266 replies to this topic

[Mr_E_Squirrel]

Twenty years and no thread on "Forbes and Marshall" being shown the door... Thought they would be permanent fixtures on the Ocean 98.5 ... The way radio is going , bad career choice to go into this..

[LJ]

OK we get it, we get it.

[sebberry]

http://www.pugetsoun...ias-ocean-98-5/

 

They’ve been the wake-up duo at Victoria’s OCEAN 98.5 forever it seems, (in fact, since 1996), but as of now they are no longer with the station.

 

Lisa Marshall and Michael Forbes, married in real life, have been divorced from their longtime positions with the Rogers Victoria outlet, and we’re dying to know .. did they quit?   Or was their cost as a result of their almost two-decade longevity, targetted by the bean counters as something that had to go?

 

[VicHockeyFan]

OK we get it, we get it.

 

Sometimes the system goes wonk.  Multi posts was not on purpose.

 

Ya, they've been around a long time.

 

Maybe they had been in negotiation for a buy-out for some time.

 

I rarely listened to that station, but when I did, I enjoyed them, not hard to listen to at all.  They had a pretty good back and forth.

 

With technology and some slick editing, couldn't the same radio team be live on 5 or 8 radio stations at once across the country?

 

On Puget Sound Radio comments all I see is the same talking about the olden days, never about how radio and TV can adapt and embrace the new times.

[AllseeingEye]

http://www.pugetsoun...ias-ocean-98-5/

You can bet this move was strictly cost i.e. salary-related. Bank on it......

[AllseeingEye]

Sometimes the system goes wonk.  Multi posts was not on purpose.

 

Ya, they've been around a long time.

 

Maybe they had been in negotiation for a buy-out for some time.

 

I rarely listened to that station, but when I did, I enjoyed them, not hard to listen to at all.  They had a pretty good back and forth.

 

With technology and some slick editing, couldn't the same radio team bet live on 5 or 8 radio stations at once across the country?

 

On Puget Sound Radio comments all I see is the same talking about the olden days, never about how radio and TV can adapt and embrace the new times.

You need to remember VHF that PSR is run by Mike Easton who is so old he was around to take over my dad's old CHEK show for about a year when he left - in 1970.

 

Many of PSR's members are roughly of the same age & generation or close enough to it. Harvey Oberfeld, ex- Global TV for many many years, regularly contributes comments as do several other ex-radio types who I know were contemporaries of my father. Rafe Mair, hugely popular and controversial ex-CKNW host and Socred Minister under Bill Bennett, is another one who periodically chimes in. In general they are far less concerned - read enamored with - technology glitz and much more worried about what they view as unhealthy corporate concentration and ownership and (what they see) as an obsessive focus on 'cost' as opposed to producing quality on air shows. Corus and Bell regularly come in for a good bashing in the COMMENTS section for exactly those reasons. 

[VictoriaSportsNews]

Not sure if I missed anyone discussing this yet, but the Ocean just let go their main morning people Forbes and Marshall after about 20 years as well as another body or two.

 

Any speculation about format change, here?

 

That is a rumour I have heard, but I wonder what format that they can move to, for example, talk radio is owned in this market primarily by CFAX, CBC and somewhat CKNW. Country doesn't sell in this market. Classic Rock and Modern Rock are covered by The Q! and the Zone, respectively - also there are other stations from Seattle, Vancouver and satellite that creep into the market.

 

I assume a budget cut, probably to do with a 20-year partnership earning big money and revenues declining. Someone up the ladder didn't like the bottom line?

 

Any intel?

[VicHockeyFan]

Not sure if I missed anyone discussing this yet,

 

Only the last 5 posts in this thread, prior to yours.

[AllseeingEye]

Not sure if I missed anyone discussing this yet, but the Ocean just let go their main morning people Forbes and Marshall after about 20 years as well as another body or two.

 

Any speculation about format change, here?

 

That is a rumour I have heard, but I wonder what format that they can move to, for example, talk radio is owned in this market primarily by CFAX, CBC and somewhat CKNW. Country doesn't sell in this market. Classic Rock and Modern Rock are covered by The Q! and the Zone, respectively - also there are other stations from Seattle, Vancouver and satellite that creep into the market.

 

I assume a budget cut, probably to do with a 20-year partnership earning big money and revenues declining. Someone up the ladder didn't like the bottom line?

 

Any intel?

Yep, see my comments above. "Salary" and "cost" are the driving factors in the radio landscape, no different for the Forbes and Marshall decision, and especially if you happen to work for Corus, Rogers or Bell. Check out the excellent Puget Sound Radio site anytime for some insightful comments/commentary from a variety of industry veterans. PSR is run out of Edmonton by ex-Victorian, ex-CHEK alumnus Mike Easton.

[RoadRunner]

Thanks for the tip about PSR.  It looks like a superb source for any news about radio and tv broadcasting.  I expect to visit it regularly.  A quick scan of the site revealed why two familiar tv anchors, Dan Matheson and Perry Solkowski, are no longer on tv.

[AllseeingEye]

Thanks for the tip about PSR.  It looks like a superb source for any news about radio and tv broadcasting.  I expect to visit it regularly.  A quick scan of the site revealed why two familiar tv anchors, Dan Matheson and Perry Solkowski, are no longer on tv.

Yer welcome and yes it is an excellent resource for all things west coast and generally north west media-related, including Seattle. Since my dad was in local radio and TV for many years I naturally have a keen interest in the subject. And Mike Easton, PSR principal, was a colleague and good friend of my father's. Mike has a ton of contacts; I've bumped into a plethora of ex-TV jocks especially over the years. Douglas Miller, ex-CKVU weather guy, now sells real estate in Lion's Bay, ditto for Sarah Daniels ex-BCTV now doing the real estate thing in White Rock. Many of them will chime in from time to time on PSR adding great insight.

[Matt R.]

^, Oh, your dad was in local radio and TV for many years?  Hadn't heard!

 

 

Matt.

[bluefox]

Thanks for the tip about PSR.  It looks like a superb source for any news about radio and tv broadcasting.  I expect to visit it regularly.  A quick scan of the site revealed why two familiar tv anchors, Dan Matheson and Perry Solkowski, are no longer on tv.

 

PSR's great if you like a gaggle of mostly old, mostly curmudgeonly, mostly conservative, mostly bigoted men blathering on about conspiracy theories and reminiscing about supposedly better times. Otherwise, it's among the darker corners of the internet.

[VicHockeyFan]

Marc Belke is the Ocean morning man today.  He's been at the Ocean for almost 3 years.

[jonny]

Regarding the Bell/CTV/TSN cuts, one has to wonder how much losing the national NHL broadcast deal has hurt them. I'm sure some big advertising bucks walked out the door along with that contract.

 

Speaking about Solkowski, local TV news "Sports Guys" have to be one of the more redundant positions out there. Why would you watch the local news to catch the highlights nowadays?

[Sparky]

This morning's Ocean broadcast was dismal at best.

 

Instead of the previous 07:00 format of some banter between Forbes, Marshal, and news humourist Pat Thomas there was a batch of about 10 commercials and no news whatsoever. 

 

Does anyone know if Pat Thomas has left the building? He is one of the funniest on air personalities that I have listened to.

[VicHockeyFan]

This morning's Ocean broadcast was dismal at best.

 

Instead of the previous 07:00 format of some banter between Forbes, Marshal, and news humourist Pat Thomas there was a batch of about 10 commercials and no news whatsoever. 

 

Does anyone know if Pat Thomas has left the building? He is one of the funniest on air personalities that I have listened to.

 

Yes, Pat Thomas is gone.  And the new host is really stumbling too.

[Sparky]

Darn.

[Rob Randall]

They really have to be careful, the reason people listen to radio is to hear "wow what a windstorm last night what about that tent city how about those Royals". Without that, people will just use streaming services and then we've lost that vital connection to our communities radio provides.

[lanforod]

They really have to be careful, the reason people listen to radio is to hear "wow what a windstorm last night what about that tent city how about those Royals". Without that, people will just use streaming services and then we've lost that vital connection to our communities radio provides.

 

I'll contend that there is no real loss to losing community radio. Our quality of life will not go down. How is it 'vital'?