TORONTO — In a stunning and sudden move impacting four Canadian media markets, Rogers Sports & Media on Tuesday shut down operations at its all-News stations outside of the nation’s largest market while also pulling the plug on two all-Sports AMs serving key Western locales.
As reported by the company’s own CityNews operation, 50kw Class B CFFR-AM 660 in Calgary, 65kw Class C1 CJNI-FM 95.7 in Halifax, 10kw Class B CKGL-AM 570 in Kitchener, and 50kw Class A CKXW-AM 1130 in Vancouver all ceased operations.
In Vancouver, where “NewsRadio” had once been one of the market’s most listened-to radio choices, silence arrived at 10:45am Pacific. A recorded message redirected listeners to CityNews online and cable television. Rogers Sports & Media confirmed that the websites for the four closed all-News radio stations will continue. Additionally, CityNews will continue to stream news on CityNews 24/7 in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. TV newscasts will continue in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Montréal.
CKXW adopted an all-News format in 1996, and for the next decade was one of the market’s top stations with respect to cume. Various changes to the Vancouver audio marketplace over the last 15-20 years began to erode at the all-News format’s advertising and audience, creating challenges against music-driven FMs and other ways to receive news in British Columbia.
Those weren’t the only spoken word stations Rogers shuttered on Tuesday, as CISL-AM 650 in Vancouver and CFAC-AM 960 in Calgary, operated under the “SportsNet” brand as Sports Talk stations aligned with the ubiquitous cable TV brand, also went dark.
As reported by CityNews, some 80 Rogers Sports & Media employees were affected by the radio closures, as 230 positions were eliminated across Rogers Sports & Media.
“After a thorough review of our radio stations, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to close six radio stations in four markets due to declining audience and revenue trends,” Rogers Sports & Media said in prepared comments.
The statement continued,, “The media business continues to face headwinds driven by declining advertising revenue and changing audience habits. These changes are part of our plan to focus our investment in areas that will drive growth long-term.”
Rogers Sports & Media will continue to own and operate 44 radio stations “and to invest in local news in the impacted markets” through means other than broadcast radio.
Notably, Toronto-based CFTR-AM “680 NewsRadio,” the nation’s No. 1 cuming radio station, and CJCL-AM “Sportsnet 590 The Fan” will continue to operate alongside top-rated FMs CKIS “Kiss 92.5” (home to dominant morning show Roz & Mocha) and CHFI-FM 98.1, the Adult Contemporary station that is the foundation for the entire Rogers Communications empire.
