No official announcement has been made and no one is commenting officially on the situation.
Brian Wiebe, head of BCIT’s radio arts and entertainment program, agreed the situation is very curious.He recalled his days working at radio stations in Merritt, where he was involved with radio broadcasts of the local BCHL team, the Merritt Centennials. Rogers Sports and Media, owners of AM650, have pressed on. The station picked up some of 1040’s previous listenership,, which is about three times bigger than 650 was pulling when there were two sports radio stations in Vancouver.
“I think of this purely as a technology story, I don’t think there’s any less interest in listening to sports. They’re just not listening to traditional radio like they used to. The landscape has changed a lot obviously over the last couple years. The question is what is good and what is better?”
Need background fan noise...if they are not possessed with their smartphones. Vancouver fans are the quietest in the entire NHL.