You don’t have to like the frequently outrageous things that are said on NewsTalk 1010 to understand how this radio station serves Toronto quite well. It’s purpose is to challenge the conventional view of the city on topics as diverse as the Caribbean Carnival to GO Transit. It may have only a minority listenership, but it is a philosophical minority, people who keep alive the need for a society to examine its prevailing shibboleths. Do the empire builders at Bell Media understand this? Do they care? One of the underground mumblings in the trade is that Bell will turn NewsTalk 1010 into an audio repeater of its popular CP24 television service. As such, the station would be very profitable. A radio station with no staff. It would presumably play its own commercials inserted into the CP24 schedule. The prospect would be tempting for anyone much less the railroad construction gang at Bell. This humble blog can only hope that there is a greater sense of public service at Bell HQ than some people think. We are the heart and soul of private enterprise but it has always been clear that the purchase of Astral Media by Bell was not in the public interest and that remains as true today as it ever was, Verizon or no Verizon. To show otherwise, Bell Media should say as soon as it can that it will leave NewsTalk 1010 alone.
