Actually, the title of the show could land somewhere between misleading and accurate. Alan Cross' reputation as an author, broadcaster and musicologist is legendary. His day is filled with different types of work that range from digital to radio to music and back again. His perspective on music's intersection with the digital world is refreshing. Every day he works to find the answers to what ails two of his great passions, music and radio. Also, I ranted on Remedial Media about those in radio who shun every new digital platform that comes along. More specifically, the reference to podcasting being "Amateur Hour"; and I make the point that anything that takes away from what was once radio listening needs to be acknowledged and commended. Ask yourself: What does your listener experience in Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Podcasts, Streaming radio, or Satellite radio - that they aren't getting on your station? If you can answer that question honestly, you've already taken steps to make your station better. Thank you to everyone who filled out a questionnaire on our audience survey. Please take the panel survey and keep us sharp. A number of people would like to have focused episodes that do not go on for too long. Note: Geeks and Beets is a cool podcast and you should link to it here. Finally, I am always looking to share fun radio on the podcast. If you did something you are proud of, please bring it to my attention and I will share it with the audience. This week - Ted Bird gave the CBC an aircheck. Check this out as it looks like a ton of fun. Alan is hosting a virtual event that will showcase many of Canada's musicians that are inspired by the 27 club.

An amazing collection of speakers came out for the Sound Off Convention and the W Downtown Hilton Hyatt Marriot. Guest speakers and convention-goers spent many late-night hours at the Lobby Bar and reconvened for a continental breakfast with lukewarm coffee. Many convention-goers chose to seek out the local Starbucks across the street. We would like to thank everyone for coming out and enjoy the pictures from the event! Highlights included: * Matt Cundill, Sound Off Podcast Host. * Jason Barrett, Barrett Sports Media discussing Sports talent. * Perry Michael Simon, All Access.com on Radio innovation. * Marty Forbes, Radiowise & Alan Cross, Major League Mixes, on digital / radio. * Seth Resler, Jacobs Media. * Humble & Fred, HumbleFredRadio.com If you would like to register for next year's conference, as a speaker or attendee, contact Matt. Finally, a word of thanks to Toronto Mike'd for allowing me to use the clip of Howard in the podcast. It was extracted from his 200th podcast this week, which features an excellent chat with Humble & Fred. Subscribe to his podcast here on iTunes.

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Shani Scott is the owner of Media Room 360, a streaming and media distribution company out of Texas. Her company has been built largely through what she learned in radio. Inspired by listening to the legendary Tom Joyner on K104 in Dallas, Shani knew she was in it for the long haul. Believe it or not there are likely portions of our audience who don't know that Tom Joyner did mornings on K104 in Dallas and afternoons at WGCI in Chicago. Live. With flights both ways on Southwest Monday to Friday between the cities. It was that work ethic that was infused into Shani that led her to think community, while also having the knack to find the money. In this episode you will hear how she learned that working with both programming and sales can teach you valuable lessons in the years after radio. You'll also hear about her resilience in battling back from a stroke and breast cancer. Get to know Shani on her daily show with Melz on the Mic which is streamed in lots of places at 10am CT. Check out all the shows on Youtube. The company is really good at integrating with Twitch, Roku, Youtube, Facebook. If you would like to expand your streaming - get it touch with Shani, the Queen of Some Media. ShaniScott@MediaRoom360.com Shani is also really good at voiceover. But here is the gold: Shani in her Ted Talk which will have you re-think your approach to life. And finally, if this was what Shani was growing up to in the 80's. Tom Joyner, the Fly Jock. You think your work day is hard..... this is the hardest working man in radio.

This week, I speak with Leslie Scott from KNDD 107.7 The End in Seattle. You can't work on radio without tripping over some doom and gloom report about eroding listenership and how millennials prefer their smartphones to your station. Can we agree that radio is struggling because while we recognize the changing ways radio is consumed, radio has not made any fundamental changes to the ways it presents its content. This was pointed out in Episode 6 by Perry Michael Simon There are also many who feel that the 90-93 percent reach radio receives means that there is nothing wrong; Mark Ramsey debunked that so eloquently, I felt it was important enough to put it right at the front of Episode 21, so if you got to listen to one thing from that episode, at least it was that. So what are you doing about it? Entercom has created Millennial Lab. Millennial Lab is a hub for all things media, research and millennials. They also have Think Force, which is an ensemble of their super listeners who contribute their knowledge to Millennial Lab for the benefit of their advertisers. So what do they think about the #2MinutePromise? Please support the podcast by spending a few minutes with our audience survey. Or advertise on the podcast - download a rate card here.

Christopher Ward was one of the first Much Music VJ's. (If I have to explain what a VJ is, then this episode is too old for you; go back to Bottle Flipping.) His new book is called Is This Live? Inside the Wild Early Years of Much Music: The Nation's Music Station. There's a lot we forgot or don't know about the station's early years. Partly because not everyone had the channel for the first few years; it was not apart of the basic cable package until 1987. That led to some lean years budget wise. And this is where the genius of programming head John Martin came in: He hired creative types who knew how to fill a blank canvas. Enter Christopher Ward. You can learn a lot from the past. Being challenged by budget can always be overcome by hiring creative people who can fill the space. Other things I forgot about: The first female VJ was Catherine McClanahan, not Erica Ehm, that I once wrote to MuchMusic and complained, and how often Christopher's friend Mike Meyers would appear on the station. Christopher left for reasons that were all too obvious; writing and producing Alannah Myles' number one song in 1989, "Black Velvet". He told me about the joys of having a number one song on his resume. Finally, Christopher alluded to a broadcast project he and his fellow VJ's have been working on, and information on that will fill this space in the near future. 2020 Update! Christopher appeared on Erica Ehm's podcast "Reinvention of the VJ". You can listen to it below. In it he reveals he will have a new album coming out soon!

Charles Adler has made his way back to Corus Radio, the place he spent nearly a decade doing a national radio show from 2004 to 2013. When the show came to an end in 2013, he worked locally in Winnipeg at CJOB before departing for Vancouver. He spent a year working at Sirius/XM Radio, on a show that was more conversational and less phone-driven. There's a moment in this podcast where he wonders if not being as active on the phones skewed his ability to see what was going on in the U.S. presidential race. Charles also tells us who the best radio personality is in Canada, what makes terrestrial radio great, and how the media mishandled the U.S. election. I had the luxury of working with Charles for a number of years and if it sounds like we are catching up, it's because it's been a year. If you are looking for the reasons behind his departure from Corus in 2015, you won't find them in this podcast. The building where he worked saw roughly 80 people let go over the course of a few years, and the reasons are consistent with most restructuring in the industry. This was one marriage that needed a break. You can listen to Charles nightly on these stations, and I will add to the list as the affiliate list grows. CKNW 980AM - Vancouver 630 CHED - Edmonton QR77 - Calgary 680 CJOB - Winnipeg It can be a confusing world out there. Audiences are not what they used to be. There is more choice, more fragmentation and pretty much more of everything than ever before. Traditional ways of thinking are being challenged. New platforms and technologies are emerging and merging, and buckets of data are being produced. How do you go beyond the data to something you can actually use? How do you make sense of it all? How do you get out of the weeds to focus on the big picture? Well, NLOGIC, the sponsors of this podcast, can help. They offer strategic insights, customizable modern products, market perspectives and their personal commitment to help you make sense of your Canadian radio and television audiences. ultimately, they can help you grow your business. Talk to NLogic today and be better positioned for tomorrow. Recently, Charles received a Lifetime Achievement Award Radio Television Digital News Association in 2017 on the month of May. He also has changed his political views as being a conservationist and now labels himself as a centrist.

Paul Kaye is the National Talent Coach for Rogers Radio. He held a similar role at Newcap in Calgary (Amp 90.3) and Vancouver (Z95.3) before heading to Toronto to join Rogers owned Kiss 92.5. His blog posts are widely shared and refreshing in a era where what constitutes great content is frequently contested. What's really encouraging is that the positions involving "talent" and "coaching" are (re)appearing in companies across North America. When I spoke with Paul, he was exhaling from a busy year and looking forward to 2017 and all it's possibilities.

David Marsden was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry and Broadcast Hall of Fame back in 2011. Most of us might consider hitting the beach at that point, but David carries the Spirit of Radio onward with NY The Spirit - a high-quality streaming free-form station whose sound rivals that of any FM product and complements the former sound of the legendary version of CFNY. David penned an editorial for FYI Music News, citing the disconnect between radio and millennials. I wanted to know more about the man who had propelled CFNY to great notoriety in the '80s, what he is up to today, and what radio can do to reconnect with the "connected". Over the weekend, Scruff Connors passed away. Having worked in many markets across Canada and a stint in Philadelphia, Scruff left his mark with everyone. The tributes are far and wide and I will endeavour to keep this page updated: If you would like to send a note of condolence to his son TJ, click here. Eric Samuels was Scruff's program director at HTZ-FM and the Bear in Edmonton. Eric's Facebook post was posted on Puget Sound Radio. Paul Morris worked with Scruff at 97.7 HTZ FM in St. Catherines and posted some old clips. Timing is everything and the early '90s were probably Scruff's most notorious. If you have any others to contribute - I would be happy to add them to the page. #cfny #millennials #chom #toronto #NYtheSpirit

Terry Dimonte is the morning man at CHOM 97.7 and he LOVES Christmas. Every year he spends the Friday before the morning show breaks for the holiday. Justin Trudeau has always made a point of stopping by to see his good friend and share some music from his iPod. When you become Prime Minister - everything changes. But not Justin's appearance on the Christmas show. He stills makes a point of seeing his good friend annually. In this episode, Terry tells the story of how their friendship started and how the show became a thing on the CHOM radio calendar. A Letter from my sister about this Episode: Matt and Terry: After two weeks of 10-16 kids every day at day camp plus Christmas and the holidays, I jumped in the car all alone and drove to San José (Costa Rica) to see my old friend Cat and her parents for a night. It's a 5 hour drive. After an hour or two of relative peace and quiet, I finnnnalllly downloaded SoundCloud and I listened to A very Terry Christmas. Puttering along the "Pan Pacific Highway" in second gear, you guys make good company!! I have a new appreciation for the age we live in- that I can hear my bro interview my pal (ha) on a free global communications platform as I wind past cane fields stuck behind a truck carrying ox 3,500 miles away from both of you. Voices are so evocative, and your stories so succinct, I started imaging I was driving through the (Eastern) Townships. Congrats to both you guys on great interviews."