,Fridays 9pm,102.7 FM), and the fact that CFRO has never really gone out and shown itself to be a beacon for independent talent, has been a hinderance to the show and shows like it that have come and gone. I’m not saying political and social issues don’t have their place on the air ,but, when I see the number of modern indie music shows drop off one by one on one of the last places to hear such music, its no wonder people go to the internet and other sources for new music.CFRO (Co-op) seems to forget musicians are part of the community too. I don’t think I’m merely complaining. A good friend of mine tried to help bring more interest and enthusiasm to new music at CFRO, and was eventually tossed out of the station because the time and energy she was putting in towards it made our rather jaded music librarian look bad. She,like me, could get pretty wound up at times and felt CFRO didn’t give a damn about the music, and could have an additude that’s every bit as destructive to new indie music as the commercial stations-letting an egenda run the station.Unless there’s some change at CFRO in the future, I don’t see it surviving another 30 years.
Vancouver radio’s going to hell in a handbasket, but, you won’t see me giving up anytime soon!
Mark Bignell
April 25, 2005 @ 4:13 pm
Yep. Vancouver radio stinks to high heaven, and non-commercial sources are no better. CITR can be too elitsit with whom they deem “cool”, Co-op radio gets “too” bogged down in politics and social issues, and CBC airs new music shows in terrible timeslots.
I’m usually out at clubs checking out local talent for the only true supporter of local talent on Co-op: Radio Bandcouver.It’s one place that stills offers some of the spirit Coast (800 and 1040)had in getting more unique and innovative new local talent on the air.Fridays 9pm-10:30pm at 102.7 FM.
It returns May 6th after CFRO’s bi-annual (April and October of every year) fundraising drive. In the meantime, I’ll be listening in to the End, as well as continuing to log on 6music for my much-needed new music fix.Wake up, Vancouver!
Zach Doyle
July 18, 2008 @ 2:46 pm
super late comment, but still.
for radio in vancouver, it’s worth trying to get 91.3 the zone.