Episodes

Imagine the station you’ve dedicated years of your life to suddenly going completely dark. That’s the reality for 80 Rogers Sports & Media employees this week as the company shuttered six radio stations Tuesday and laid off a total of 230 staff across the media division. On this episode of the podcast, we’re holding space for the people who built these stations. We're joined by a lineup of Rogers Sports & Media alumni, including former 95.7 NewsRadio talk hosts Sheldon MacLeod and Lisa Blackbur...

Josie Dye and Nat Hunter are making history as the first new morning show to launch on Toronto's legendary CHUM-FM in more than 40 years that doesn't include long-serving hosts Marilyn Denis or Roger Ashby. Nat & Josie joined Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast, alongside CHUM 104.5 Program Director Christian Hall, ahead of their launch in the weekday morning time slot to talk about the monumental feat of prepping to follow a legacy show; how their decades of experience have prepared them for this...

Radio news veteran Craig Lester bet on himself in 2022, leaving his full-time job at Calgary's 660 News Radio to pursue his passion for agriculture media. Rural Roots Canada now reaches radio stations across Alberta and B.C. with both weather and daily features, in addition to providing communications support to the industry. Lester and Tim Parent join Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast to talk about the startup, the importance of authenticity in storytelling, and they share their advice to othe...

The theme of this year's Echo Podcast Summit is community. Returning to Halifax for a third year on June 18, founder and Podstarter Chief Creative & Partner Rhys Waters is on Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast talking about what's in store for this year's event. He also shares his thoughts on setting realistic markers for a podcast's success, and discusses his Canada’s Best Podcasts Ranked project. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com...

Radiodays North America was dominated by discussion of regulatory challenges, overcoming measurement hurdles, meaningfully reaching media buyers, and the impact of AI, among other timely topics. Listen to our audio recap of some of this year's RDNA highlights featuring Pattison Media President Rod Schween and Chief Innovation Officer Andrew Snook, Trailblazers Chair Nancy Brown Dacko, Paul Riismandel and Matt Hird of Signal Hill Insights, Barry Rooke, Executive Director of the National Campus &...

WideOrbit’s William “Dub” Irvin, Managing Director and VP of Radio Automation, and Jason Hancock, Senior Director of Global Sales, join Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast to discuss the launch of WO Aurora and what cloud-based automation means for radio operators facing rising cost pressure, aging infrastructure, and shifting operational needs. The conversation covers the move from rooms full of equipment to browser-based contribution, remote live broadcasting, reduced dependence on codecs, VPNs, ...

The original mission of the Trailblazers hasn't changed, but as the media landscape continues to evolve, the advocacy organization for Canadian women in media is evolving with it, marking its most transformative year to date. Celebrating its 22nd year, Trailblazers is moving forward with a renewed focus, including the introduction of the Next Gen Trailblazer Awards, and the new Trailblazer Honours award - which this year will be presented to host, comedian and advocate Lilly Singh - as Trailbla...

In this episode of Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast, Publisher Shawn Smith talks with MusicMaster, Director of Operations, Jerry Parker about where radio programming technology is headed and how MusicMaster is evolving to meet it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Combining engineering precision, faster delivery, and long-term reliability to help broadcasters modernize transmission infrastructure. In this episode of Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast, Publisher Shawn Smith speaks with Dielectric President Keith Pelletier about how the company is using deep legacy knowledge, digital twin design, and strong industry partnerships to deliver faster, more reliable RF transmission solutions for broadcasters. Pelletier explains how Dielectric’s engineering approac...

Some of the most influential voices in music, film, TV and media will gather in Toronto, May 4-10, as Departure Festival + Conference gears up for its second annual event. We welcome festival co-founder Kevin Barton to this episode of Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast to tease this year's lineup and the event's evolution, including why the festival is much more than Canadian Music Week "reimagined." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.c...

Erica Ehm has been doing a lot of reflection as she looks to add the title of author to her long list of credits. The MuchMusic icon, multi-platform host and entrepreneur joins Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast to talk about the process of writing her forthcoming memoir, how the ongoing theme of reinvention continues to play out in her life, and the importance of supporting Canadian artists. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/priva...

The new book, Track Changes, examines the rise of all that came with the internet and how it changed Canadian music from new media to message boards, fan sites, MP3 blogs, and more, diving into how legacy brands were forced to evolve, including major record labels, retailers, and of course the media and radio. Authored by Cam Gordon, Track Changes essentially chronicles the shared cultural history of music, technology and media in the 1990s and 2000s. He joins us on Broadcast Dialogue - The Pod...

CPAC President & CEO Christa Dickenson is sounding the alarm that the Cable Public Affairs Channel is running on fumes. The CRTC announced in November, it would put off making decisions on requests from CPAC, TV5, and Canal M to increase their mandatory per-subscriber monthly wholesale fees until the commission completes a larger policy review. Dickenson says that's left CPAC in a critical position of uncertainty, at a time when Canadians' interest in democracy has never been greater. She joi...

Rob Hopkins - aka "Radio Rob" has used his DIY ethos to become a pioneering force in community broadcasting and open-source innovation in Canada's North. He's the founder of Yukon community stations CJUC Whitehorse and the low-power CFET-FM in Tagish, Yukon, as well as OpenBroadcaster - a web-based, open-source system to run community radio and TV broadcast transmitters. He joins us on Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast ahead of World Radio Day 2026, with this year's theme "AI and radio," undersc...

Since its launch in 2017, Kristi Lee has built the Canadian True Crime podcast into a global hit with over 75 million downloads and a consistent chart presence. More impressive yet, the podcast has turned a profit, all while retaining its financial independence without the backing of a network. Lee joins us on Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast as Canadian True Crime publishes its milestone 200th episode this month with a fresh look at the Robert Pickton case. She joins us to share the ups and d...

The Pro Bono Group's latest PSA is a call to action, asking Canadian advertisers to apply the "Buy Canadian" message to their media buying. A merging of the not-for-profit creative agency's Pro Canada Project - which has been running for the past year urging Canadians to "shop as if your country depends on it" - and their Pro Radio Project, promoting the value of radio, The Pro Bono Group has enlisted one of its founders Terry O’Reilly to make their case. O'Reilly, alongside The Pro Bono Group...

Bill Welychka is best known for his time at MuchMusic, but what you might not know is that after his 13 years with the channel, he chose to go into local news, culminating in spending more than a decade at CKWS-TV in Kingston where he was part of cutbacks at Corus Entertainment last year and ultimately chose to walk away from media. Welychka has since published the second edition of his memoir, A Happy Has Been: Exciting Times and Lessons Learned. He joins Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast to ta...

Inside the CCSA Conference – Where Telecoms Exchange Ideas and Gain the Collective Scale to Win In this episode of Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast we take a deep dive into the vital role of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance (CCSA) and its CONNECT Conference in supporting independent broadcast and telecom operators. We look at how the CCSA serves as a critical lifeline and a powerful collective brain trust, enabling members to secure essential content deals, forge strategic technology ...

Deepa Prashad, one-half of the Daryn & Deepa show on Virgin Radio (CKFM-FM) Toronto, has been named the 2025 Young Broadcaster of the Year. Presented annually in memory of late programmer Steve Young, the award is voted on by past honourees and was handed out this year alongside Broadcast Dialogue's Canadian Radio Awards. Deepa joins Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast to talk about her meteoric rise in radio, developing her passion for what's essentially her second full-time job - content creati...

For more than 80 years, Dielectric has earned their reputation for providing the most sophisticated antenna signal transmission solutions. Their unique processes help their clients get it right with an up-front design ethos, monitor and predict failures, even respond to and recover from catastrophic weather events in record time. Keith Pelletier is President of Dielectric and he’s here to provide an update on how they’re doing it! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California ...

The 2025 Canadian Radio Awards were hosted by Connie Thiessan (Broadcast Dialogue) and Matt Cundill (The Sound Off Podcast) on Friday November 28, 2025. You can watch the whole show on the Broadcast Dialogue YouTube and Linked In Pages. A full list of winners can be found here. By station, Stingray Radio’s boom 97.3 (CHBM-FM) Toronto won three awards, including Program Director of the Year for Troy McCallum, On-Air (solo) Host of the Year for morning man Stu Jeffries, and Music Director of th...

While there was little in the recent federal budget for commercial radio and television broadcasters, Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) President Kevin Desjardins believes there's still reason for optimism in the sector. We welcome Desjardins back to Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast to talk about the CAB's ongoing lobby efforts to help set private broadcasters up for success, the current climate on Parliament Hill, and more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Californ...

Peter Bissonnette's memoir Count On Me reflects on the retired telecom executive's decades in the cable, internet and media industry - from humble beginnings to rising to the position of President of Shaw Communications. Bissonnette joins Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast to share his personal and professional journey, informed by values of integrity, empathy and fairness. He also shares his ethos on the importance of belief in oneself, the power of visualization and affirmations, and takes us b...

Across the U.S., broadcasters are proving what radio has always known that it drives real results. In this episode of Broadcast Dialogue - The Podcast, our U.S. partner Warren Kurtzman of Coleman Insights sits down to talk about how Cox Media is using Validate to show advertisers the measurable impact of their campaigns, connecting streaming and broadcast listening to actual website visits and conversions. As radio faces growing pressure for accountability and attribution, Validate is giving t...