By Alison Larabie
The sale of three Ottawa radio stations in the past several months will not affect most on-air programming, according to staff at CHEZ 106, The Bear and CFRA.
It may, however, affect the number of radio jobs left in the capital region.
The sale of three stations to two major Canadian media companies started last year, soon after the CRTC changed legislation that limited companies to ownership of one AM and one FM station in any major market.
As of last April, companies may now own two stations on each band.
Stations owned by the same company could consolidate and share space, as the four CHUM-owned stations will do next year.
These four stations include OSR 1200, Majic 100, KOOL-FM and CFRA.
Less office space could mean fewer staff will be needed to run each station, says Scott Parsons, general manager of CHEZ 106.
Also, Parsons says Y105 and Oldies 1310, which are owned by Rogers, will probably move into the CHEZ building at 134 York St. in the Byward Market sometime next year.
“It will mean some economies of scale; probably there will be some downsizing, some equalization of jobs . . . there will be lots of people out there who can all do the same jobs,” says Parsons.
For now, the changes are mostly in name, prompted by the CRTC legislation.
“We were looking closely at what was happening.
“We had an offer in to buy CHEZ,” says Dave Mitchell, program director at CFRA, one of four Ottawa stations now owned by CHUM.
But when CHEZ was sold to Rogers instead, Mitchell says the natural next step was “to make an offer to the Rawlco people,” the national corporation that owned Majic and OSR before their sale to CHUM.
But when CHEZ 106 hired away the entire on-air staff of The Bear’s morning show in late September, the move prompted curiosity about how much the Ottawa radio market will change as a result of stronger presences by CHUM and Rogers.
“I don’t anticipate any more changes,” says Parsons.
“Because of us having the Bear’s morning show, a lot of people think we’re going to heavy up our sound, but I think that will stay the same.”
Mitchell says all four stations owned by CHUM are doing very well in their markets and will remain largely unchanged.
“Majic is a great radio station — they have great at-work numbers,” he says.
Since OSR (now dubbed “The Team”) is a sports/talk format, CFRA has dropped its evening sports programming in favour of business shows instead.
“In the few weeks we’ve been doing it, reaction has been very good,” says Mitchell.
But the consensus seems to be that, except for the names on the letterhead, not much has changed.
“I can’t imagine anyone changing what they do because they’re not doing well in it. Everyone’s carving out a niche,” says Eric Stafford, general manager of The Bear.
Stafford says his station has found its own niche of alternative and new rock programming.
Parsons says he thinks the market will see a wider diversification of formats with the group-owned stations.
“Independents tend to go towards the middle of the market,” he says, “because in order to survive they need to get the widest share of the market they can. But now we’ll each go after niche audiences.”
Stafford says the niches are so well-defined and the market so well-covered in Ottawa that no one really needs to change their programming.
“At the end of the day, it’s simple — people choose the station they listen to. Most average listeners don’t care who owns what,” he says.