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| A Pre-Christmas Radio Tour |
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By Ben MacMurchy, January 23, 2005 |
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While en route to Alliston for Christmas with family, I had arranged one radio visit in Toronto between my arrival from Ottawa and my departure for Bradford: the Rogers "campus" at Bloor & Jarvis, downtown. Jaime Pulfer of 680News (CFTR) gave me the grand tour of the radio side on December 22nd, beginning with this display case just off the elevators. These are various pieces of Rogers radio memorabilia, from old microphones to some very old Rogers radio sets. |
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680's on-air studio, as seen from the newsroom. |
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The 680 studio & anchors, whose names escape me. Until recently, 680News and The Fan 590 (CJCL) were using Computer Concepts' DCS for digital audio playback, while the FMs, 92.5 JACK FM (CJAQ-FM) and CHFI (98.1) have been running Scott Studios' SS32 since the move to 777 Jarvis in 1999. The AMs began using SS32 this past fall. There are two computer screens in front of each anchor: SS32 on the right, and the Burli news system on the left. Consoles are Ward-Beck R2K-12s. |
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680 board operator, facing the anchors. Ops run the show during the busy morning & afternoon drive times. Otherwise, the anchors run their own board. 680News' anchors say that running the station's fast-paced all-news format is like flying a plane. |
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A somewhat quiet 680 newsroom, from inside the studio. All four stations get their news & sports from here. Note the flashing lights on the pillar, just above the television: sports & business reports are usually delivered live from the newsroom, so don't shout (or swear). |
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Jaime in one of 680News' edit booths, tinkering with an audio clip in Burli. |
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JACK FM's on-air room, from the hallway.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any shots of the CHFI or Fan studios, but still, the tour was very exciting, being the first time I'd been through one of Toronto's big broadcast facilities. I'd visited 102.1 The Edge (CFNY-FM Brampton) a year earlier, but that was just an on-air studio, as opposed to Corus' complete digs at 1 Dundas West.
The next day, I headed to Barrie to check out the new studios for Barrie christian station Life 100.3 (CJLF-FM), on Bell Farm Road in the city's northeast end. GM Scott Jackson showed me around. |
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Life's on-air studio, feeding three transmitters: CJLF-FM 100.3 Barrie, CJLF-FM-1 90.1 Owen Sound, and CJLF-FM-2 89.3 Peterborough. Programming is fed to the transmitters via a dedicated broadband IP connection.
Equipment in this stand-up studio includes an Arrakis 12000 console, MediaTouch OPLOG 2000 automation, and a VoxPro system for phoners. Life's first board was an older Harris Medalist that Scott inherited, along with some other equipment, from one of his previous stations. |
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Just off master control is Life's voice tracking booth, running MediaDisk-32, linked to the on-air system.
Big thank-you to Jaime Pulfer at 680News for the Rogers tour, and to Scott Jackson at Life 100.3 for the opportunity to visit!
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