"Take that Calgary Puck!" — SN960 and Calgary sports media discussion

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

It normally does - just not for Fan 960. Other stations like 660 and 770 news work.



Agree, it's been great. Even Rob Kerr has been getting a lot of cool guests.

Rob Kerr is a Calgary treasure.

[Strange Brew]

Yep stopped working in TuneIn several months ago and I just stopped trying. No idea what is happening there but being unable to listen through Alexa means I no longer listen period.

[PuckSlap]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Yep stopped working in TuneIn several months ago and I just stopped trying. No idea what is happening there but being unable to listen through Alexa means I no longer listen period.

That is bazar. Wonder if it has anything to do with restrictions to Canadian content. Like reverse Bill C-11

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

I had a conversation once with Kelly Kirsch a few years back when I was looking to go back to school and get into broadcasting. I was stunned at how strictly they control who they hire - virtually nobody but SAIT broadcasting students.

Radio as a medium has had its clock cleaned by streaming, of course, but also by podcasts that are funny, insightful and engaging.

They should be soliciting applicants off the street - are you funny? Can you talk? About hockey, football, baseball and basketball for hours on end? Can you write? Can you sing? Can you do anything that might differentiate us or make us stand out in any way?

You could teach a halfway intelligent person everything they need to know about the operation of radio controls in a week or less.

You can’t teach someone to be interesting.

I think the point you are trying to make is that you should hire for talent? And I agree but that's much different from "soliciting applicants off the street". There is a lot more to being a good broadcaster than being funny and being able to talk. It, like most things, takes time to get really good at.

The challenge is that there is NO money in it. So people with talent, will for the most part, find other things to do with that talent. It's long hours and you are financial stressed most of the time. Even the top talent don't make a lot.

But it is also incorrect that places like Rogers only hire from SAIT. There are two good broadcasting programs in town (MRU and SAIT) so they represent the most obvious source of talent but they hire beyond that including from other programs (e.g. journalism).

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I think the point you are trying to make is that you should hire for talent? And I agree but that's much different from "solicing applicants off the street". There is a lot more to being a good broadcaster than being funny and being able to talk. It, like most things, takes time to get really good at.

The challenge is that there is NO money in it. So people with talent, will for the most part, find other things to do with that talent. It's long hours and you are financial stressed most of the time. Even the top talent don't make a lot.

But it is also incorrect that places like Rogers only hire from SAIT. There are two good broadcasting programs in town (MRU and SAIT) so they represent the most obvious source of talent but they hire beyond that including from other programs (e.g. journalism).

Even on air folks generally need to have an understanding of the technical side, too, so there's a need for SAIT/MRU grads. I do think that conversation with Kirsch might mean that his group generally only hires SAIT grads, perhaps because he is super comfortable with their level of training. I've seen their program and it turns out a really consistent base level of skills.

Anyway we know that he was exaggerating because they hired the likes of Mike Richards from out east and an untrained Rhett Warrener.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I think the point you are trying to make is that you should hire for talent? And I agree but that's much different from "solicing applicants off the street". There is a lot more to being a good broadcaster than being funny and being able to talk. It, like most things, takes time to get really good at.

The challenge is that there is NO money in it. So people with talent, will for the most part, find other things to do with that talent. It's long hours and you are financial stressed most of the time. Even the top talent don't make a lot.

But it is also incorrect that places like Rogers only hire from SAIT. There are two good broadcasting programs in town (MRU and SAIT) so they represent the most obvious source of talent but they hire beyond that including from other programs (e.g. journalism).

I really don't think the average listener can appreciate the challenges of the job. It's one thing to have an interesting segment discussion but to continually have to engage listeners for multiple hours every day probably takes a lot of discipline, effort, and planning. Combine that with the crappy pay and it's kind of surprising that people are still willing to enter the trade. One thing Jim Rome has going for him is that he talks all sports so there would never be a shortness of stories but when you are doing Calgary sports news which is primarily Flames it's not easy to find interesting material on a daily basis.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Even on air folks generally need to have an understanding of the technical side, too, so there's a need for SAIT/MRU grads. I do think that conversation with Kirsch might mean that his group generally only hires SAIT grads, perhaps because he is super comfortable with their level of training. I've seen their program and it turns out a really consistent base level of skills.

Anyway we know that he was exaggerating because they hired the likes of Mike Richards from out east and an untrained Rhett Warrener.

The SAIT program is often preferred because of the work of Richard Stroobant who, over a long period of time, has fostered and built deep relationships between the school and employers. The industry trusts him so if he tells you to hire someone, chances are they are good.
I would place the SAIT program slightly above the MRU one. I went to MRU because they were willing to recognize my university credits, which allowed me to not have to carry a full course load (which was important as I was also working full time at the time). SAIT wouldn't.
Apples to Apples I would have chosen SAIT.

[Yeah_Baby]

I think too when you have someone like Rhett, you can go with someone so green for radio because he's the third chair. The heavy lifting is your host and second chair guy (and then of course producers etc)

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

The SAIT program is often preferred because of the work of Richard Stroobant who, over a long period of time, has fostered and built deep relationships between the school and employers. The industry trusts him so if he tells you to hire someone, chances are they are good.
I would place the SAIT program slightly above the MRU one. I went to MRU because they were willing to recognize my university credits, which allowed me to not have to carry a full course load (which was important as I was also working full time at the time). SAIT wouldn't.
Apples to Apples I would have chosen SAIT.

My kid is transferring to SAIT in the fall (from the ULeth digital audio arts program, though not really a transfer because pretty much nothing gets carried over). I sure liked their presentation when we were deciding.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

SAIT throws in a bunch of cookie cutter nonsense that doesn't apply to what you're actually doing later (one of my gripes with them, since their appeal in the first place was things being supposedly more streamlined), but the industry specific classes are second to none.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by PuckSlap

That is bazar. Wonder if it has anything to do with restrictions to Canadian content. Like reverse Bill C-11

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

It worked for years. Guess I could check if other Canadian stations work but thereisn't anything I want to listen to really besides some Calgary sports talk.

[soulchoice]

For those in different markets, out of the country, if you use a VPN, you can stream via tunein. That still works.

[cam_calderon]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

The SAIT program is often preferred because of the work of Richard Stroobant who, over a long period of time, has fostered and built deep relationships between the school and employers. The industry trusts him so if he tells you to hire someone, chances are they are good.
I would place the SAIT program slightly above the MRU one. I went to MRU because they were willing to recognize my university credits, which allowed me to not have to carry a full course load (which was important as I was also working full time at the time). SAIT wouldn't.
Apples to Apples I would have chosen SAIT.

Are you in the media industry?

[darockwilder]

This morning they called one of their guests by the wrong name introducing him. He corrected them, they all laughed and they continued on as if he was still the wrong guy. "How do think Aaron Judge to the Giants is going?" they started asking, the guy said "Never again" and hung up. Then they spent about a minute trying to figure out what happened, they thought he was joking when he corrected them, they called the wrong guy or whatever. Then the host says oops, we'll have to cut that out of the podcast and they immediately start talking about Dubas going to the Penguins.

Very bizarre...

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by darockwilder

This morning they called one of their guests by the wrong name introducing him. He corrected them, they all laughed and they continued on as if he was still the wrong guy. "How do think Aaron Judge to the Giants is going?" they started asking, the guy said "Never again" and hung up. Then they spent about a minute trying to figure out what happened, they thought he was joking when he corrected them, they called the wrong guy or whatever. Then the host says oops, we'll have to cut that out of the podcast and they immediately start talking about Dubas going to the Penguins.

Very bizarre...

awkward to the max

[Ashasx]

Was this the MLB/NHL analyst from Harvard?

[TheSquatch]

LOL I'm sad I missed that. What a facepalm.

[Erick Estrada]

LOL so I imagine that was in fact cut from the podcast?

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by cam_calderon

Are you in the media industry?

I was but I no longer am

[cam_calderon]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I was but I no longer am

Gotcha. One of many media students not using their degree.