TJ Connors has come full circle. The station he grew up around is now his afternoon home. His father, the legendary Scruff Connors, was the morning man at 97.7 HTZ-FM in St. Catherines during the height of rock radio's mass appeal phase in the early 90's. A quarter century later, the Connors name is back on HTZ-FM. I hired TJ to do mornings at Power in 2012, and had a chance to work with him as a consultant to his Country 103 station in Kamloops, where he was morning man and program director. We spoke about the advantages and disadvantages of following his dad on a station he helped make famous, and what makes HTZ-FM so legendary in the Niagara region. SPONSORED BY PROMOSUITE: http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff Also on the show, Edison research released their annual "Infinite Dial" update. Jason Barrett of Barrett Sports Media was kind enough to lend me 9 minutes of his take on the podcast portion of the report. All of which I agree with. (You know those boring infomercials and bad radio shows used to fill weekend slots on sports radio and news/talk? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Allan Waters Young Broadcaster Award, (a tribute to Steve Young) will be announced this week. It goes to a Canadian broadcaster under the age of 30 for their creative contributions on radio and in the community. Past winners include Fearless Fred, Amanda Logan, Rena Jae, Adam Wylde and others. It made me wonder how much younger broadcasters know about Steve and his contributions to radio in North America. So I called up JJ Johnston, someone who knew him very well, and had him paint a picture of the kind of radio Steve created, the impact on the people he mentored, and the kind of person he was. As JJ put it on this podcast, Steve was simply the best radio programmer to ever come out of Canada. He mentored many, including many on air performers as well as future programmers. JJ also put me in touch with Vanessa Thomas from Boom 97.3 and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame who worked under Steve's tutelage. This week's episode is brought to you by NLogic - get your free trial of LENS here - http://go.nlogic.ca/l/130651/2017-02-02/khtd2 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Larry Gifford has worked at great radio stations across the U.S.A. like KIRO in Seattle and Sports radio 710 ESPN in LA. After a stint in consulting, he found his way north to CKNW in Vancouver where he watched the American Election of a lifetime unfold from the other side of the border. Larry also has a podcast called “Radio Stuff” which is now out of hibernation and sponsored by the same people who support this podcast - http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff - I also asked him about his home state of Ohio - and why is serves as the American political barometer; and we shared our podcast knowledge with one another. This episode is brought to you by Logic and the new cloud based software Lens. http://go.nlogic.ca/l/130651/2017-02-02/khtd2 Finally - take our survey for the podcast here. http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=c-pwg3hNJ1tz&ver=standard See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lori Lewis is the Chairperson for the 42nd edition of the Conclave which will be taking place July 26-28 in Minneapolis. She is also the VP of Social at Cumulus; which means this call was a great opportunity to ask her some of the social media and radio questions that I get asked a lot. If you want to check out the line up at the Conclave, go to http://www.theconclave.com - tickets are on sale for a very limited time for $249. Our show sponsor Promosuite is also going to be at the Conclave! http://www.promosuite.com See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Erica Farber is the CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau. And as the picture says - she loves radio! If you ever get the feeling that no one has your back in radio, stop by the website and you will remember the great things radio has going for it. There are tools, tips and tricks for non-members, but as we discussed - membership does have its privileges. She has a storied career that spans great decades at stations with legendary call letters. (Think KRTH, KABC and KIIS in Los Angeles) Many who enjoyed their radio years where an R&R magazine circulated the building, will remember her columns and contributions, including the infamous "back page". Titles like Publisher, COO and CEO came quickly after. Also this week, we flash back to the launch of WKTU in New York. We would like to thank this week's sponsors: Promosuite - http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff NLogic - NLogic - http://bit.ly/2yn3uCo  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jason Barrett is the owner of Barrett Sports Media, a New York based sports programming and marketing company designed to help sports radio and television companies, professional sports teams, and sports agencies, enjoy long-term success in the audio, digital and social media space. Okay - I took that part from his website, but if any part of your radio day involves sports or digital - you need to watch the digital trends in sports to understand how it's all going to be consumed in the future. I had Jason on before the NFL season got underway and I thought it would be fitting to bring him back again to discuss the myths about ratings, what happens when your team leaves town, and where the sports broadcast talent of tomorrow is going to come from. This episode is brought to you by Promosuite - please support the podcast by checking them out at http://www.promosuite.com/soundoff See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hal Anderson has been a fixture on the radio in Winnipeg since the late 80's. On our 34th episode, we thought it would appropriate to have the 34th Greatest Canadian on the podcast; which also coincided with his return to 680 CJOB, after being let go in a move that ratings wise, appears regrettable. I took the podcast on the road this week to catch up with Hal and talk about the 1999 "Naked Girl on the Bike" incident, how he became the 34th Greatest Canadian, and his co-hosts over the years.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeff Vidler has been involved in research for a long time. After the podcast had been recorded, I remembered a time when, as program director of CJFM in Montreal, he would use his research to entice clients as much as listeners. As the years went on, I worked with Jeff on music testing, perceptuals, and format finders. All my experiences have been positive as research generally shone a light, showed direction, and moved our stations to where they needed to go. As the industry has changed, Jeff's research now includes the more complex listening habits and rituals that exist across all platforms. We also had Peter Anthony Holder come on the show to tell us about his show, the Stuph File. If you would like to have this show on your radio station, please email him peter@thestuphfile.com The podcast is brought to you by NLogic and the new cloud based platform Lens. http://bit.ly/nlogicso Please take the Podtrac survey - It helps us do a better job. http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=c-pwg3hNJ1tz&ver=standard See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Canadian Music Week is taking place in at the Sheraton Centre Downtown in Toronto April 18 to 23. Greg Simpson has been working all of them since 1993, and tells us what to expect this year, how the conference has evolved to include digital, and the value in attending. This week's episode is sponsored by Promosuite - who will also be in attendence at Canadian Music Week. If you are going, be sure to say hello to Rachel, CJ and Rocco and thank them for supporting this podcast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sports is fast becoming the format of choice for graduating media students. With the commodity value of music at an all time low, and news becoming polarizing and at time "fake", Sports broadcasting attracting aspiring millennial broadcasters. Alex Rawnsley is the owner and creator of Sportscasterlife.com - a website designed to help Sportscasters get better at their craft. He has made available all the things he wished he had when he was developing as a sportscaster. After spending a few minutes on the site, having access to scoresheets and quick tips on building storyboards was interesting. There are many other resources on the site. This episode is sponsored by NLogic and there new cloud based ratings software LENS. For a free trial - http://bit.ly/nlogicso We also hear from Logan Anderson and his podcast "Say the Damn Score!". See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.