The Sound Off Podcast

Do you remember last Spring, when the media was all abuzz about AI Ashley, the first-ever artificial intelligence radio DJ? If so, you might remember the name Alpha Media. They're the ones who help bring her to life. (AI Ashley is Ashley “Z” Elzinga) Phil Becker is the Executive Vice President of Content at Alpha Media, and our guest today. He has a hand in the programming and content efforts of o...

Terry Dimonte and Ted Bird are Montreal radio legends who started a podcast two years ago after Terry was unceremoniously retired from his morning radio job at CHOM-FM. Ted continues his morning show at Evanov's Lite 106.7 which serves the West Island. The podcast started as a one season affair that is now in its 6th season featuring amazing guests like Brice Hills and Mitch Garber. These names ma...

It's been 3 and a half years since we have had Steve on the show. The last time I spoke to him, we were trying to figure out how morning shows were going to do what they do everyday... but from home. We pick up where we left off with my first question, "Are we back to Normal?" (As if there was any normal to go to back to) In this episode, Steve and I discuss how his coaching business evolved throu...

"It’s all about looking for something that hasn’t been done before, and that will get people talking." - Paige Nienaber Paige is the VP for CPR Promotions, a marketing consultation firm. He consults over 350 stations across the U.S. and Canada. While radio is working through challenges like 40% less cume than a decade ago, and more audio options than ever before, Paige tells us that promotions are...

It's Halloween and way back in the 90's the station I used to work for had this thing called the Howler. It was an out of control good time featuring 5000 people and a band and some beer. Actually a lot of beer. This week I got back together with my old afternoon friend Jake Daniels and we just riffed on all the good times we used to have on air. Our show was always a contrast to the noise going o...

Erin Trafford is a co-founder of Story Studio Network, a full service content branding and podcast experience for brands she co-founded with her dad Dave Trafford, who is a radio mainstay in the Greater Toronto Area, and a regular contributor on Newstalk 1010 up until July when layoffs occured. Erin has the unique experience of growing up with a parent in broadcasting, which means you have been im...

Jennifer-Lee Gunson is the owner of J-Pod Creations which is a Vancouver based company specializing in branded podcasting. Before Jennifer got started in radio, she was an actor. She later enrolled at BCIT, found her way to Astral owned The Bear, which has now been shifted to the Bounce cluster of Bell properties. She returned to Vancouver after a stint in Prince George and took to the air (litera...

Aiden Wolf joins me to shares tips for making it big on YouTube. Over the last few years, podcasters have been trickling onto YouTube as it has proven effective for discovery. However, this does not make podcasters, effective YouTubers. In this episode you will hear Aiden talk about his journey in radio, from morning show host to voiceover artist. But it was his microphone reviews, and unboxings t...

The title to this episode was going to be "Cut the Bullshit" which was the name of the Facebook group Jeremy founded a number of years back. Jeremy is a podcast marketer and sherpa who helps brands launch and grow their shows. He acknowledges brightly that every show is different and will have a unique path. The best thing you can do for yourself is register for his newsletter, Creative Wayfinding...

Fatima Zaidi is the Founder and CEO at  Quill Inc. , an award-winning production agency specializing in corporate audio, and  CoHost , a podcast growth and analytics tool.  In this episode you'll hear Fatima talk about what goes into creating successful and listenable podcasts, how she fell into the tech industry, and the opportunity that presented itself in podcasting. We also disc...

For natives of Kelowna, B.C., Stephen Keppler requires no introduction. But on the off chance you're not from around there, Stephen is the morning drive host at Move 101.5 in Kelowna, one of the largest radio shows in B.C. Morning show hosts nowadays have a bit of a reputation for making easy content- lots of audience text and phone lines, asking questions like "What's your worst concert experienc...

Buzz Bishop has long been a name I have been familiar with in Canadian radio, but only last week did I get a chance to connect with him for the first time. A mainstay at Z95, Crave and Virgin 95.3, he segued to Calgary in 2009 where he took up the Top 40 cause at Amp 90.3, before crossing the hall to work at XL103. In recent weeks, he has been joined with Samantha Stevens who is no stranger to Cal...

Sean Ross is back to talk about radio and records. He answers my burning question: What happened to the hits? We also talked about the lost factor, whether "Join the Conversation" radio has run its course, and those songs of summer. We also talked about Radio Days North America, the lack of programming related radio conferences, and why Taylor Swift is as big as the Beatles. Please follow Sean on...

Sue Haas is an experienced media executive, having worked on a wide variety of teams and projects. She was at Blue Ant Media for over 12 years, managing sales operations as a director and digital media as VP and later SVP. This experience has made her a good fit for her new position as President and COO at NLogic, a company providing audience and commercial analysis tools for the TV and radio broa...

Josie Fenech has this awesome thing going where she has been apart of a fantastic Ottawa radio story. Hot 89.9 went on the air in 2003 and shortly after Josie joined the station on evenings and later joining the morning show where she was a fixture until 2019. Today she is the National Talent Director for Stingray and their 101 radio stations. We spoke about her career, she caught me up on the new...

Sam Sethi is setting out on his biggest adventure yet. The host of Podnews Weekly Review and former programmer at Windows and Netscape, is launching Podfans; part of a new wave of podcast apps you can find here on the Podnews website. Over the last few years, podcast shows like Podnews, Pocasting 2.0 with Adam Curry and Dave Jones, and shortly after The New Media Show with Rob Greenlee and Todd Co...

Lauren Passell is the owner of Tink Media. Her experience in Public Relations . gives her a unique perspective. But simply put, podcasting is public relations. Everything from getting the guest, preparing the show, and marketing and promoting the show is what a great PR firm executes; all in the name of messaging and creating audience awareness. Lauren along with Arielle Nissenblatt, embarked on p...

Bryan Goldmark heads up Sales at the Locked On Podcast Network. The Network was founded in 2016 by Utah Jazz radio announcer David Locke and sold in 2021 to Tegna. Today it is home to over 200 podcasts and 25 million listeners who want to enjoy a daily fix from a podcast about their favourite team in the NHL, NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, and College Football. In this episode you will hear all...

Jodi Krangle knows audio. She's a long-time VO talent with a voice as smooth as melted butter, and the host of her own podcast, Audio Branding. If our show is trying to find the intersection between podcast and broadcast, then Jodi's has already found the crossroads between voiceover and podcast. With over 100 episodes, she's explored every possible angle for enhancing your business through the us...

This October will be 10 years of Canadaland . Jesse Brown joins me to talk about his short time in radio working for the CBC, and why he started his podcast. In this episode, you will hear why Jesse started Canadaland, his decision to create a network, the incredible story of how the Jian Ghomeshi story broke, and some thoughts about recent laws passed by the Canadian Government that are causing h...

Coming off the heels of a positive vibe at Radio Days North America, the radio landscape is flooded with bad news regarding 1300 layoffs, 6 Canadian AM radio stations being closed down entirely, Canada's Bill C-18 leading to the throttling or complete shutdown of news on Google and Facebook respectively, Bell asking the CRTC to reduce its local promise of performance and the launch of Futuri Media...

On this week's edition of "Producers Interviewing Producers," we've got Kattie Laur, a podcast producer from the Toronto area. But she's more than just that. In fact, the main subject of this episode is her newsletter, Pod The North. Pod The North is designed around the idea of creating a community for Canadian podcasters, since in all her years of working with audio, she noticed there wasn't real...

This week, we're back with another old friend of the show. Charles Adler was last on in 2019, and at the time, he was about to be on-air with Corus Radio. Nowadays, he's joining the ever-growing list of radio vets who have decided to go digital. Charles is starting up his own podcast, The Charles Adler Show, in just a few weeks. We know this, not just because he told us, but because The Sound Off...

If you were ever a fan of radio, there's a good chance you had a favourite morning show. A particular host, or group of hosts, who showed up every morning and gave you a laugh or a smile on your way to work. Unfortunately, it's also very likely that your favourite show ended at some point. Time marches on, budgets shift, people change, and eventually the hosts you know and love will inevitably tak...

A few episodes ago, I interviewed Jeff Smulyan about his new book . As I read the book "Never Ride a Rollercoaster Upside Down" , I wanted to hear more about the construction of some of the great radio stations like KPWR (Power 106) Los Angeles, and Hot 97 in New York. Rick Cummings was apart of those and number of other radio success stories. In this episode, Rick shares some great radio stories...