This morning it was announced that Rogers was shutting down six AM radio stations across the country, letting 230 people go in the process. Rogers is returning those six AM radio licenses to the CRTC.
The AM radio stations shuttered by Rogers are:
- Sportsnet 960 in Calgary
- 660 NewsRadio in Calgary
- 1130 NewsRadio in Vancouver
- Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver
- 570 NewsRadio in Kitchener
- NewsRadio 95.7 in Halifax
I've often said on Toronto Mike'd that Rogers really own cares about 3 radio stations, all in Toronto.
- CHFI
- Kiss 92.5
- 680 NewsRadio
BroadcastDialogue got a statement from a Rogers Sports & Media spokesperson.
The media business continues to face headwinds driven by declining advertising revenue and changing audience habits. These changes are part of our plan to focus our investment in areas that will drive growth long-term.
After a thorough review of our radio stations, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to close six radio stations in four markets due to declining audience and revenue trends — we continue to own and operate 44 radio stations in nearly 30 communities across the country and to invest in local news in the impacted markets.
Listeners of Toronto Mike'd might recognize Sportsnet 960 as the station Mike Richards aired his show on, and 570 NewsRadio as the station Larry Fedoruk would fill-in on.
