Corus pulls plug on AM formats in Vancouver, Edmonton – Broadcast Dialogue

Corus Entertainment has pulled the plug on two of its AM radio formats in Vancouver and Edmonton, and laid off staff.

880 News (CHQT-AM) Edmonton, a sister station to 630 CHED, had been owned by Corus since 2000. It was re-launched as an all-news station in 2008. It has regularly finished near the bottom of the PPM ratings in the market.

AM 730 (CKGO-AM) Vancouver, a sister station to 980 CKNW, was formerly branded as Mojo Sports Radio, prior to the launch of what was billed as North America’s only “all-traffic” station in 2006. It’s also served as the primary game broadcaster for select local sports teams over the years, including the Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club.

Corus says as part of an ongoing efficiency review across the company, it has made “the difficult decision” to reduce AM radio programming in both markets.

“As a result, certain roles have been impacted,” a Corus spokesperson told Broadcast Dialogue. “Effective immediately, AM 730 CKGO in Vancouver will cease to operate as an all-traffic station, and 880 CHQT-AM Edmonton will cease to operate as an all-news station.”

“To minimize disruption to our audiences and advertisers, for a temporary, interim period, our powerhouse news-talk station 980 CKNW Vancouver will share programming content with its sister station CKGO, and our heritage news-talk station 630 CHED in Edmonton will share programming content with its sister station CHQT. Following that interim period, Corus will only operate one AM news-talk station in each of Vancouver and Edmonton,” the Corus statement continued.

“Our long-time listeners will continue to be well served by the compelling programming on CKNW and CHED, and Corus remains committed to providing engaging news, traffic, weather and talk content to our radio listeners in communities across Canada.”

The spokesperson declined to say whether Corus plans to return the broadcast licences to the CRTC or whether it’s seeking a buyer for either of the stations.

Corus shares were trading up today on the TSX, closing at 14 cents, after ending the trading day at 13 cents on Tuesday.

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