The Sound Off Podcast

Georgia Beasley has penned 2 articles for Radio Ink magazine called, "My Life as a Radio Millennial". The podcast was in the midst of assembling an episode on the Millennials coming of age now that they occupy a whole key ad-buying demo to themselves. (Adults 25-34) We speak to Georgia Beasley, Digital Sales Director for Beasley Media Group. Other contributions from Matt Abra who attended #NAB2017...

Broadway Bill Lee is one of the reasons I fell in love with radio. In the late 80's I would watch Vuolo Video airchecks and Bill stood out amongst the crowd. Fast forward to the digital era and Bill is still entertaining people on multiple social media platforms with his unique song intros that make him one of a kind. His afternoon show on the legendary WCBS-FM is top rated because of the hard wor...

Pat Holiday has spent 9 years away from work inside a physical radi station. In that time he has seen that its issues remain the same and there is both good and bad in that. He moderated the Broadcast Leadership panel "Like a Boss" at Canadian Music Week and did not serve up any softballs, but he did admit to leaving a few fast balls on the table. From his iconic beginnings at the Big 8 at CKLW in...

David Phillips is the President and COO of NLogic, His discussions on data and surveys have been well received at media conferences, which spurned my interest in bringing David onto the podcast last fall. The timing was right this spring with the recent upgrades to the Lens product. His perspective is unique and refreshing; it will leave radio people wondering why we behave and think the way we do...

A few weeks ago, we had J.J. Johnston on the podcast to give us the story and background behind Steve Young and the Alan Waters Young Broadcaster Award. This year the award goes to Jesse Modz from CJAY 92 in Calgary. In this episode, you will get to know Jesse and what it takes to win this award. He is already wise enough to realize that one will always do better with more creativity (and mor...

It takes a whole conversation with J.C. Douglas to realize that the journey lies somewhere between the Grateful Dead's "Truckin'" (What a Long Strange Trip it's been...) and Motley Crue's Wild Side. From the early days at Q104, to nearly 30 years at the station - and now at long-time rival C100. His durability on air is a result of hard work, learning and knowing the brand of your station. I know...

Ronnie Stanton emigrated from Australia to Canada in 2008 after a successful stint as a morning show host and programmer on the Sunshine Coast. His 5 years at Astral Media's 95 Crave then Virgin Radio, morphed into a difficult decision to cross the street to Corus Radio's CFOX and Rock 101. His latest career move has him heading south to Alpha Media where he is VP/Programming and residing in San J...

Chuck McCoy has been in radio for 52 years. But he won't tell you he has worked in radio - but in audio. He is forward thinking enough to recognize that he has been an audio business all along. You might think that when we bring someone onto this podcast who has had a long and storied career, that we would talk about the past. Instead he wanted to talk about the NOW and the future. Chuck also prov...

Eric Samuels hired me to do evenings at 100.3 the Bear in Edmonton in 1994. Although Eric would move on to Vancouver a few years later, the two years I worked under him set the tone for how I would broadcast and program radio for years to follow. The best way I could describe his approach is that it is okay to broadcast outside the lines of the unwritten rules of radio. (And by that, I don't mean...

TJ Connors has come full circle. The station he grew up around is now his afternoon home. His father, the legendary Scruff Connors, was the morning man at 97.7 HTZ-FM in St. Catherines during the height of rock radio's mass appeal phase in the early 90's. A quarter century later, the Connors name is back on HTZ-FM. I hired TJ to do mornings at Power in 2012, and had a chance to work with him as a...

The Allan Waters Young Broadcaster Award, (a tribute to Steve Young) will be announced this week. It goes to a Canadian broadcaster under the age of 30 for their creative contributions on radio and in the community. Past winners include Fearless Fred, Amanda Logan, Rena Jae, Adam Wylde and others. It made me wonder how much younger broadcasters know about Steve and his contributions to radio in No...

Larry Gifford has worked at great radio stations across the U.S.A. like KIRO in Seattle and Sports radio 710 ESPN in LA. After a stint in consulting, he found his way north to CKNW in Vancouver where he watched the American Election of a lifetime unfold from the other side of the border. Larry also has a podcast called “Radio Stuff” which is now out of hibernation and sponsored by the same people...

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...