When radio studios go dark

Where magic happened
London, ON
May 2017
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Years ago, I got to live out a childhood dream - namely where I got to be the voice that came out of the radio.

The studios where I got to do this were located in an unassuming building on an unassuming stretch of one of London's busiest arterial roads. Four-plus lanes of traffic zipped past all day, every day, barely aware of the magic going on in the brown brick building behind the overgrown hedges.

The place goes dark for the final time this week as the radio stations move to the CTV London facility a few kilometres away. It's the right move for the right reason, of course. In a declining media landscape, you consolidate your resources wherever possible so you can keep the lights on just a little while longer.

And when the Giant Media Conglomerate that bought all these properties years ago says it's time to move, you fetch your boxes and start packing.

I took this photo at 6:36 a.m. on a Monday morning in May of 2017. I don't even know why I was there that early - probably an early morning interview or editing session. The back studio was unoccupied, and I paused for a moment to take in the delightful moodiness of a place most folks never see.

CKSL final signoff
August 16, 2016
11:55 p.m. ET

Right behind my long-since-trashed laptop, an ancient desktop computer that ran the remnants of onetime powerhouse CKSL (1410 AM) once sat, but had been removed months earlier as the zombie-like station-on-a-hard-drive was finally put out of its misery. I could almost feel the sense of history here, of a time when radio dominated local communities and these places were like licenses to print money.

Of course, those days were, and are, far behind us.

I deliberately kept the main lights off and let myself work by the light of the backlit controls. I couldn't bring back the glory days, but for a few minutes before the rest of the world awoke, I could sit in this hushed, resonant place and wonder what it must have been like.

Thank you, 743 Wellington Road South. You served your community, and your people, well.

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Related:

Newstalk 1290 CJBK

Virgin 97.5 (CIQM)

Pure Country 93 (CJBX)

CTV London (CFPL)