>Also available on Calgary Herald’s 
My biggest problem with Calgary has always been it’s lack of identity. For a place that calls itself Cowtown, we really only see cowboys two weeks of every year. The rest of the time Calgary seems to get confused what with its giant box stores, color coordinated neighborhoods and more independent stores closing than ever. Identity is an issue that any growing city must face and while the solution is never really clear, it is important to hold on what little identity we do have.
Next week we will lose another piece of Calgary: The Vibe 98.5 mid-morning shift is shutting up shop and it will now be the home of On-Air with Ryan Seacrest.
Now anyone that knows me, knows that I should be pumped with the fact that I am essentially one step closer to my entertainment idol Mr. Seacrest. But I can’t help but be frustrated that Vibe is giving up 4 hours of local radio to an american radio show. Canadian radio personalities get paid about as much employees at McDonalds and great radio opportunities are few and far between. And that four hours also takes away time in which important news about Calgary can be shared with it’s listeners, whether it be information about local charity events or serious accident updates. The addition of Seacrest’s popular syndicated show will also be a blow to Calgary-based musicians who often get airplay on one of the cities most popular stations.
I often mock stations like Vibe for being repetitive and pretty much supporting the worst music Canada has to offer, but I would take that over four hours of non-Canadian content any day. Speaking of Canadian content, it should be interesting how Vibe is able to work around CRTC regulations that state that every station is required to be at least 35% of Canadian music every week. Luckily for Vibe, if any American show is going to show Nickelback some love, it’s going to be Seacrest’s.
It’s a shame that Vibe 98.5 has decided to save a couple of dollars and axe a major part of their programming. Especially while they leave the increasingly annoying morning show in tact.
