Tochi's Hut

The drama continues to unfold.... though the end is near. 

At this point last year, things were really rosy for Toronto First Radio - 多倫多第一台 AM 1540.  They had introduced a morning show on AM 770, finally giving Cantonese listeners an alternative to Fairchild Radio FM 88.9.  They also introduced their own newspaper 多倫多第一報, which for many months, were highly sought after at restaurants and vendors all around the GTA.

On July 31st, in the height of their prime, AM770 abruptly ended.  The reception on AM770 had always been spotty at best.  The transmission towers were supposedly based in NY state.  I clearly remember on that fateful morning.  I turned on my radio on my way to work and was curious when I only received static.  Apparently AM770 owners decided not to renew their contract and sold their airtime to some Indian broadcaster.

The only way I can describe the event is.. 大傷元氣.

This was only the beginning of their downfall.  In prior months, they had hired several high calibre DJ's from their rival station to cover their morning slot.  Now, they only had their regular afternoon airtime on AM1540.  Too many DJ's, too little airtime.  Their programming degraded as a result.   I'm sure reimbursing their advertisers and sponsors costed them a pretty penny.

Soon afterwards, their newspaper 多倫多第一報 went out of print.  Didn't hear any official reason, but you can venture a guess.

The final bombshell dropped two weeks ago.  The parent network CHIN Radio who owns the bandwidth for AM1540 decided not to renew their contract with Toronto First Radio.  Instead, they awarded the contract to a joint venture between Sing Tao Media and Toronto First Radio's rival network, Fairchild Radio.

You would have expected that after their negotiation failures on AM770, they would try much harder to maintain their AM1540 airtime.  Though I guess it's difficult when you are up against a media giant with a very fat wallet.

It was kind of sad listening to the DJ's in their final days of broadcast.  They were essentially counting down their time before they "收檔".  For example, listen to the daily ghost story portion of my favourite show - 男人咀對咀.  Such bittersweet commentary and laughter.

There has been quite a bit of coverage from local, national and international media and forums.  Globe and Mail.  Ming Pao.  I'm still kind of numb by the entire ordeal. Gives you a taste of the harshness of competitive business environments.  A sad, sad time in Toronto.

Adios TFR.  Thanks for the good times.