The Sound Off Podcast

Lori Lewis is the Chairperson for the 42nd edition of the Conclave which will be taking place July 26-28 in Minneapolis. She is also the VP of Social at Cumulus; which means this call was a great opportunity to ask her some of the social media and radio questions that I get asked a lot. If you want to check out the line up at the Conclave, go to http://www.theconclave.com - tickets are on sale for...

Erica Farber is the CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau. And as the picture says - she loves radio! If you ever get the feeling that no one has your back in radio, stop by the website and you will remember the great things radio has going for it. There are tools, tips and tricks for non-members, but as we discussed - membership does have its privileges. She has a storied career that spans great de...

Jason Barrett is the owner of Barrett Sports Media, a New York based sports programming and marketing company designed to help sports radio and television companies, professional sports teams, and sports agencies, enjoy long-term success in the audio, digital and social media space. Okay - I took that part from his website, but if any part of your radio day involves sports or digital - you need to...

Hal Anderson has been a fixture on the radio in Winnipeg since the late 80's. On our 34th episode, we thought it would appropriate to have the 34th Greatest Canadian on the podcast; which also coincided with his return to 680 CJOB, after being let go in a move that ratings wise, appears regrettable. I took the podcast on the road this week to catch up with Hal and talk about the 1999 "Naked Girl o...

Jeff Vidler has been involved in research for a long time. After the podcast had been recorded, I remembered a time when, as program director of CJFM in Montreal, he would use his research to entice clients as much as listeners. As the years went on, I worked with Jeff on music testing, perceptuals, and format finders. All my experiences have been positive as research generally shone a light, show...

Canadian Music Week is taking place in at the Sheraton Centre Downtown in Toronto April 18 to 23. Greg Simpson has been working all of them since 1993, and tells us what to expect this year, how the conference has evolved to include digital, and the value in attending. This week's episode is sponsored by Promosuite - who will also be in attendence at Canadian Music Week. If you are going, be sure...

Sports is fast becoming the format of choice for graduating media students. With the commodity value of music at an all time low, and news becoming polarizing and at time "fake", Sports broadcasting attracting aspiring millennial broadcasters. Alex Rawnsley is the owner and creator of Sportscasterlife.com - a website designed to help Sportscasters get better at their craft. He has made available a...

We release this episode in the moments when we say goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017. Perry Michael Simon is the news talk columnist for AllAccess.com and he provides us with some year end perspective. Radio is a reflection of the community and often the format is a record of how we react to what happens in the world. There's optimism, pessimism, and a while lot left on the table. If one of your N...

Terry Dimonte is the morning man at CHOM 97.7 and he LOVES Christmas. Every year he spends the Friday before the morning show breaks for the holiday. Justin Trudeau has always made a point of stopping by to see his good friend and share some music from his iPod. When you become Prime Minister - everything changes. But not Justin's appearance on the Christmas show. He stills makes a point of seeing...

David Marsden was inducted in the Canadian Music Industry and Broadcast Hall of Fame back in 2011. Most of us might consider hitting the beach at that point, but David carries the Spirit of Radio onward with http://NYtheSpirit.com - a high quality streaming free form station whose sound rivals that of any FM product. David penned an editorial for FYIMusicnews.ca , citing the disconnect between rad...

Paul Kaye is the National Talent Coach for Rogers Radio. He held a similar role at Newcap in Calgary (Amp 90.3) and Vancouver (Z95.3) before heading to Toronto to join Rogers owned Kiss 92.5. His blog posts are widely shared and refreshing in a era where what constitutes great content is frequently contested. What's really encouraging is that the positions involving "talent" and "coaching" are (re...

Steve Kowch is a talent coach, radio consultant and ran two of the biggest News Talk stations in Canada for many decades; CJAD in Montreal and News Talk 1010 CFRB in Toronto. As I was interviewing Steve about talent and journalism, I thought of all of his experiences he had with the mega-sized news stories he covered in Montreal and Toronto. (FLQ, PQ, Referenda, Olympics, Sars, Rob Ford) As this i...

Charles Adler has made his way back to the Corus Radio, the place he spent nearly a decade doing a national radio show from 2004 to 2013. In this episode, Charles tells us who the best radio personality is in Canada, what makes terrestrial radio great, and how the media mishandled the U.S. election. I had the luxury of working with Charles for a number of years and if it sounds like we are catchin...

Christopher Ward was one of the first Much Music VJ's. His new book is called Is This Live? Inside the Wild Early Years of Much Music: The Nation's Music Station. There's a lot we forgot or don't know about the station's early years. Partly because not everyone had the channel for the first few years; it was not apart of the basic cable package until 1987. That led to some lean years budget wise....

Leslie Scott is the Program Director 107.7 The End in Seattle. the alternative station started in 1991 in the throes of the grunge movement. Earlier this year - they committed to their millennial audience by committing to less commercials and playing great music. Now, that's a time old cliché that every station claims, but they backed it up with a 2 minute cluster guarantee, marketed it with a has...

Terry Evans has been an Edmonton radio mainstay for 36 years. I know this because 18 years ago, he reminded me that he has been in radio for 18 years. He has been written off and told time and time again that his time is over; yet maintains a solid following and entrenchment into the community. We could all learn from Terry; which is why he is on the podcast this week. Also I provide a small take...

Mark Ramsey is a media strategist and researcher who has a history of innovative thoughts and approaches towards the audio medium. Consider his Hivio gatherings in 2015 and 2016 which celebrated audio under the banner of a “festival” rather than “conference”, and “audio” rather than “radio”. His twice monthly podcast with author Tom Asacker is a half hour of time well spent in this era of multi-pl...

The first ever Sound Off Convention took place this week. An amazing collection of speakers came out for the Sound Off Convention and the W Downtown Hilton Hyatt Marriot. Speakers Included: * Matt Cundill, Sound Off Podcast Host.  * Jason Barrett, Barrett Sports Media discussing Sports talent. * Perry Michael Simon, All Access.com on Radio innovation.  * Marty Forbes, Radiowise & Alan Cross, Major...

An anniversary for Humble & Fred. Five years ago they rolled the dice and took a chance that their radio brand still had cache. It was a great gamble. Their radio brand is alive and well and flourishing on Sirius XM weekdays from 7-9am Eastern, and in the podcast world daily. They have the downloads, business model and clients to prove it. They are also generous in lending their studio space to ra...

Alan Cross wears many hats and has many titles. My favourite two are historian and author. His perspective on music's intersection with the digital world is refreshing. Every day he works to find the answers to what ails two of his great passions, music and radio. Also, I address the idiots in radio who won't get on board the digital train and at least acknowledge that listener habits are drastica...

Fred Kennedy is the morning show host at 102.1 The Edge in Toronto. We counted 6 cities and 2 firings on his journey to Toronto. Along the way, he worked with an A-List of Canadian radio people. He listened, learned, and took notes along the way - all while remaining blistfully unaware. Please subscribe, rate and review where possible. For Radio talk 24/7 go to http://inrad.io Join the Podtrac Pan...

Marty Forbes was the General Manager of Standard Radio in Edmonton for many years. His Father was the legendary Jerry Forbes at 630 CHED, who started many great charities including Santa Anonymous. Since leaving Standard Radio, Marty started a company called Radiowise that consults radio properties with an emphasis on Digital inclusion. This is another podcast where you should feel free to take no...

David Tyler is the voice of CTV National News and W5 in Canada, and various stations across the United States. David spent some time talking about his stint in radio and he discusses the myths and realities of the voiceover industry in the digital revolution. David has offered a discount code for a 4 part series of learning at David Tyler's ULTIMATE Voice Over Guide® Online! It's a full course of...

John Largent started his podcast called "Tailgate Radio" two years ago. A simple concept of a podcast about tailgating has found a following. The NFL season is underway and the return of that great American past time - tailgating. Also Jeff Woods with an update on his new radio project and how your station can be apart of it. Please sign up for the Podtrac survey here. http://survey.podtrac.com/st...

Jason Barrett runs Barrett Sports Media and gives us insight into Sports as it pertains to radio, TV and digital. If you love sports radio, you will enjoy his perspective and I encourage you to follow him on twitter. http://www.twitter.com/sportsradiopd Be apart of the podcast survey and keep the medium strong: http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=c-pwg3hNJ1tz&ver=standard Also in thi...