Rawlco Radio proposes ‘social media’ texting radio station for Calgary

Rawlco Radio Ltd. appeared before CRTC commissioners at a hearing Wednesday to argue for a “social media” radio station on Calgary’s 100.3 MHz FM frequency. Hearings continued in Calgary, Alta., where commissioners are hearing companies’ proposals for new stations. Douglas Rawlinson, co-owner of Rawlco Radio, told commissioners that proposed station Now! will target the 25 to 44 year-old demographic via phone calls, text messaging and social media tools, inviting them to “join the conversation.” He said the Calgary FM station would invite listeners to discuss issues in the news and give hosts opinions about music that is played. Hosts would focus on spoken word programming during their five-to-six hour shifts, Mark Hunter, general sales manager at Rawlco, said. “Our success will not be the music that we play,” Rawlinson added. “It’s all about the conversations we’ll have with our listeners, and they’ll have with us, and with each other.” The company told CRTC commissioners that it’s existing, nearly two-year-old Now! station in Edmonton, Alta. has been successful. The station receives hundreds of text messages hourly, Rawlinson said. “We now average between four and five thousand texts a day.” Rawlinson said the station’s goal is to answer every text. He said the Edmonton station employs four hosts and a full-time staff to answer the incoming text messages. “You can’t have a conversation with your TV, you can’t have a conversation with normal music radio, you can have a conversation with Now! radio,” he said. Rawlinson said Now! would offer music programming and an all-day news/talk format. Gordon Rawlinson, Rawlco Radio’s other co-owner, said the company would provide $4 million to local emerging artists through its 10K20 program and its Breakout Artists plan. He said Rawlco would also contribute $1 million to emerging artist support fund FACTOR. Pam Leyland, president of Rawlco, said allowing Rawlco to operate a second Now! station in Alberta would help it to compete on a “level playing field.” Tietolman Tétrault Pancholy Media also presented at the hearing Wednesday, asking the commission for the 100.3 FM Calgary frequency to operate a “diverse content” music station The Choice. Jim Connell, a representative of the Tietolman company, told commissioners that The Choice would offer content from all music genres, ranging from pop and country to rock, folk and reggae. He said The Choice would offer a programming playlist that is “four to five times longer” than other stations and would average a variety of 2,000 titles. The company said there is demand for more variety on Calgary’s airwaves, pointing to a survey from Leger Marketing conducted Sept. 13-18, 2011, that found that “eight out of ten Calgary listeners, or 80 per cent, agree that existing radio stations always play the same songs and they want more variety.” Connell told commissioners that The Choice would target listeners in the 30 to 54 year-old demographic, who tend to switch between six radio stations hourly to find content that is not repetitive. Commissioner Marc Patrone expressed concern at The Choice’s proposed variety format, comparing the selection and offering of content to “throwing a dart at a dart board.” Tom Pentefountas, chair of the commission for the Calgary hearing, noted that the new station’s general audience would go against the trend of niche-market radio. Connell responded that a general Calgary listenership would be an asset because the station would not be limited to a specific type of content or obligated to repeat musical selections as niche stations do. “I think it’s a situation where we are that restaurant that offers that full-service menu,” he said. Connell said The Choice FM would also operate a 24-hour, seven days a week newsroom, in which a minimum of one aboriginal reporter and one ethnic reporter would be employed to ensure a diversity of news content. The 100.3 FM frequency is one of three spots on the FM dial sought by companies at the CRTC’s ongoing Calgary hearing. At the hearing Tuesday, Harvard Broadcasting Inc.’s national sales manager Gary Brasil, told the commission that it is becoming more difficult for single station companies to compete in the Calgary market as incumbents like Rogers Communications Inc., Astral Media Inc., Corus Entertainment Inc., Newcap Inc. and BCE Inc. control 13 of the market’s 15 commercial stations. The commission has heard from 11 companies or organizations seeking to operate new stations on the FM frequencies and the Punjabi Network Ltd. is seeking to operate on the AM dial. Corus also appeared Wednesday to argue for its proposed rebroadcasting transmitter in Calgary for QR77 AM, or station CHQR Calgary. Corus says the new FM transmitter, operating on the 106.9 MHz frequency, would not represent a new service because it would rebroadcast the programming of QR77. Doug Rutherford, vice-president at Corus Radio Alberta, said the station’s current 770 kHz frequency provides “extensive coverage” outside of Calgary 24-hours a day. But due to the expansion of the city’s core, the signal can no longer reach downtown listeners and provide them with local news and information, the company said. Greg Landgraf, senior engineering manager at Corus Western Radio, said increasing the transmitter’s power is not an option because QR77 already operates at 50,000 watts, the maximum power permitted under Industry Canada rules. A new antenna location would not be effective because “there is no location that could offer a better signal than our current site,” he said. The hearings continue Thursday with further interventions from companies competing for the spectrum. dgrenier@thewirereport.ca

Rawlco Radio proposes ‘social media’ texting radio station for Calgary

Broadcast | February 9, 2012

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