CINW All News

[Stephen Pickford <nmi@netcom.ca>]

Martin Waters wrote:
  
     I'm curious: What are the main criticisms of the station (CINW)?


Quebec is a distinct society in more than one way, and English-speaking
Quebec residents are just as distinct from anglos in the rest of Canada or
the United States.  

While Montreal's English-speaking population (when factored in the ethnic,
allophone population) exceeds that of DSM 69, Des Moines, there are only 3
English AM stations --- CJAD 800, CINW 940, and CKGM 990.  CINW's
predecessor, CIQC 600, was the only 1 of the 3 to be owned by a Montreal
company, and programmed entirely out of Montreal (CJAD, a unit of Toronto's
Standard Broadcasting, and CKGM, part of CHUM Group, also of Toronto, while
having local PDs in name, have the bulk of said decisions dictated from head
office).

Thus, CIQC's shift to all-news left the English-speaking community feeling
as if they had lost 1 more voice...with only CJAD left as a forum for any
means of talk and discussion, CINW, while being an English broadcast outlet,
having as much relevance locally as if it was a straight satellite feed from
CNN.

I have already touched on the fact that the station advertised 24-hour news,
but which, in fact, is simply taped overnights, on a repetitive,
never-updated news-clock format.

Other criticisms have been made re:    (no particular order here)

1)- Inexperienced news anchors who mispronounce words, stumble over scripts,
interrupt each
    other...in general, not a smooth presentation style, particularly on
weekends, when it seems
    as if the Concordia University Journalism majors are using CINW as their
student station
    The morning co-anchor used to do Oldies for the 6th rated station of 8
in Halifax ; the
    weekend evening co-anchor did some sort of fitness report on Global
Television...not
    exactly household names here

2)- Exact copy of Toronto's CFTR 680, owned by Rogers Communications (which
gives credence to
    the rumour that Metromedia wants to sell CINW to Rogers, who also own a
news outlet in
    Vancouver, to create the quasi-national network that Doug Broda
suggested)...not just the
    format copied, but so uncreative as to be EXACTLY the same...down to
Business Travel Weather
    at :29, and lottery results at :59...business at :26 and :56, etc. ---
not simply the same
    types of segments, but at the exact same time on the clock.

    Thus, Montrealers are viewing CINW as a Toronto-centered media outlet
for right or for
    wrong, and with the intense rivalry between the 2 cities, coupled with
the Montreal market's
    penchant for local programming, CINW just does not present itself as
being a community-
    oriented station.

3)- CINW's switch to all-news has left no room on the dial for the Expos,
who promise to have a
    revitalized team this year under Jeffrey Loria...it just wouldn't do to
do away with a taped
    newscast when you could air a winning ball team would it?  Thus, 2
months before the season
    begins, negotiations continue with the Toronto parents of CJAD and
CKGM...and it might very
    well mean that the only way to hear the team, other than in French, will
be on 620 Burlington.
    Since Metromedia's VP, Brian Kenemy, initially had suggested that CINW
would be like WBZ,
    and carry sports and talk in the evening, many Montrealers feel that
promises have been
    broken, and that not carrying the Expos signifies another lack of local
commitment on the
    part of Metromedia.

4)- Advertisements for "guaranteed weather"...but nobody ever actually
saying what that guarantee
    was going to be ... most likely the only guarantee is that, ok, we'll
have weather tomorrow..
    don't know what it will be, but, hey, we'll have some.  "Montreal's most
experienced weather
    forecaster"...Brian Hill...is, in fact, a Torontonian, billed by CFTR as
"Toronto's most
    experienced weather forecaster"...ahh, the power of an ISDN line...

5)- No local sports content on weekends, in a 3-team major league city
(Canadiens, Expos,
    Alouettes)...just the most annoying voices ever heard on news radio, the
shrill screeches
    of CNN Headline Sports.

6)- Lack of dependability of the news-clock format...i.e. Business Travel
Weather at :29, gives
    different cities' temps/conditions every day...no continuity....and, if
they're behind on
    the all-mighty clock, sometimes only 1 or 2 destinations will be given,
and that in rushed,
    breathless abandon, as have to get to :30 for the double-tones...and
don't bother to tune in
    at :59 for lottery results on a weekend, as the taped format often
doesn't have the numbers
    you were expecting.

7)- "Montreal's Most Interesting Features" at :39 have nothing to do with
Montreal...they are
    Anywhere,USA bits from CNN and ABC that not only have nothing to do with
Montreal, often
    they aren't relevant to Canada either, with prices given that are
undoubtedly US Dollars...
    but not identified as such..."Discount Air Fares Found by New Yorkers"
--- let's see,
    $300USD = $450CAD ---- fare from Montreal was actually $400CAD, but,
hey, why bother to
    actually give any Montreal news on a station that bills itself as
"Montreal's Only All-News
    Radio Station"?

  

Of course, the initial promos stated "Montreal's First All-News Radio
Station"...until someone must have reminded current PD Jim Connell that he
had once cashed some cheques from the old CKO, at which he was the PD back
in the 80s...thus, CINW is not the First (perhaps that is one reason why the
calls changed so quickly at the beginning --- initially known as CKNN for a
week or so ---
CKN...as close to CKO as you can get)

Are these enough reasons why Montrealers are choosing to tune out?

At least, without anything of substance to listen to in Montreal radio
anymore at night, I've been rediscovering the distant airwaves...WPTR comes
in pretty clear, and for a dose of nostalgia, tuning in WABC gives the same
JAM jingle package that CIQC used until the end...

Many media insiders that I talk to give the station 18 months max before
either a)- a sale to Rogers ; b)- a flip to Jammin' Oldies.



============================================================================
======================================================

"Travel World" --- Saturdays, 1100-Noon, Across America on The Voice of
Truth in Broadcasting, Liberty Works Radio Network
A Nascor International Production

Member: Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC)

Tel.: (514) 630-9565
Fax:  (514) 630-8166

http://www.webspawner.com/users/travelworld
http://www.libertyworksradio.com