Today is my last day at Free 981. I’m moving on to another radio adventure in London that I’m not at liberty to reveal yet. My colleagues and managers have known I’m going for a few weeks but out of respect for them, I chose not to say anything about it publicly until today. …
When I was in college and couldn’t find a mentor despite trying, I swore that if I survived in this business and anyone wanted my opinion, I’d give it freely. …
Aspiring Broadcasters Take Note Read More »
And so another term at Fanshawe College comes to an end. This was a short one, because the students have an internship before they graduate. In fact, two students I worked with will be coming to our newsroom at Free 981. …
Kicked Out of the Nest Read More »
The Big Show is no more. This morning we’re launching a new morning show: The Stax Show with Blair and Brandt on Classic Rock Free 981. …
A New Era at Free 981 Read More »
Most of the time what we do on the radio is gone moments later. It’s entertainment and sometimes we provoke thought or create action but most of the time, it’s gone with the wind and it’s on to the next thing. …
Sometimes We Make a Difference Read More »
I’ve witnessed, and somehow survived, decades of changes in broadcasting. The industry expands and contracts. A wave of managerial retirements (if they’re lucky) comes along and the next generation does things differently. Like I said, I’ve seen it before. …
Radio is Dying. Again. Read More »
The province’s politicians got into a debate at the legislature about whether government is doing enough to stop harassment, specifically sexual harassment, in the workplace. Harassment in some form or another has been present at virtually every radio job I’ve had and it doesn’t matter whether or not the target is you, the fact that it is allowed to continue affects everyone on staff. …
Harassment at Work Read More »
Sure, sometimes my milk gets stolen from the fridge so I write CAT URINE on it in big, red letters. Somehow I have become “the one who runs the dishwasher” and voices in the hallway seem to always reach heavy metal concert level as soon as we start recording an interview, but I work in a pretty cool, relaxed environment. Â …
Workplace Protocol Read More »
Some people don’t see stealing the creativity of others as a big deal. I call those people idiots. …
On Monday we slathered a fresh coat of paint on the ol’ radio station. If you listen to radio, you know how often announcers say the call letters or slogan. Perhaps you can imagine how tricky it is to start saying something different all of a sudden. More on that in a moment. Â …
Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss Read More »
Media went nuts last week over a gossipy story released as an “exclusive” to QMI – Sun Media – but a few of us wouldn’t touch it and I’ll tell you why. …
The Cheese Stands Alone Read More »
It’s possible that you’ve noticed a love/hate relationship between newspapers and radio stations. Â At the papers, many believe radio newscasters merely rip off their work and put it on air. (There is basis in fact for this, which I’ll get to later.) At radio stations, there’s a belief that papers will go out of their way to overlook the whole medium and not name a specific station if they can help it. Â This is also sometimes true. Â …
Less-Than-Friendly Competition Read More »
Blackburn Radio is a medium-small company, as far as broadcasting outlets go.  We’re dwarfed by Corus, Rogers, Bell and some others but our owner has no desire to compete on that level.  Richard is happily running a regional broadcasting network but many of the people who work for him could compete in any arena. Case in point: our web and social media team and our brand new Blackburn Radio app. Get to know it because it’s going to be copied by everyone else in short order. …
Follow The Leader Read More »
I’ve always told students to stay away from using adjectives in news writing. Â An example: never describe news as good or bad. Â Don’t tell listeners whether something is tragic or controversial. Â I have reasons for this even though it goes against the grain of what many of my broadcasting brethren and sisters do. Â …
Tragic, Violent, Controversial and the Rest Read More »
This week I reveal, as well as randt, about something I discovered. …
Brandt’s Randt – Industry Slang Read More »
My first celebrity interview was to be The Rovers. A Canadian music staple, they were going through a rebirth and thus were no longer Irish in name. It was an attempt to go mainstream country and leave their green-alligator-and-long-necked-geese persona of a novelty act behind them. I was very excited. Who hadn’t seen them on TV? They were real Canadian stars at that time. …
My First Celebrity Interview – Sept. 24, 2002 Read More »
You get to a point in your career where you think you’ve made all of the big boo-boos you’re going to make. Â I expect to continue to make mistakes, but not like the legendary error I made on Friday. …
Embrace Your Mistakes Read More »
Derek had the shell of an old radio. We have a couple of intact ones upstairs but this one was in no shape for a prominent display area. It was missing chunks of veneer, the speaker cloth – not to mention a speaker – and a piece of one corner of the footing was broken off in a jagged mess. …