Episodes

Big Rick Daniels: Evolving Terrestrially and Digitally

Big Rick Daniels grew up in #Indiana. If you had to name famous people from the state, there's the obvious like John Mellencamp, the Jackson's and the sitting Vice President of the United States. Perhaps you are fan enough to mention David Letterman or David Lee Roth. But in broadcast circles, the state has a long a wonderful broadcast history that started with WOWO and set a standard emulated for decades to come. Rick was fortunate enough to work with a number of those peopl

Corey Dylan Is Resilient

Corey Dylan understands resilience. The longtime Tampa Bay radio personality was let go from Cox owned WFLA in the summer of 2016. In that time since, she continued working her voiceover clients, hosted a few television shows, and tried her hand at podcasting. She also never gave up in her quest to get back into radio. That meant networking at conferences at a moment when funds were at a premium, and putting herself out there when it could be most uncomfortable. I was turned

Dean Blundell Version 2.0

Dean Blundell was the host of the morning show on 102.1 the Edge in Toronto starting in 2001. As the internet age progressed, and social media took hold, the very things that elevated the Dean Blundell show to great heights became a part of its downfall. Add in some self-admitted flaws and it all came to an end in 2014. In the ensuing years, Dean worked mornings at 590 The Fan, but didn't appear to love the work. The last year and change has seen Dean take a look inward and c

How Very Kolter Bouchard

Kolter Bouchard was on the list to be on this podcast last summer. He had an interesting tale to tell about going from Dawson Creek to Dubai, and his program director Blair Bartrem was excited to get this talent on the air a Q107. Fast forward a few months and Corus renovates their airwaves and Kolter is now co-hosting the afternoon drive show on Edge 102 with Meredith Geddes. The story of how that show came to fruition is as every bit compelling as his journey from Dawson Cr

Troy McCallum on the Classic Hits Boom

Troy McCallum had it all figured out. He listened to the episode with Gruff Gushnowski and knew that doing the podcast in the car would be a fitting place to talk radio. After all, he spends up to 3 hours a day in the car listening to the radio on the way to work as program director at Boom 97.3 in Toronto. Troy and I spent about half of his commute home talking about his early days in radio, his affinity for the Classic Hits format, programming said format, and discussing tw

Saluting JJ's 365 Initiative

JJ "Jim" Johnston did something rather extraordinary last year. He committed to writing a blog everyday saluting someone in the radio or music industry. In an era where the social media stratosphere is predominantly negative, JJ embarked January 1, 2018 with Bruce Barker, wound his way through Victoria Day weekend with a tribute to yours truly, and then concluded on December 31 with David Marsden. (I've reposted the salute JJ made to me at the bottom of this post. JJ did 365

Ted Bird Talks

Ted Bird has been a Montreal radio mainstay since 1984. I'd say longer but I don't remember his fist tour in 1979 and he didn't have fond memories of that era which was complicated given the politics at the time. From his times working with Terry Dimonte at CHOM, Mix 96 and CJAD, to working off the island in the Mohawk community and now Jewel 106.7 in Hudson. I worked with Ted a couple of times, including from 2002 to 2006 at CHOM where his passion for reporting, writing and

Danny Kingsbury: Don't Look Back

Danny Kingsbury is the National format director of Rock Radio for Rogers, and the first question is all about Rock Radio. In this episode we discussed his 30 plus years in radio, especially about his years at Q107 which were the last ones before the era of online streaming and the birth of digital. During the chat I was reminded about the success of Y95 in Hamilton which happened concurrently with his stint at Q, and that time the Leafs moved to FM and aired their games on Q1

The Buzz on Dave Reynolds

Dave Reynolds is someone I have crossed paths with twice. In the early 90's I met him when I was doing overnights at CHOM. The AM station down the hall was 990 Oldies. We were working for CHUM Ltd. at the time. Fast forward ten years and we found ourselves together at CHOM in Montreal, now owned by Standard Radio. We last saw one another around 2005 and through the wonders of Facebook, never bothered to call one another because - well are Facebook friends so that should be go

Mandatory Mandy James

Mandy James is the morning show host at 102.9 the Wolf in Minneapolis along with Pat PT Thomas and Greg Thunder. [Note: At the time of publication, the station was known as Buz'n 102.9 and Mike Dubs was co-host instead of Greg Thunder] I've gotten to know Mandy over the last few years at the Conclave Summer Learning Conference. I watched as she bravely networked her way through the room in 2017, eventually giving me a gift bag complete with a Conclave survival kit which inclu

The Very Speakable N@ Lauzon

Nat Lauzon has been a mainstay on Montreal radio for almost 20 years. Her career path has moved in somewhat tidy cycles, spending her teen years working on air in her hometown of Timmins, Ontario while in high school. Then she worked at Toronto's Mix 99.9 while she was finishing her degree at Ryerson Polytechnic. In 1999, she jumped at the opportunity to move to Montreal to with Blair Bartrem at Mix 96. She did mornings up until 2002 and then took over the midday show and was

Barrett Sports Media Turns 3

Jason Barrett celebrated the third anniversary of Barrett Sports Media last week, and we have an annual podcast chat to talk about the state of Sports Radio. After three years of doing anything, you have entrenched yourself into the landscape well enough to speak reflectively, so I asked him about the trials and tribulations of shifting from programming radio to partnering with radio. He blogs, podcasts, works with sports radio brands across America, and I have admired his wo

James Cridland, Radio Futurologist

James Cridland is a radio futurologist. He will tell you he got that name because he printed it on his business cards, but he does possess a keen eye to where radio is headed. He is the man behind Podnews, a daily e-news letter and companion 2 minute podcast delivered daily. He also heads up the Next Radio Conference which will be taking place in London on September 17. In this episode, James and I talked about the accelerated pace the podcast industry is moving at, Google's

Jax Loves This Town

Jaclyn Irwin was raised on a steady dose of Kelly, Peter, & Moya on C100 in Halifax. The venerable morning radio show has been #1 or #2 in the market since Marconi sent his first radio message to Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, about 330 kilometers away. Jax got to listen to the show on the school bus - which means the school bus driver is instantly cool. There's a whole lot that happens radio wise on the east coast of Canada that the rest of North America should pay attention toward

Will Sterrett Building Rockcastle Media Networks

Will Sterrett is the founder and owner of Rockcastle Media. The Kansas based network launched its first offering Think Fast! in May 2016 on just a handful of affiliates, including KWIX/Moberly, MO, where Sterrett was first heard twenty years prior. Think Fast! quickly grew as did the opportunities for Rockcastle Media Networks, with the following month’s syndication launch of Neon Beat with John Christopher. Since then, the network has grown to the point where it has offering

Gary Begin and his Book of Radio

In this week's episode, Matt visits with radio consultant Gary Begin, the president and owner of Sound Advantage Media. Gary has over thirty years of radio programming experience in small and medium American markets in Florida, Rhode Island, Michigan, Maryland, Georgia, and Maine. On top of his work with Sound Advantage Media, where he delivers full-service programming, marketing/branding, promotions, research and operational consulting to radio stations; Gary also owns Gary

Art Vuolo: Radio's Best Friend

Art Vuolo is our featured guest this week. Art Vuolo is radio's best friend. In this episode we will tell you why he is and revisit his biggest achievements including having his work prominently displayed in the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago, and being a recipient of the Rockwell award at the Conclave in 2001. Art's Radio Guide was a mid-west fixture in the 80's at gas stations; helping motorists find a station to listen to. All the while upselling radio stations for

Happy New Year Extravaganza with Perry Michael Simon

There is something refreshing about starting a brand new year with a brand new episode. Radio and podcast should be excited for 2018; not since the advent of iPhones and iPods have so many game-changing radio tech been exchanged over the holiday season. The good news is that the most popular Christmas gift this year was a speaker that plays radio. Enjoy our very first episode of 2018, where we spend a full episode looking back at the year in N/T Radio and the state of Sports

Lauren Hunter's Edmontonland

This week on the podcast, we sit down with Sonic 102.9’s night host, Lauren Hunter. Lauren was born and raised in Edmonton, and like any true Edmontonian, loves Connor McDavid. She loves him so much, in fact, that she painted a neoclassical portrait of him. You’ve probably seen it – like many of the bits on her show, the portrait has gone viral and was even picked up by the NHL. She is responsible for radio gold like Radio Tinder, Radio Yoga, and, of course, her touching trib

Alan Burns Answers the Burning Questions

Alan Burns has worked with some of the biggest radio brands in North America. His company, Alan Burns & Associates has been producing the "What Women Want" survey for a number of years; reflecting his clients needs. (A quick scan of his client list shows a lot of CHR and HOT AC stations) Recently, he (along with Mark Ramsey) have raised concerns about increased headphone usage and the lack of PPM ability to count those listens. I spoke with Alan about those items and asked a