The Sound Off Podcast

If you've listened to sports radio in Alberta anytime in the last three decades, you probably know Bryn Griffiths. He's been positively prolific in covering the NHL and CFL teams in the area since the 90's- which is around when I met him. Bryn joins us from Edmonton this week to talk about his lifelong passion for sports and broadcasting, and fair warning, this episode is a big one. We begin by ex...

If you're a Canadian audience member who's tuned in to a CBC News broadcast anytime in the last 20 or so years, this week's guest should look very familiar. We're joined by Wendy Mesley, the longtime Sunday host of CBC's The National, among several other shows in CBC's repertoire. In this episode, you will hear about Wendy's early years as a reporter at CFCF in Montreal, her time in radio in Toron...

This is what they call in podcasting... a Feed Drop. An opportunity for you to sample another podcast. We had Paige Neinaber on our show back in June 2021. Y ou can and should listen to that episode here . We are sharing this because we know you may not have budget to access great radio toys - but you should spare a little time for the people who are sharing their wisdom... especially when it's fr...

NLogic has been a supporter of our podcast since 2017. In that time, we've had NLogic's President and COO David Phillips on the show to discuss the radio industry's relationship with audience data. In the current day and age, we have more audience data than ever before, and often we can't see what is relevant in the moment. I saw David at a panel at Canadian Music Week not too long ago, and had so...

This week, we're making what might be the longest-distance connection we've ever made for an episode. Tony Doe is a Nigerian Radio and Podcast Consultant who spent years on-air in the past, and remains a podcast staple in Nigeria. I'm willing to bet most of our audience has never really thought about the podcast and radio scene in Nigeria, but as Tony will tell you, it's certainly different from w...

Podcast Hall of Famer Evo Terra is ending his Podcast Pontifications show. The show has dissected all points of the podcast business and there have been moments of punditry, contemplations, skepticism, and at times political positioning. This show along with a selection of others have been my "go-to" shows to learn more about what is happening in podcasting. In this episode you will find out what...

This week's guest is Tessa Malisani. Tessa is a voiceover artist, and if you couldn't tell from the title, one with quite the diverse portfolio. Aside from her current VO work, you'd probably be most likely to recognize her as the voice of the weeknight shift on 99.9 Virgin Radio in Toronto. You might also know her as the host of the backstage lounge at the iHeartRadio MMVA's. Or for her time on C...

Matt hears more bad radio than good radio. There are stations and shows that are mailing it in, doing smash and grab type bits that don't brand build for either the radio station or the personalities; and radio's share of the audience against streaming and podcasting continues to diminish as a result. Spoiler: Matt does not twist his ankle coming off his soapbox. A thanks to the people who support...

Bryan Barletta is back to tell us about the evolution of his company, Sounds Profitable. He started it two years ago, and since then it's evolved harmoniously alongside the podcast industry. You don't need even need to have podcast ads on your show to find value in its podcasts and newsletters, which we highly recommend you subscribe to. In this episode, we speak to Bryan about the first two years...

Clayon Kroeker came out of Don Scott's Western Academy of Broadcast back in 2010 with eyes on becoming a sports commentator. Don suggested that he try FM Music to start as there are more opportunities avaiable. He landed the very coveted overnight position at GX94 in Yorkton, Saskatchewan which still believes in the power of overnight radio. Clayton then went on to work at Golden West Broadcasting...

This week, we're joined by David Yas, founder and CEO of the Boston Podcast Network. David's name is attached to about 1000 episodes of various shows, which have altogether garnered over 367,000 downloads. David and I talk about that network of his quite a bit, including how he got into podcasting in the first place, and how he built it up into one of the most successful independent podcast networ...

Shawn Smith is the owner of Broadcast Dialogue, and its parent company Momentum Media Marketing. Broadcast Dialogue has been around since 1992, and is well-established as Canada's premiere broadcast industry trade publication. If you've been following The Sound Off Podcast since the beginning, you might remember that Shawn originally appeared on this podcast in its infancy. In this episode, we dis...

It has been 515 days since we had Fred Jacobs has been on the show. Back then we were unpacking a lot of the surprising results from a Covid induced Tech Survey. This time we have the benefit of catching up on three pieces of research that I felt needed discussing: The two Tech Survey's for Public Radio and Commercial radio, and the AQ4 Survey which targets air talent. The fourth instalment of AQ...

Jay Nachlis recently celebrated 5 years at Coleman Insights, he admitted that "not every career move I've made was the best decision, but every one of them was important for different reasons. With every single one, I made lasting friendships, learned from mistakes, and got better." Which is why he ascended to VP/Consultant & Marketing Director at Coleman Insights earlier this year. I had the...

We last spoke to Dervla Trainor back in 2019. Dervla is the founder and co-owner of the V.O. North conference, and it was getting to that point where the event was creating FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) for people in the Voice over community. Sadly, the pandemic caused a disruption to that momentum with 2020 being shifted online and 2021 postponed. However, the event is back and better than ever Sept...

This episode, versatility is the word of the day. Sam Cook is currently the host and executive producer of The Shot, a singer/songwriter competition show filmed in Toronto, but she's also spent time as a radio host, podcaster, VO artist, and on-screen with other TV networks like YTV. It should go without saying that most people don't begin their career on one of the biggest shows in television his...

Todd Cochrane is a guest you might recognize. Last time he was on the show, in October 2019, we kept things fairly light. This time, however, diving straight into the deep end on the technical side of podcasting: RSS feeds, micro payments, Podcast 2.0, and what the future might look like for podcasts. If you're a creator who cares about the computer mumbo-jumbo that goes on behind the scenes, this...

Jeff Winskell is a bit of an anomaly in radio. Most folks attend university courses specifically tailored to broadcast, which leads them into the industry naturally, but Jeff went from film student to radio show producer in just a few years. In this episode, we talk about exactly how that transition went, as well as the lengthy radio career he created for himself afterwards. Jeff's been a large-sc...

Jenn Dalen-Gordon is the operations manager for the Interior stations of British Columbia for Stingray Radio. She also oversees about 20 other Country stations under the Real Country and New Country moniker. She was raised on Country 105.1 in Calgary and attended the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. She worked at Golden West Broadcasting, before the tour of rural Alberta took her to Leduc...

I know what you are thinking; with a title like that, the episode involves Rush. It does not. But given all the discussion of Ari's upbringing in the Suburbs of Toronto, and his affinity for playing the bass, this lyric from the song Subdivisions came to my head. Ari Daniel now lives in Vancouver after working at great radio stations like Virgin Radio 94.5, Sun FM 99.9 in Kelowna, and EZ Rock 97.3...

This week's show features yet another broadcast icon who I've been a fan of for a long time. Eric Zane is one of many former radio hosts who've made the transition into podcasting, and he's done it more successfully than most. Back when I met Eric in 2019, I knew him from the Free Beer & Hot Wings radio show out of Grand Rapids, Michigan- a show he'd just begun to pivot away from to debut his...

Jamie Cawdell is the Assistant Programme Controller at Radio Essex in England. He is also the curator the CHR Prep Service which is used on radio stations around the world including Virgin Radio in Canada and Z100 in New York. Over the years, we have seen many of radio's best branch out into other facets of the business. Whether it was John Mielke in the 90's starting his Milkman Unlimited busines...

Aaron Rand has been on Montreal radio since the 70’s. I didn’t catch on to his show until the mid 80’s where he became a household name, despite working at some radio stations that weren’t known for their ratings. Right around the time AM started its decline, Aaron Rand’s show started to take off. I ran into Aaron at (what I think is North America’s best restaurant) Joe Beef while having dinner wi...

A lot of radio personalities are initially attracted to the medium because of the music. But some hosts, like Sylvia Alvarado, go far beyond a passing interest. As the midday host on KOMP 92.3 in Vegas, she's had incredible interviews with some of the biggest stars in rock music: Slash, Pat Carney from The Black Keys, Zakk Wylde, and Matt Schultz from Cage The Elephant, just to name a few. She's a...

I have launched a new podcast! With a little help from my Podcast Super Friends. In the past you have heard stories from for radio program director Jon Gay aka Jag in Detroit, and Catherine O'Brien from Branch Out Programs. Meet Johnny Peterson who is the same age as my twin boys. Johnny went to Texas Christian University and studied marketing. When it came to audio... he learned the rest on his o...