The Problem With Jack: CJAQ's Rock N' Roll Failure
Published May 31, 2009 @ 14:57 in Radio
My shower radio is tuned to 92.5. That's Jack-FM, "Toronto's Best Rock Variety", and I listen to it in the shower because it just so happens my shower is perfectly timed with an ad-free block of old and new rock tunes on Jack. It's just a series of tunes, anything from Honeymoon Suite to Coldplay to Bruce Springsteen, and it starts my day nicely.
I don't expect Jack-FM to last much longer in its current incarnation. Nobody's listening, it seems. The recent BBM results give Jack-FM a 1.8 market share, which supposedly and unscientifically translates into 180,000 listeners. Q107, if you're looking for a comparison, scored a 6.3. 1.8 is brutal, which means I expect changes by Labour Day.
How did Jack fail so miserably? Why can't a station playing a great mix of rock n' roll gain any traction? As Jules Winnfield says in Pulp Fiction, personality goes a long way. And Jack doesn't have personality.
Their bland morning duo seems to double as their afternoon hosts. A station that once threatened to go without djs has instead decided to employ djs that fail to hold a listener's interest. There's certainly no compelling reason to tune in again to hear what he or she will say next. It's really all about the music, but if you're betting all your money on the shuffle, how can you possibly expect to win against iPods? Five years ago, when the Jack PD at the time said the station was just like listening to your iPod on shuffle, I asked whose iPod he was talking about? Radio can never, ever be the same experience as listening to your own iPod on shuffle. That's why you've gotta have personality.
In my recent interview with long time local radio duo Humble and Fred, I closed by asking the guys a simple question that was on my mind. Why the heck aren't Humble and Fred, as a duo, still on Toronto radio? Humble's answer hits Jack's nail on the head.
No idea... why not ask the PD at Jack FM, who's also the afternoon drive guy and janitor.
Things could have been different for Jack, but instead the sounds of Aerosmith and White Stripes have drifted well below the radar to a dismal 1.8 share. I'll bet nobody reads this closing sentence because I'll bet nobody cares.
Irvine
May 31, 2009 / 16:34
Jack FM is really just an example of Toronto radio & all that's wrong with it.
Toronto likes to believe it's the media capital of Canada. The reality no one wants to hear is that it's not. Toronto's radio market is stale. Same voices on the radio for the past 20 years. Same sounds too. Even if there was an injection of new blood into Toronto, the stale nature of it's media WILL suck the creativity out of that person.
Case in hand, Fearless Fred coming to Edge 102. All he does out here will NOT be happening on 102.1.
The best radio in Canada exists far away from the corporate towers of Toronto. X92.9 in Calgary is this countries finest Alt rock station. Edmonton's Bounce 91.7 is Canada's best CHR. Calgary's Energy 101.5 is our best example of a true Hot AC. Winnipeg's Power 97 is probably Canada's best Active rock station. Even the Mighty Q is challenged by Edmonton's K97 for "Classic Rock superiority".
Hell, Winterpeg used to have a commercial hard alt/punk station called Freq 107. Calgary has a classic alternative station called Fuel. Even Victoria, BC has an Alternative rocker that's MORE progressive than Edge 102.
Jack FM is just a symptom of a bigger problem. Toronto radio is tired, stale and lifeless. The only thing interesting in Toronto is Z103 & their ethnic slant (and that's fading) and what you hear on the Rock when Marsden is on the air.