Canada's CRTC has granted four applications for new FM stations in Windsor, one of which will be searching for a frequency. First off, the CBC will get simulcasters for its English language CBE AM 1550 (Radio One) on FM 102.3 with 690 watts of power along with French Language CBEF AM 540 (La Premiere Chaine) on FM 105.5 with 620 watts. The applications for these stations state problems for listeners in downtown Windsor having access to their respective AM signals, creating the desire for the FM repeaters.

Blackburn Radio will continue its expansion in southwest Ontario with a new station to be licensed to Windsor at FM 95.9. That station will feature a country format and operate with 3,550 watts. Blackburn recently added FM 92.7 in nearby Leamington to its roster of stations.

A competing application for an Aboriginal station on FM 95.9 was also granted, but the CRTC is making Neeti Ray find a new frequency for this operation.

Read the CRTC decisions here:

- CBE and CBEF Windsor - New transmitters at Windsor

- Licensing of new radio stations to serve Windsor, Ontario

So, here is my first on-line only On the Radio column, as Mike indicated last week please be forgiving when it comes to spelling and grammar. I am not smarter than a 5th grader. For as long as we can do this without compensation, we'll try to remain a part of your Sunday ritual.

 • • • • • • • • 

Death is one of things that I don't do well with, and the last 50 days have been unkind to the radio business. Things started to "go south" literally when legendary DJ Jack Armstrong died unexpectedly of a heart attack in North Carolina. Jack, 62, was the fast-talking DJ that XM's Terry "Motor Mouth" Young patterned himself after. Terry, you may recall, worked at the old WDFX-FM 99.5 The Fox (now WYCD) preceding Karen Delesandro. These days she's doing the morning show in Milwaukee on top-rated WMIL-FM (106.1). Next, as was covered in my last column in the newspaper, we lost WRIF Sales & Special Events Manager Bob Kozaitis in a terrible roadside accident. He was just 36. Then 2 weeks ago today, Big Ron O'Brien, only 56, died of pneumonia in a Philadelphia hospital. He had been the afternoon jock at Oldies 98.1 WOGL in the City of Brotherly Love. For those you with a vivid Detroit radio memory, Ron was known as "Biggie" O'Brien at the old WCAR-AM 1130 (now WDFN) when it tried to be a hit-music top 40 station in the early 1970's. A video tribute I produced is on YouTube: click here to view it. Then a week ago the Voice of America, Paul Harvey, lost his beloved wife Lynne "Angel" Harvey from leukemia at 92. Insiders are still wondering what Paul Harvey will do. Will he return to his daily news and commentary broadcasts or officially retire. His ABC Radio contract goes to 2010. I had the privilege of videotaping his last address to the radio industry at the R&R Talk Radio Seminar in the LA area back in 2003. My hope is that death can take a holiday and we don't lose any more radio friends for a while.

 • • • • • • • • 

Remember Chuck Swirsky? He was the unique voice in the WJR sports department back about a dozen years ago. He was also characterized by Dick Purtan's crew as "Chuck on a car phone." He came to Detroit from WLUP (The Loop) in Chicago. Chuck also did a stint on Chicago powerhouse WGN-AM (720). Well, now he's back in the Windy City after ten years of doing play-by-play for the Toronto Raptors, mostly on television. The Chicago Bulls basketball team lured him with an offer as their radio play-by-play voice. Radio announcer Neil Funk moves over to the team's television crew.

 • • • • • • • • 

Another name from the past is Tom Corbett, an Ann Arbor native who jumped many years ago from WAAM-AM (1600) to the news room at WJR-AM (760) and then over to WWJ-AM (950) until he left radio for the financial world in New York and now Chicago where he is a media analyst for Morningstar Financial, Inc.

Tom recently checked in to let me know that Mike and I shouldn't feel too badly about losing the newspaper column, since that industry, like so many, is facing hard times. The Oakland Press is owned by the Journal-Register Company, a publicly traded publisher that has hired an investment banking firm to help restructure the debt it incurred when buying a string of small dailies here in Michigan. With more and more people reading columns, like this, via the Internet, newspapers are trying to deal with the financial ramifications of this decline head-on, before it becomes a full-blown crisis, said analysts. "They see the iceberg ahead and they hired consultants to try to manipulate the rudder and change course before they hit it," said Corbett, an equity analyst who covers the media industry for Morningstar.

 • • • • • • • • 

XM Satellite Radio has hired a talk show host who once graced the airwaves of WXYT-AM (1270) back when it was a full-fledged talk station. He's Joe Madison, one of the brightest and best such hosts covering issues of the African-American community. The talk radio star and renowned social activist has joined XM Satellite Radio. Beginning Monday, June 2, Madison, also known as "The Black Eagle," will broadcast live each weekday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET from XM's Washington, D.C. studios on The Power (XM Channel 169), the only national radio channel exclusively dedicated to African-American talk programming.

Madison joins the XM in-house programming team after a 10-year run with D.C.'s WOL-AM, where his popular morning show has been simulcast on The Power since XM's launch in the fall of 2001. Named one of Talkers Magazine's Heavy 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts nine times and widely regarded as the nation's leading African-American activist talk radio host, Madison uses his microphone to bring attention to social injustices here and abroad while challenging listeners to take action. Madison has done well since leaving the Motor City.

 • • • • • • • • 

Michigan Radio, the public radio service of the University of Michigan, and the Ann Arbor District Library are honored to host an evening with journalist Cokie Roberts as she discusses her new book Ladies of Liberty: Women Who Shaped Our Nation on Monday, May 19 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. The event, which will include a book signing, will be held at The Michigan Theater, 603 East Liberty in Ann Arbor. Admission to the event is free. On a personal note, I had the opportunity of videotaping Cokie Roberts about 9 years ago has she conducted a one-on-one interview with Don Imus at a talk radio conference. She is among the best in the business. Michigan Radio in Ann Arbor operates NPR affiliate WUOM-FM (91.7) along with WVGR-FM (104.1) in Grand Rapids and WFUM-FM (91.1) in Flint.

 • • • • • • • • 

Those friends who have checked out the Internet station of one-time Detroit DJ Rich "Brother" Robbin at W4 in the early 70's, have flipped out over the variety of oldies he features 24/7 at www.richbroradio.com. Two songs that I heard flung me back to my high school days in the mid-1960's, were; "Funny Man" by Ray Stevens and "That Stranger Used to Be My Girl" by Trade Martin. Internet radio, as I've indicated before, could be yet another threat to regular radio.

 • • • • • • • • 

With the economy in rough shape these days and jobs, especially in the radio business, at a premium, great gigs are hard to come by, but if you're a Canadian or just want to work across the boarder in Canada's largest city, read on. Pat Holiday, the one-time Big 8 jock at CKLW in the station's glory days, who also worked at WNIC-FM (100.3) in the mid-1980's, is now the General Manager of CFRB-AM (1010) in Toronto. He has a rare opening for a program director at their AC formatted FM station. Details can be found at www.999mixfm.com/dreamjob/.

 • • • • • • • • 

Your most humble radio reporter has been invited to a couple of significant radio events over the course of the next couple of days. CBS Radio in Detroit is hosting a special reception that will feature radio division president Dan Mason and hopes to illustrate for the advertising community the power and effectiveness of radio. It should be interesting. I'll be listening and taking notes.

On Tuesday evening, the 13th, the Detroit Historical Museum will be hosting Detroit's Classic Radio Voices. Those being honored include: Bob Allison, Sonny Eliot, Ernie Harwell, Dick Purtan, J.P. McCarthy, and Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg. Sadly we lost J. P. back on August 16, 1995 and Martha Jean died on January 31, 2000. I'm sincerely looking forward to this event which should be one to remember.

 • • • • • • • • 

We used to close most of our newspaper column's with a plug for Tom Wilson and his popular "Somewhere in Time" program. So, our on-line version should be no different. Hear the music of Tommy Dorsey from Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford and others at 6 pm Sunday night on WMUZ-FM (103.5) and on WRDT-AM (560).

 • • • • • • • • 

Be sure to let your family and friends know that although the On the Radio column is gone from the printed newspaper, it remains available (at no charge) each Sunday here on Michiguide.com.

Art Vuolo has published the Radio Guide for more than 30 years and runs Vuolovideo.com. Contact him at artvuolo@aol.com.

The clock is ticking for those who still rely on rabbit ears for television reception. In nine months, analog television broadcasting will end and local television stations throughout the United States will broadcast in digital format. Consequently, people who don't have a digital television -- not to be confused with a high-definition television -- and aren't subscribed to cable, satellite or a telephone company service provider won't be able to use their televisions. This is because analog TVs aren't able to receive digital broadcasts. "They are completely different signals,'' said Ken Messner, a salesman at Holda's Appliances & TV & Service... TV change getting mixed reception (Sun, 5/11)

Chuck Horn, assistant music director at WDET-FM (101.9), has left the Wayne State University broadcaster. "The departure is not expected to affect any of the music programs and services currently offered by WDET and WDET-HD2," e-mails station GM Allen Mazurek... Names and Faces (Sat, 5/10)

Art Vuolo, often referred to as "Radio's Best Friend", will be co-hosting the Home Improvement Show with Murray Gula on Sports Radio 1130 WDFN on Saturday morning May 10th from 8 a.m. till 10 a.m. Art says it's been a while since he last cracked a mic on a two hour radio show, but now we'll get to see if the ole boy can do radio as well as write about and video tape it. Send your comments directly to Art at artvuolo@aol.com or visit vuolovideo.com.

The Fifth Third River Bank Run might not initially seem like the type of event that's conducive to a radio telecast. After all, how exciting can listening to a bunch of runners pounding the pavement be, right? Angela Vuyst, the program director at WOOD-AM (1300), begs to differ. The radio station, which has aired all 30 previous River Bank Runs, will start its 31st broadcast at 7 a.m. Saturday. "We give the runners a lot of credit because the rest of us are sitting back and watching them run during the broadcast," Vuyst said. Actually, Vuyst will be doing more than just sitting around during the race. This will be her ninth year as the event's producer and engineer. And she has a number of reasons why this year's broadcast is worth tuning into... River Run airs on WOOD radio for 31st time (Fri, 5/9)

Renee Montagne, co-host of National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" (with Steve Inskeep) since 2004,paid a whirlwind visit to Detroit Public Radio WDET-FM (101.9) on Tuesday, on her way to moderate a panel at the Brownfields Conference at Cobo Center, a suitably wholesome event for an NPR host. WDET carries "Morning Edition" every weekday from 5 to 10 a.m. That early start means that the Los Angeles-based Montagne must start her 14-hour workdays at NPR West in Culver City, Calif., at midnight Pacific time... NPR's Montagne dishes on success (Thu, 5/8)

Detroit Free Press:

Oh happy day! Freep.com and its multimedia Free Press journalists copped seven Michigan Emmy nominations as the local academy released the list of hopefuls for its 30th annual competition Wednesday evening ... On the TV side of the Emmy ledger, WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) and affiliated producers had 31 nominations; WDIV-TV (Local 4) had 17. Fox Sports Detroit and WTVS-TV (Channel 56) each had 12, and WJBK-TV (Channel 2) and WWJ-TV (Channel 62) each had nine... Freep gets 7 Emmy nods (Thu, 5/8)

Adult Alternative CIDR-FM 93.9, The River, will present Canadian pop/rock sensations The Barenaked Ladies at Borders Books and Music in Birmingham on Friday, May 9th. The band is promoting their new children's music CD "Snacktime", which contains 24 original songs for kids. This promotional tour consists of 7 U.S. stops, including Birmingham.

The band will be performing songs from "Snacktime" live, beginning at 3:30pm. 93.9 The River's Gnyp will host the event with a live broadcast on The River.

Admission is free and open to all ages. Capacity is limited, so get there early to secure your spot! Borders Books and Music is located at 34300 Woodward Ave., Birmingham, (248) 203 - 0005.

Michigan Radio Welcomes Cokie Roberts to Ann Arbor

Michigan Radio, the University of Michigan's WUOM-FM 91.7 Ann Arbor / WFUM-FM 91.1 Flint / WVGR-FM 104.1 Grand Rapids, and the Ann Arbor District Library will host an evening with journalist Cokie Roberts as she discusses her new book Ladies of Liberty: Women Who Shaped Our Nation on Monday, May 19 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. The event, which will include a book signing, will be held at The Michigan Theater, 603 East Liberty in Ann Arbor. Admission to the event is free.

Cokie Roberts serves as Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio, where she was the congressional correspondent for more than ten years. In addition to her responsibilities at NPR, she has covered Congress, politics and public policy for the past fifteen years at ABC News. In her more than thirty years in broadcasting, she has won countless awards, including two Emmys. Roberts has won numerous awards at NPR, including the highest honor in public radio, the Edward R. Murrow Award. She was the first broadcast journalist to win the highly prestigious Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for coverage of Congress. She has also been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, and was cited by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the fifty greatest women in the history of broadcasting.

In Ladies of Liberty: Women Who Shaped Our Nation, Roberts tells the story of remarkable women and their achievements in moving the fledgling nation forward, from the election of John Adams in 1796 to the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828. Roberts reveals the often surprising and compelling stories of determined and passionate women who courageously faced the challenges of the times and laid the groundwork for a better society.

More information about this event is available at www.michiganradio.org.

Detroit News:

WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) will pay tribute to its venerable anchorwoman Diana Lewis , who is celebrating 40 years in TV news. The tribute will serve as a special report during tonight's 11 p.m. newscast. The East Coast native got her start in her hometown as a producer for WPVI-TV (Channel 6), the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia. Lewis, 65, has been with WXYZ off and on through the years since 1977... Tuned in (Wed, 5/7)

In Sunday's Broadcast Notes about WZZM-TV's (Channel 13) "Take Five" moving to the 9-10 a.m. slot at the end of August, the obvious question went unanswered: What happens to "Live with Regis and Kelly," which airs in that time slot? The answer: That show will move to Kalamazoo-based station WWMT-TV (Channel 3). On Sept. 8, "Live with Regis and Kelly" moves to 9 a.m. on WWMT, said James Lutton, general manager at Channel 3... 'Regis and Kelly' show lands new spot on the dial (Wed, 5/7)

AllAccess.com:

Riviera/Las Vegas Hires Tim Kiesling: After a four-month nationwide search, RIVIERA BROADCAST GROUP/LAS VEGAS welcomes long-time CLEAR CHANNEL programming and marketing veteran TIM KIESLING as Marketing Director for Smooth Jazz KOAS (Smooth Jazz 105.7) and Alternative KVGS (AREA 107.9). KIESLING's 20-year radio career includes five years as Dir./Marketing at CLEAR CHANNEL/SAN ANTONIO. He was most recently PD of AC WOOD and Hot AC WMAX/GRAND RAPIDS. (Tue, 5/6)

WSNX Record Attempt Shots Down: CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40/Mainstream WSNX/GRAND RAPIDS, generated a ton of press from their CINCO DE MAYO stunt at a local bar. In a story first reported in the local paper, then picked up by THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, the PUDDIN'S PLAYHOUSE morning show tried to break the GUINNESS record for most tequila shots downed at one time on the holiday. The record was 1,300. Alas, the 'SNX crew "only" had 679 people slamming a shot of tequila on MONDAY night. Nevertheless, the show plans on trying again next year. (Wed, 5/7)

Announcers are George Blaha, Greg Kelser and Ryan Field. Pistons Live follows the game with player reaction, coaches' press conferences, expert analysis and extended highlights.

One of the hallmarks of the cable TV age in America -- local access channels broadcasting public meetings, community events and the occasional oddball citizen show -- may be in jeopardy in parts of Michigan as a result of a loophole in a cable franchise law that could wipe out much of the funding. Some cable providers have used the loophole to suspend support for so-called PEG -- or public, education and government -- operations since the law went into effect last year. Many others could do so when their existing franchise agreements expire, rather than pay a PEG fee of up to 2% of total revenue. Legislation to require all cable providers to pay the 2% PEG fee -- on top of a 5% franchise fee -- has been introduced in both the state House and Senate... Public access TV at risk (Mon, 5/5)

Mark your calendar for Sunday. WRCJ-FM (90.9) will broadcast the season finale concert of the Detroit Symphony's Civic Youth Orchestra. Hosted by Jimmy Rhoades and Detroit School of the Arts student Jared Laws, it'll air 10 a.m.-noon (pre-empting "The Listening Room")... WRCJ to feature youth orchestra (Mon, 5/5)

Welcome and thanks for reading the first "independent" version of the On the Radio column. While Art Vuolo has not yet decided if he will continue his contributions, I will be publishing on Michiguide.com a similar type of news and views commentary as what has been published each week in the suburban Detroit Oakland Press for years- Art and I took over the piece from Rob Musial back in September 2001. One of the biggest differences you'll notice about this online-only version of On the Radio is that since the column isn't submitted to a professional editor, there will be more grammar and spelling errors. Also, look for things to become more focused on opinions instead of reporting radio news. And because there no longer is a midweek deadline, the item that is published on the web each Sunday will be timelier, especially when things happen on Thursday and Friday.

Art and I are appreciative of the support readers have given us the past week when Art's final column ran. We are both very disappointed that the paper decided to cancel us due to space and financial considerations. Just like how we've commented on what's happened in the radio biz, neither of us can understand how cutting back on local content can help a product that should be increasing its local content instead of getting rid of it. Why subscribe to a newspaper when the majority of what you receive is wire copy that can be read in a number of other places? Why advertise in the paper when the product has next to no personal connection to its customers?

What I'll miss most about having the columns printed in the Oakland Press is the legitimacy that comes with being published and paid by a well-known newspaper. The extra money was nice, but that wasn't the real reason I did it for just over 6 ½ years. It was just genuinely fun to do.

 • • • • • • • • 

One of the most difficult things to cover over the years has been ratings information. Because neither Art nor I are anywhere near what you'd call wealthy, we can't afford to subscribe to Arbitron to get a regular look at the important demographic breakdowns. Any analysis we might do has been totally at the mercy of what people that do subscribe are willing to share or by what's published in other places. And, it seems fewer and fewer people outside of the radio business really care all that much about the relatively minor swings that occur with each ratings book. Susan Whitall of the Detroit News and John Smyntek of the Free Press both do a fine job dissecting the numbers in their respective publications, especially when it comes to evaluating morning drive. Rehashing age 12+ numbers has become repetitive and probably pretty boring to read too.

As an admitted sports junkie though, I'm always interested in what the numbers look like for WDFN and WXYT. Overall, WXYT looks like they are successfully holding on to the new listeners they found by adding the FM 97.1 simulcast last year. That's especially true for afternoon drive hosts Mike Valenti and Terry Foster who reportedly scored nearly a 9 share in last week's winter ratings book and were number one among men age 25-54, the money demo for both 'DFN and the Ticket. They've built a very loyal following for themselves, no doubt because of their on-air product but also because of an Internet presence at www.sportsinferno.com. While WXYT management has banished nearly any kind of reference to the site on the air, tons of listeners still congregate there to talk sports, show their love for Mike and Terry, and generally just to be part of a community that joins together new media and traditional radio. The combination of a dynamic Internet meeting place and interesting radio equals success and is something radio managers should take note of.

 • • • • • • • • 

Interaction and fun is why I've become a religious listener to XM's 60's on 6 during Phlash Phelps' morning drive show. Nearly every day, Phelps serves up a fast-paced program that, when live, combines listener interaction with current events to make it feel every bit like a small-town local radio program instead of a nationwide satellite program. The features that get listeners involved are simple, from guessing the location of a daily featured city from clues given at about 8:20am, to trying to figure out the location of a photo that Phelps has taken of himself from various landmarks across the country on his MySpace page (www.myspace.com/phlashphelps). He also takes listener requests and generally just makes it sound like he's having fun every time he opens the mic.

 • • • • • • • • 

I was glad to read that WRIF morning host Mike Clark and former host Drew Lane didn't allow the official break-up of their hugely successful morning show to spin into a big scandal. While some initial miscommunication was all over the news, the guys quickly resolved things allowing each of them to explore the next steps in their careers without having to constantly deal with that issue. Probably one of the most interesting things to watch in Detroit radio the next year will be the development of 'Riffs "new" morning show. With Clark now fully stepping out of Lane's shadow, the pressure to keep the show at or near the top of the ratings and revenue chart is going to be high. Especially considering he and program director Doug Podell now have a new boss in John Gallagher, the former WJR sales manager who is taking over Tom Bender's old job as general manager of Greater Media's WRIF, WCSX, and WMGC. I'm guessing that if there is any kind of sustained weakness in the program, Podell and Gallagher won't hesitate to give Clark any help he might want or need- even if that means adding or subtracting co-hosts . Losing morning listeners is never a good thing for a station's overall health and nobody in town knows that better than Podell.

I'm also going to be real interested to see if Lane shows up locally doing an afternoon talk program. With Deminski and Doyle also being on the sidelines for now, that's a ton of compelling talk talent that would like to be on the air during similar timeslots on stations that right now probably offer a completely different format. If someone could find a morning show that could successfully get after WRIF's morning audience and figure out a way to get Lane along with Deminski and Doyle in the lineup, you'd have a very compelling competitor for male listeners. And a very interesting war for listeners between WRIF, WXYT, WDFN, and any newcomer to the party.

 • • • • • • • • 

Mike Austerman is the founder of Michiguide.com and covered radio for The Oakland Press from September 2001 through April 2008.

"Take Five," WZZM-TV's popular local talk show, will make several significant changes later this summer. Beginning Aug. 25, the show will expand from 30 minutes to one hour and move from 4:30 p.m. to 9 a.m. weekdays. The show -- hosted by Catherine Behrendt and Stephanie Webb -- also will add a new talent, Tara Kuhnlein. A Hope College graduate, Kuhnlein previously was an intern for "Take Five." Station management believes the "Good Morning America" lead-in will be strong and provide a nice flow to local programming. The game show "Deal or No Deal" will follow "Take Five" at 10 a.m. "The expansion ... will double the amount of time to do a variety of segments and will allow us to breathe," Behrendt said. Janet Mason, the station's president and general manager, looks forward to having more time: "We can use the time to delve into topics and keep everything local, local, local"... WZZM's 'Take Five' to expand, move to mornings (Sun, 5/4)

Saginaw Township voters will have a chance to hear discussion of Tuesday's ballot proposal to renew 2.25 mills for school building maintenance and improvements. ''Community Connections with Joyce Harvin'' on WTLZ-FM ,107.1, will allow supporters and opponents to exchange views. The program airs at 2 p.m. Sunday... WTLZ hosts tax plan discussion (Fri, 5/2)