Bell Media shuts down several radio stations

 On June 14, 2023, Bell Media announced major layoffs and shut down six of their radio stations, all on the AM Band. At 11 AM EDT, all six of the affected stations stopped broadcasting normal programming flipped over to a pre-recorded message thanking listeners for their support and announcing the station's immediate shut-down followed by elevator music. As of the publishing of this post, all of the AM transmitters and respective HD subchannels remain active, but it unknown how long that will continue.

Most of the affected stations were previously transitioned over to the Funny or BNN Bloomberg formats from TSN Radio to cut costs in 2021. Major layoffs were announced at CTV National News, with the closure of their London and LA bureaus, including their respective correspondents Tom Walters and Daniele Hamamdjian. The Washington, DC bureau will also be scaled down. Also cut were Paul Workman, Chief International Correspondent, Glen McGregor, Senior Political Correspondent and Rosa Hwang, Executive Producer, who also worked as Lisa LaFlamme's producer. Also cut were morning anchors Joelle Tomlinson in Calgary and Ziyah Karmali in Edmonton. CTV Vancouver Island's weather anchor, Warren Dean was also let go. Bell Media intends to merge their multiple newsrooms across the country into a single operation. In an interview with the Canadian Press, Bell Media Executive VP Robert Malcolmson blamed the CRTC and the federal government for cutting the costs of telecom services for the closure of stations and cuts to their operations.

What's on the former Today FM frequencies now? (3 May)

 At 11am on 3 May 2023, this audio loop replaced the unbranded 'filler' format that had been heard on the majority of Today FM's frequencies since the station's abrupt closure on 30 March 2023.  It has also replaced the frequency change advisories that were running on 104.5MHZ Wellington, 106.2MHZ Auckland, 94.6MHz Manawatu, 102.5 Hamilton and 104.2MHz Waikato.

The first airing of the audio loop is presented here.

This recording was made on Kapiti and Horowhenua's 99.1MHz.

★STATION HISTORY★

Today FM was launched by MediaWorks at 5am on 21 March 2022, following the closure of its predecessor, Magic Talk, the night before.

At 9:25am on 30 March 2023, Today FM was taken off air with little warning.  Regular programming was replaced with music for the remainder of the day, leading up to an official announcement at 5:12pm, confirming the station's closure.

It was announced that cricket coverage (Black Caps Radio) and REX (Rural Exchange) would continue to be beard on the former Today FM frequencies for the time being.

The final Black Caps Radio broadcast took place on 8 April 2023.  It was then announced that REX (Rural Exchange) would switch to Magic from 17 April 2023.

Since Today FM's closure, its frequencies have been gradually replaced with other MediaWorks brands.

Listen to the audio here

What's on the former Today FM frequencies now? (27 April)

 At midnight on 27 April 2023, this rather humorous audio loop began airing on the remaining Today FM frequencies, replacing the unbranded "filler" format in use when the station suddenly closed on 30th March,

It advises that a new station will replace the existing one in "a week or two" 

This recording was made on Kapiti and Horowhenua's 99.1MHz.

★STATION HISTORY★

Today FM was launched by MediaWorks at 5am on 21 March 2022, following the closure of its predecessor, Magic Talk, the night before.

At 9:25am on 30 March 2023, Today FM was taken off air with little warning.  Regular programming was replaced with music for the remainder of the day, leading up to an official announcement at 5:12pm, confirming the station's closure.

It was announced that cricket coverage (Black Caps Radio) and REX (Rural Exchange) would continue to be beard on the former Today FM frequencies for the time being.

The final Black Caps Radio broadcast took place on 8 April 2023.  It was then announced that REX (Rural Exchange) would switch to Magic from 17 April 2023.

Since Today FM's closure, its frequencies have been gradually replaced with other MediaWorks brands.

Listen to the audio here

MediaWorks retune loops (April 2023)

MediaWorks has closed down several frequencies over the past week, leaving many listeners in the dark. Stations affected include 104.5MHZ Wellington (Magic), 106.2MHZ Auckland (The Rock), 94.6MHz Manawatu (The Sound), 102.5 Hamilton (Breeze), and 104.2MHz Waikato (Coast). These popular radio stations are now running retune advisories to urge listeners to tune in to their favorite brands via alternative frequencies. Unfortunately, we were unable to capture the loop for 104.2’s Coast, but rest assured, efforts are being made to ensure listeners can still enjoy their favorite stations. Stay tuned for updates on this developing story.

Listen to the audio here

RTE Radio 1 ceases on Long Wave

 RTE Radio 1 has ceased broadcasting normal programming on Long Wave, with a tape loop now being aired instead advising listeners to retune

The loop replaced normal programming at 00:03 Saturday April 15th, 2023 shortly after the news, which already made the closedown a bit different as most stations tend to shut down right at top of the hour. Also, a nice touch was the use of RTE's old Interval Signal in the loop.

Listen to the audio here