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Martin Streek Remembered ~ A Tribute to Martin Streek
The Long, Frustrating, Sad Tale of MartinStreek.com
Published by Toronto Mike on July 9, 2010 @ 13:27 in Martin Streek Remembered ~ A Tribute to Martin Streek
 In March, I wrote martinstreek.com: Help Me Get It Back Online. I saw martinstreek.com was offline and I wanted a tribute there by the one year anniversary of his death.
Jo Fergus left a comment explaining the unfortunate situation.
This doesn't look good...
Based on the registration dates of the domain name, it seems that martinstreek.com likely expired, and was re-registered less than a month ago!
What this indicates is that (once again) some anonymous, lazy, parasitic domain "squatter" is sitting on this known name/brand to generate revenue for themselves with every click on their illegitimate site. The only way to stop them would be through a trademark dispute via WIPO.org
martinstreek.com
Creation date:
27 Feb 2010 13:24:00
Expiration date:
26 Feb 2011 11:19:00
Pete from coreFusion Inc., another reader of this blog, knew people at the registrar, and wrote me this update.
The domain expired. The way they work, I'm sure you know is the domain account holder is notified, if it was Martin, these went nowhere. After it expired, eNom registered it, they are basically squatting on it. I have sent correspondence to them to the effect that I would like to acquire it. We'll see what happens there.
The person squatting on martinstreek.com and essentially holding it ransom used a broker, and here's the email we got from the broker when we inquired about the domain name.
Hello,
The seller is asking $3000 USD for martinstreek.com
Let me know how you’d like to move forward.
Best Regards,
Jacob
jacob@acquirethisname.com
Aquirethisname.com
Around this time, I was contacted by the web guy for Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker, an awesome Parkdale group that was very close to Martin and sincerely appreciated his support. He had read my plea and offered to help us get martinstreek.com back. He noted that Aquirethisname.com's work on behalf of the seller was against the cybersquatting act and the ICANN law, so we contacted the WIPO who told us to file an official dispute. The cost for a hearing would be $3000, exactly what the cybersquatter was asking for.
We contacted the seller again to let them know they were violating those laws and we were told us to send in proof of trademark. Unfotunately, Martin never trademarked the name "Martin Streek", so the only foundation we would have to go on is intellectual property law. But that would require the WIPO and the aforementioned $3000 filing. Clearly WIPO is designed for corporations and money-rich megastars who have millions to throw around, and not the common person. He contacted several lawyers on the WIPO board who refused to let us know if it was a valid claim. We decided not to go through WIPO, determining that could be pointless and a waste of money.
The entire ordeal was quite frustrating, and in the end we accomplished little. But we tried. Man, did we try.
In addition to all the help I got from Pete and USS for letting us use their lawyer, I want to thank Pat Leyland for his help.
A few months of back and forth with the registrar/seller and we're at an impasse due to the unique circumstances of the situation. Overall, it's just a highly unethical, illegal situation that can't be fought without what seems like endless resources. martinstreek.com remains offline, without a tribute to Martin, and for that, I'm truly sorry.
The Edge 102 Tribute to Martin Streek - All 3 Hours as MP3s
Published by Toronto Mike on July 7, 2010 @ 09:40 in Edge 102 ~ CFNY, Martin Streek Remembered ~ A Tribute to Martin Streek, Radio
 Yesterday, in my entry about the one year anniversary of Martin Streek's passing, I shared all five hours of David Marsden's tribute to Martin. In the comments of that entry, someone asked if I had the three hours of Edge 102's tribute to Martin that aired on July 19, 2009.
I did have those MP3s, and thanks to Ryan (not my brother, but another reader), I can now share these MP3s with you.
When prompted for a username and password, use guest / guest.
» Martin Streek Tribute on The Edge 102.1 PART 1
» Martin Streek Tribute on The Edge 102.1 PART 2
» Martin Streek Tribute on The Edge 102.1 PART 3
Here's the entry I wrote immediately after listening to this tribute on CFNY / The Edge 102.1.
Martin Streek: The Day the Spirit Died
Published by Toronto Mike on July 6, 2010 @ 08:05 in Edge 102 ~ CFNY, Martin Streek Remembered ~ A Tribute to Martin Streek, Radio
 One year ago today, I wrote the toughest entry I've ever had to write. It was about Martin Streek.
I'm not sure how to write this one, so I'm just going to tell you what I know.
As a long time fan of CFNY / Edge 102, I was sad to learn recently that Martin Streek had been fired after over 20 years of service. As of this writing, that entry had 88 comments from others who wanted to wish Martin well. Soon enough, Martin Streek himself chimed in to say thanks.
Thank to those of you who made comments, both good and bad...either way, it's proof that you listened and/or cared about the scene I/we were part of...
Earlier today, Martin Streek updated his Facebook status message with words that sound so ominous now. This, it turns out, is Martin's farewell to the world.
So...I guess that's it...thanks everyone...I'm sorry to those I should be sorry to, I love you to those that I love, and I will see you all again soon (not too soon though)... Let the stories begin.
My entry about Martin Streek leaving CFNY / Edge102 is #1 when you Google his name, and Steve did just that an hour ago.
I just heard that Martin has passed away... very sad to hear.... (I was a cfny staffer back in the 80s and just heard this from Earl J.)
At first, I thought it was a cruel joke. Martin Streek seemed so vibrant, so full of life. But after chatting with Steve, and seeing the Facebook status message, I'm afraid it's true.
Martin Streek has taken his own life.
Martin's death hit me hard. I know I wasn't alone, because I heard from hundreds and hundreds of Martin's friends and fans over the weeks that followed. This black cloud eventually took the form of an entry I wrote entitled "Thoughts on 102.1 Tribute to Martin Streek, Shitty Facts, Closure Sought."
As insinuated in this excellent Globe and Mail piece by Bert Archer (in which I'm quoted), Martin's death also acted as a tragic final nail in the coffin of what was "the spirit of radio". CFNY / Edge 102 was my go-to station for as long as I can remember, but I hardly listened this past year. Martin epitomized passion for music, was a rare link to the David Marsden era, and literally had the spirit of radio logo tattooed on his ass. When he was let go six weeks prior to his suicide, it marked more than the loss of an energetic, knowledgeable and beloved local deejay. It marked the end of an era.
I've put all my Martin Streek entries in a new Martin Streek Remembered category, so if you want to read more I've made it easy for you. At the end of this entry, I'm posting all five hours of David Marsden's excellent tribute to Martin that aired on 94.9 The Rock out of Oshawa.
We lost Martin one year ago today, but we'll never forget him. His spirit lives on.
» Martin Streek Tribute with David Marsden PART 1
» Martin Streek Tribute with David Marsden PART 2
» Martin Streek Tribute with David Marsden PART 3
» Martin Streek Tribute with David Marsden PART 4
» Martin Streek Tribute with David Marsden PART 5
martinstreek.com: Help Me Get It Back Online
Published by Toronto Mike on March 18, 2010 @ 13:17 in Martin Streek Remembered ~ A Tribute to Martin Streek
Martin Streek took his own life last July. As you'll see from the 214 comments over there and the many other entries in my Martin Streek Remembered category, Martin was a wildly popular radio deejay in this city, enjoyed by all who heard him and beloved by everyone who met him.
With the one year anniversary of his death coming this summer, I'm disappointed www.martinstreek.com is parked by the host. That typically means the domain name owner hasn't paid and instead of making the domain name available to anyone, the host eNom is holding on to it, hoping the owner will wisen up and pay up. Here's what martinstreek.com looks like right now.
It's possible Martin was the only one with the login details that would ensure we keep his site online, or it's possible someone reading this entry knows who can help with this. If you can help me get Martin's domain name, I'd love to put up a tribute to him at martinstreek.com. Please contact me.
Help me get it back online.
"No Interest" in Returning to Edge 102 Following Death of Martin Streek - Strombo
Published by Toronto Mike on November 9, 2009 @ 19:02 in Edge 102 ~ CFNY, Martin Streek Remembered ~ A Tribute to Martin Streek, Radio
 Martin Streek took his own life in July. The last time I saw Martin, he was chumming around with his pal George Stroumboulopoulos at the Casby Awards. Here's a clip of them that night.
The first Sunday following Martin Streek's death, I tuned in 102.1 the Edge to hear The Strombo Show. I was hoping for a tribute of some kind. When 102.1 the Edge didn't air The Strombo Show and didn't utter Stroumboulopoulos's name, I asked aloud whether Strombo had quit Corus. I put on my detective badge and started to follow the clues.
Last Sunday, I noted that CFNY did not air the first Strombo Show following Martin Streek's death. I was speculating that perhaps Strombo, a good friend and fan of Martin, made this happen. His show did air on other Corus stations. I'm a big Strombo fan, and I was interested in his tribute to Streek. For my money, nobody could impart their passion for good music the way Streek and Strombo could.
In a new interview with CHARTattack to promote his new CBC Radio 2 show, Strombo has admitted that Streek's death played a role in his decision to leave Corus. Here's an except:
And to be honest, after [friend and colleague] Martin Streek died I had no interest in going back on The Edge [in Toronto]. So Corus was not the best place for me to be.
Radio may well be a business, where people are hired and fired all the time, but that doesn't mean it has to be entirely void of integrity. Strombo made a business decision with his heart, refusing to be a part of the machine that fired his friend after 20+ years of passionate service – his friend who literally had the station's call letters tattooed on his ass and remained one of the last links to the days at CFNY when spirit mattered. George took a stand and I admire the shit out of that.
Well done, George. Thanks for proving me right.
Fearless Fred Talks About Toronto Mike
Published by Toronto Mike on August 18, 2009 @ 16:50 in Edge 102 ~ CFNY, Martin Streek Remembered ~ A Tribute to Martin Streek, Radio
 I first heard of Fearless Fred when I broke the firing from CFNY / Edge 102 of Martin Streek and Barry Taylor. I was informed by my trustworthy tipster that Fearless Fred had been hired from Edmonton and would debut sometime in August.
About ten days ago, I wrote that Fearless Fred was on his way, and confirmed that Bookie was being bumped so Fearless Fred could take over the drive home slot. I understand that he premiered yesterday.
I just learned from a commenter that Fearless Fred spoke about this site and our discussions about Streek's dismissal and the recruitment of FF. It's an interview with Fred Kennedy on a comedy blog entitled From the Back of the Room.
Fred Kennedy is not Martin Streek – nor will he try to be – a fact that’s a sore point among Toronto radio devotees who view him as the poster boy for the literal and figurative death of quality radio.
“There’s some radio site called Toronto Mike or Mike in Toronto or something. It’s a prototypical website that’s full of people who’ve either been fired or are just starting out and are already jaded. Basically no matter what happens in the radio business they’re the people who will always say it’s for the worst. Joe Blow gets fired and it’s the worst thing that has ever happened in radio EVER! Even though when he was on air the week before they trashed him without remorse. All that typical nonsense.”
Fred, this isn't a radio site, but I do write about radio when it interests me. It's full of something, but not radio rejects. Hell, I'm the only author, and I've never worked in radio. I wasn't happy that Streek got fired, I sincerely was a long-time fan, but there was no trashing of Streek the week prior.
As puzzling as your description of this site is, it's your final statement in the interview that has me most puzzled.
“Let these people run their mouths. I work at the fucking Edge,” he says, “the best rock station in the country.”
I believe what you mean by that statement is that you work at the only non-classic rock station in Canada's largest city. At one time, it was the best, but that was a long, long time ago.
My Call From Strombo
Published by Toronto Mike on August 10, 2009 @ 20:01 in Martin Streek Remembered ~ A Tribute to Martin Streek, Radio
 Last night, I wrote about George Stroumboulopoulos' "new, independent FM". Earlier today, I had a direct message from Strombo on Twitter. He wanted a phone number he could reach me at.
I gave him my Blackberry number and went about my afternoon, which primarily consisted of picking up my son and taking him to his soccer match. On my way home, I heard Tom Cheek ordering Joe Carter to "touch 'em all". I had a phone call.
"Mike, it's George Stroumboulopoulos."
George had called to discuss his independent FM, but we ended up talking about a great deal more. We chatted about our mutual admiration for Humble and Fred, what CFNY meant to him, his love of radio, Martin Streek, and other things I won't write about here. He came across as a genuinely sweet guy and the convo was effortless.
With regards to The Strombo Show, he told me he pulled it from the Corus lineup. He said his schedule was too hectic so he pulled the plug.
As for independent FM, he emphasized that it's just a kernel of an idea at this point, and it's not yet a podcast, satellite or terrestrial radio show. Strombo is passionate about radio and definitely wants to continue his show, but he's not yet sure about the format or where it will happen. It is important to him, however, that he's able to play what he wants.
There's clearly a spirit to George's independent FM that sounds familiar. He promised to let me know when it's more than just an idea and I promised to promote it best I can.
I dig it when personalities I know from radio and/or television actually turn out to be good people. Thanks for the call, George.
Martin Streek CFNY 102.1 The Edge Tribute MP3s
Published by Toronto Mike on August 3, 2009 @ 15:22 in Edge 102 ~ CFNY, Martin Streek Remembered ~ A Tribute to Martin Streek, Radio
Following his death, Martin Streek's official site, MartinStreek.com, was chillingly frozen in time. It alluded to his current DJ gig of 25 years, a gig he lost two months before his death. It was a painful visit.
MartinStreek.com has finally been updated and is actually hosting the 3-hour tribute to Streek that aired on CFNY / Edge 102.1. That's the tribute that led to this collection of thoughts. Download the three MP3s below and throw them on the iPod.
» CFNY / Edge 102.1 Martin Streek Tribute Hour 1
» CFNY / Edge 102.1 Martin Streek Tribute Hour 2
» CFNY / Edge 102.1 Martin Streek Tribute Hour 3
Remember, you can still download all five hours of David Marsden's tribute to Martin Streek that aired on 94.9 The Rock.
Thanks to whomever cracked the code and finally updated MartinStreek.com.
Barry Taylor Reveals All - CFNY: Top 40 With Grunge
Published by Toronto Mike on July 30, 2009 @ 09:28 in Edge 102 ~ CFNY, Martin Streek Remembered ~ A Tribute to Martin Streek, Radio
On the heels of The Ballad of Martin Streek comes another super revealing look into the culture change at CFNY / Edge 102.1 under the direction of Program Director Ross Winters. Glove tap to Shane Fame Alexander for this find. Barry Taylor, fired Edge DJ, reveals all on his MySpace page.
There are no delusions of grandeur going on here. But at the same time try and name another radio personality that managed to use his name to create a play on words for the title of a joke and a survey. Seriously. That’s pretty awesome.
The inquiring emails have gotten out of control. At last count there were 7. Let’s deal with this before someone gets hurt. There were some statistical rating issues at the Edge. These began a couple of years ago when the station started to air six, two minute commercial breaks an hour instead of three breaks of three to four minutes. The station suffered - except for the morning show as they were the only time slot that didn’t change to the six commercial break format.
This new format created times when there would be two minutes of commercials followed by a song followed by another two minutes of commercials followed by a song, two more minutes of commercials, another song followed by a minute long promo followed by a song.
It should also be made clear that in radio the only times that really matter for generating revenue are Monday to Friday between 6am and 6pm. I worked Mon-Wed evenings starting at 7PM and weekend afternoons, A.K.A. – prime time. And according to Ross Winters I was a problem.
Ross Winters. The latest Program Director at one oh two point one the Edge. The guy who continually calls all the shots. When one thinks of Ross one word comes to mind: Adonis. Cut from the pages of a romance novel, the man turns heads when he walks into a room; the ladies stare with lustful eyes and the men stare with envy. He speaks with a slight accent that moistens the loincloths of every female within ear shot. The only thing sexier than his long, chestnut-brown hair are his muscles. A man among boys.
The first thing Ross ever talked to me about was how much money KROQ in Los Angeles made. This wasn’t a good sign. He casually continued to express his ideas on making the Edge like a Top 40 station but with grunge music. “Zee Edge must appear sexier to all zee people of Toronto” he told me. “Like Paris Hilton.” But he pronounced Paris like Pair-ee so I was confused at first. From that point on I was pretty positive I was ####ed. Sounding like a monotone burnout doesn’t really work with Top 40 Radio.
Changes came quick with Ross. The music played on the station became incredibly restricted and really repetitive. In the past I was allowed to have input at the station’s music meetings. The meetings happened weekly and it’s where we’d decide which songs to add. Enter Dr. Don Mitchell, the Music Director and Assistant Program Director.
Don is a six foot six, 300 pound African-Canadian who lives and breathes Gangster Rap. When Don was hired a few years ago the Canadian Music Industry instantly stopped and thought: Why, in the name of all things holy would one of the biggest new rock stations on the planet, whose musical integrity and credibility are unmatched, hire a music director that is the absolute antithesis of the demographic they’re trying to reach? Don became known in Toronto music circles for his catch phrase, “Nigga, here’s my mother ####in’ philosophy…”
Ross and Doc decided all music at the Edge would be based on what other stations were playing. They also sent out for a ton of research to try and tune them into what the demographic liked.
One of the last music meetings I was at we were trying to decide which Canadian band to add. Ross liked band A because he had met the lead singer and thought she was sexy. Don wanted band B because they were being played in Edmonton and Calgary, I offered band C. Band C had three sold out shows at Toronto’s Massey Hall that month and band C’s iTune sales were exponentially greater than band A and band B put together.
Dr. Don looked at me like I just pissed in his soup. “Nigga, here’s my mother ####in philosophy,” he snapped. “#### three sold out shows at Massy Hall. I could take a shit on stage and sell out Massey Hall. Why don’t you take your Barry Funny Ass out of this mother ####er. “ Ross agreed. I wasn’t allowed at another music meeting.
Another nail in my coffin came with the whole electric car chaos. Holy crap that upset people. The coverage received more attention from outside media than any other thing that happened on the Edge in the 7 years I was there. Awesome. Management is gonna love the publicity. No. No they didn’t. I was immediately told to not talk about the issue on air.
I was also told I talked too much about music. The 420 Thought was replaced with familiar Foo Fighter or Pearl Jam songs. The Blue Jay Breaks I did with my dad were also axed and for the record, while we covered the Jays this season they were 21-12. Since I was fired they’ve tanked to 49-51 ....so…yeah. Pick a side.
As the station continued it’s homogenization it became clear changes were coming for those who didn’t fit in. The music became even more repetitive to the point where I’d be playing the same song twice in a four hour shift. No artists were to be interviewed on the air, aside from the morning show. Announcers were told to talk for 30 seconds or less and our content was heavily scrutinized.
Finally on a Tuesday in May I was called in before my shift and let go for rating reasons. As an email went out the following day the first person to reach out was Martin Streek. He was very supportive and let me know he had my back. A few hours later Ross had him come into the station for the last time.
So that’s it. In the end it’s not a big deal, it’s a business. The Edge’s number one goal is to make money. Some have asked about Megaphoneman. Sadly he was let go too. Was it discriminatory? Let me put it this way, now that he’s gone Corus Entertainment employs no vocal-impaired Megaphonites. The days when a former opera singer who lost his vocal capabilities due to expired cough syrup and subsequently had to speak through a Megaphone was allowed on the Edge are dead. But let us not forget those days and they will live on as the Spirit of Radio.
That which we thought was true, is true. CFNY is now a Top 40 station but with grunge music.
The Ballad of Martin Streek and Me
Published by Toronto Mike on July 25, 2009 @ 22:01 in Edge 102 ~ CFNY, Martin Streek Remembered ~ A Tribute to Martin Streek, Press Recognition, Radio
 Over the past week or so, I've been communicating with Bert Archer who's been writing an article for the Globe and Mail on CFNY / Edge 102. Bert and I had a nice phone conversation and exchanged several emails and Gtalk messages. He was interested in where CFNY was going following the dismissal and subsequent death of Martin Streek.
I got involved because I broke both Martin's firing and his suicide. CFNY is also one of my favourite blog topics, as it's been my go-to radio station for over 20 years. Even today, as I analyze their song repetition habits and question their playlist, it's the closest match to my musical tastes on Toronto terrestrial radio.
Today, Bert's article about CFNY and Martin Streek was published. You can read it online on the Globe site, or peruse it below. As you'll read, I'm mentioned several times and even quoted.
The Ballad of Martin Streek by Bert Archer, Special to The Globe and Mail
The night 102.1 The Edge fired DJ Martin Streek, he showed up for a birthday party at Andy Poolhall on College Street. Amid a swarm of guests, he bumped into David Marsden, the Toronto radio veteran who'd hired him almost exactly 25 years earlier when he ran the station known as CFNY. According to his former boss, Mr. Streek came over and hugged him, whispering in his ear, "I've just been fired."
Outside the world of sports, personnel decisions rarely make the news. And it's very likely that program director Ross Winters's decision on May 12 and 13 to fire two disgruntled DJs, Mr. Streek and Barry Taylor, wouldn't have either.
Though several Facebook groups sprang up in support of the jockeys - one of them reaching a membership as high as 950 - news of the firings did not go mainstream until July 6. That's when the stunning news of Mr. Streek's death broke in the form of a comment from a friend of Mr. Streek's on torontomike.com. Its proprietor, long-time Edge fan Mike Boon, also added that that Mr. Streek had killed himself.
Soon, the news and comments started popping up on other sites, often in the form of direct attacks on the station whose call letters Mr. Streek had tattooed on his right glute. "The Edge killed Martin," said one torontomike.com commenter.
The Edge is hardly the only radio station in flux, but Mr. Streek's unrelenting enthusiasm for new music made him a symbol of the old, raucous days of radio, a channel of nostalgia unto himself.
"There's something about the 'Spirit of Radio' and what it once was," says Mr. Boon, referring to the old CFNY tagline that inspired a Rush song, "and there's a collective sadness about how radio's devolving in recent years. Martin was a guy who was always there, always solid, extremely likable. When he was let go a couple of months ago, it seemed like a final nail in the coffin."
Yet as Alan Cross sees it, habits have changed as well as taste. A renowned alternative-music historian who preceded Mr. Winters as program director at The Edge, he says, "It was just easier to leave the dial on your favourite station. Now you've got 24 pre-sets."
Mr. Cross, who still works for Edge's owners, Corus Entertainment, was a long-time friend of Mr. Streek's, but rather than casting him as a martyr, he sees the dismissal in practical terms. "A radio station is a business like any other," he says. "People get hired, and sometimes people are let go."
Adapt or die: That's the bitter, and, in Mr. Streek's case, chillingly literal truth. "Our vision is to serve the young adult audience of the GTA," Mr. Winters said in a recent interview, his first since Mr. Streek's death. "We target 18-to-40-year-olds, though mostly the 18-to-34s, and we lean that towards the men."
Though he refuses to comment on the dismissals, he does say that Mr. Cross "had put together a great radio station, but it had its challenges. And when I say challenges, I mean ratings problems."
According to broadcast research company BBM, The Edge is seventh in the Toronto market by number of listeners, with 507,500 people who tune in for at least 15 minutes a week. That's roughly half CHUM-FM's numbers, and 180,000 fewer than its classic-rock brother station, Q107.
Though The Edge might lack listeners, it still enjoys a mythological aura. Originally run out of a little yellow brick house on Main Street in Brampton, the rebellious clarion of alternative music had such a weak signal that fans in Toronto often had to improvise coat-hanger antennas to be able to pick it up. It's the sort of image only a serious lack of money can buy.
But by 1992, star DJs Chris Sheppard, Lee Carter, and Dani Elwell all resigned - Ms. Elwell read out her résumé on air in lieu of notice - because the new program director, Stewart Meyers, was reducing the play lists. But it was still different enough from the rest to attract the current generation of Edge purists, including both Mr. Taylor and Mr. Boon, who only started listening to it after the shift.
Mr. Streek had started out in his last year at high school lugging equipment for the CFNY Road Show - essentially an off-air roving party DJ gig. The '92 shakeup was his big break: he got Mr. Sheppard's old job. From there, he went through a variety of shows, outlasting Mr. Marsden, Steve Anthony, Dan Duran, Live Earl Jive, Kim Hughes, Humble and Fred and Mr. Cross to become the only staff link the station had to its CFNY days.
But as soon as Mr. Winters took over from Mr. Cross last September, Mr. Taylor says both he and Mr. Streek started feeling marginalized.
"Originally, when Alan was program director, Martin and I were participants in the music meetings," he says. "When Ross came in, he just sort of switched the time of the music meetings and made it closed door and didn't let Martin or I know."
The tenor of those meetings had changed, too. According to Mr. Winters, "Our music is not picked by the disc jockeys, it's not picked by me." It's picked by listeners. The station now does three types of audience research every two weeks, and bases its play lists on the results. "If the 18-to-40-year-olds want to hear Foo Fighters and Guns n' Roses, then that's what we'll play."
Mr. Taylor says that he and Mr. Streek made it clear around the office and on the air that they were not happy with the decreasing diversity of the music they were being asked to play. It was a long way from the mid-eighties, when, under Mr. Marsden, listeners were promised $1,002 if they noticed the same song being played more than once in 24 hours. The official limit now is 7 times in 24 hours.
"Martin and I, we both had opinions and would share them on the radio," said Mr. Taylor. "I was told never to talk about anything to do with politics, and that I talked too much about the music." Ditto, he says, for Mr. Streek.
In the last couple of months before they were fired, according to Mr. Taylor, rumours started that the two were on the chopping block. Mr. Streek's own burden got heavier when his long-time romantic relationship dissolved. (Sources would divulge neither her name nor the circumstances of the breakup.)
Then, on May 12, Mr. Taylor got called into a meeting just before his shift. "Ross had an envelope, and he said, 'Ratings at The Edge aren't doing well,' " Mr. Taylor recalls, " 'so we're going to have to make some changes,' and he gave me the envelope, and that was it." The envelope contained his letter of dismissal. According to Mr. Taylor, Mr. Streek was called in for a similar meeting the next day, when he got his own envelope. The last link to the Spirit of Radio days had been severed.
It was that night Mr. Streek showed up to the party on College Street and ran into Mr. Marsden. After a couple of pleasantries, Mr. Streek, who had turned 45 three weeks earlier, leaned in to Mr. Marsden. "You're the only person who ever interviewed me for a job," he said. "I don't know how to interview for a job."
This was not unfamiliar territory for Mr. Marsden, who'd been through several firings, a name change, and now works a 10-hours-a-week jockey gig at Oshawa's 94.9 The Rock. "What we are on the radio is what we is," Mr. Marsden says, remembering the last time he saw his old protégé. "When your job disappears, you ask, 'Who am I,' and too often the answer comes back, 'Nobody.' "
It's a good article that answers some questions we've had these past few weeks. In my quote, I suggested the firing of Martin Streek was the final nail in the spirit of radio's coffin. In actuality, the final nail might be this disturbing fact from the above article.
According to Mr. Winters, "Our music is not picked by the disc jockeys, it's not picked by me." It's picked by listeners. The station now does three types of audience research every two weeks, and bases its play lists on the results. "If the 18-to-40-year-olds want to hear Foo Fighters and Guns n' Roses, then that's what we'll play."
Determining CFNY's playlist is simply too important to be left to the masses.
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