Written by David Bray | 29 February 2012

In case you haven’t heard, the Hearing in Calgary was a hotbed of competition, proving that the hunger for FM radio licences remains strong. It seems those pundits predicting the death of the medium are more than a little premature. In fact, the market currently boasts over $90 million annually in ad revenue, with local broadcasters posting significant profit margins.  I was pleased to participate in the process which ran from Feb.6-9, and while I wouldn’t presume to speculate on who will prevail, I can provide a bit of insight as to the hot buttons that seem to be attracting the attention of the commission. Moreover, we were given an idea of what we might expect to see and hear at the upcoming Toronto hearing (date TBA).

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Written by David Bray | 26 September 2002

How do you begin to re-cap the history of radio in Canada in one brief article? It occurs to me that I had better look both ways before wading into it. Look back to a sometimes lucrative, always entertaining past rich with anecdotes. Look forward to an uncertain future filled with the perils of cultural obsolescence and the promise of reinvigoration.

It all started in December of 1900 when Reginald Fessenden of Quebec first transmitted the human voice. That makes radio older than that fuzzy food item wrapped in tin foil in the bottom of my refrigerator. Let's take a look.

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