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  • Essay / More music… CKLW: The rise and fall of the Big 8

    In the 1960s, features became mandatory in all radio programming. For most radio stations in the 60s and even today, when the news comes, people usually change the station. The exception to the rule was CKLW. Their 20/20 report would take place twenty minutes before the hour and twenty minutes after the hour. It was a very different format; CKLW is credited with changing radio news broadcasting forever with this particular format. While all the other stations were broadcasting the news at the top of the hour, CKLW was still broadcasting rock and roll music. It was not just about when the news was delivered, but also how it was delivered. It was influential because of the big personalities of Dick Smyth, Lee Marshall, Grant Hudson and others who broke the news in a dramatic and entertaining way. They reported the news in a "dramatic" manner and with "the same energy as the disc jockeys had vivid writing with alliteration and many short sound bites." They were DJs without music. This dynamic combination of news reporting resulted in a fun news story; it not only captivated the audience but also kept them tuned in. The journalism used for television news was not like normal journalism of the decade or even the present. For journalists, they would write an article in the “most descriptive manner possible”. Keith Radford explains that at the journalism school, they used examples from the CKLW 20/20 television news show to show students what not to do. The reports were heard by a big booming voice exclaiming: The Tigers, no-hitters, could use this guy's talents. Mount Clemens police arrested a 36-year-old man. It seems that he came home around 5 o'clock this morning after a wild evening, which annoyed the little lady, who let out a v...... middle of paper ...... at 10- $60. Live audio recordings are also shared on the Internet via fan pages. A Facebook page, an unofficial CKLW web page and a CKLW online album are still active and bring together people reminiscing about the glory days of their favorite childhood radio station. Today, CKLW is a news and information station for the Windsor-Essex community. Now in Windsor, Detroit radio dominates once again. Today, 68% of Windsor residents listen to Detroit radio stations. The Big 8 has always had a huge influence in shaping the face of radio, creating megahits in the music industry, and providing a huge community presence in its hometown of Windsor, Ontario. CKLW was a small-town radio station that became one of the biggest radio sensations of the 1960s and 1970s. The Big 8 became an icon not only for music and radio; but it also brought out the music fanatic in everyone.