CJAD is lucky because this city only has the market for one talk radio station in English. Even CBC Radio can’t keep an audience because of the traditional dominance of CJAD (although it doesn’t help that why CBC Radio has more substance in its material, it can be quite boring at times). The problem that CJAD is having, and other radio stations is that they are becoming irrelvent through various forms of media. Need the weather? Chances are your phone can give you the forecast. Same goes for news, sports, and stock quotes. MP3 players have dealt a crushing blow to music stations. Talk radio isn’t immune considering that podcasts are so easily accessible through iTunes and various podcast directories like http://canadapodcasts.ca. In fact, one of the great things about podcasts is I can listen to Peter Anthony Holder (who used to work at CJAD) anytime I want instead of having to stay up past midnight.

Financially, CJAD is doing fine. They may have cut costs recently but that’s because advertisers are balking at shelling out money across all mediums. CJAD can afford person who’s interested in doing radio in Montreal but there are not that many people out there. Radio people, for the most part, aren’t paid as well as one would think. I have some friends in the industry and they’re not in it for the money (except to eat and put a roof over their heads) but because they enjoy doing it. I had a friend who dropped out of CEGEP because the opportunity presented itself but he knew that he wasn’t going to make tons of money doing radio. Terry DiMonte is the exception to the rule and you have to consider this: Ted Bird acknowledged that he wasn’t being offered “Terry money” by anyone and Ted Bird is probably one of the most popular people in Montreal radio in either language.