THE MOJ: Vancouver loses another sports-talk radio station<\/p>\n
Published 12:20 pm Wednesday, July 8, 2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s happened again.<\/p>\n
Another sports-talk radio station in Vancouver has been shut down.<\/p>\n
News began leaking on Sunday night that changes would be coming to Rogers\u2019 properties across the country including Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
In talking to one individual on Monday night who is employed by Rogers, he knew there would be some cuts coming but what he didn\u2019t know was that both Sportsnet 650 and News 1130 would be shuttered.<\/p>\n
When the news did come out on Tuesday morning, he was just as shocked as many of us were.<\/p>\n
It reminded many of the same feeling they had on Feb. 9, 2021 when TSN 1040 ceased operations in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
In both instances, conglomerations that were making billions of dollars (Bell and Rogers) decided to terminate their sports-talk radio properties.<\/p>\n
So why can\u2019t sports-talk radio work in Vancouver? And on a larger scale, why is sports-talk radio dying a slow death across North America?<\/p>\n
The answer is simple. It\u2019s not that sports talk itself is dying rather it\u2019s the way that it\u2019s being consumed that is changing.<\/p>\n
When this agent was a youngster, \u2018the sports media pie\u2019 was divided maybe into a dozen or so pieces that were big enough for everyone to be satisfied.<\/p>\n
The Province and the Vancouver Sun formed the print tandem then there were television stalwarts such as BCTV\/Global, CBC, Sports Page and radio stations like CKNW, CKWX. For the most part, they all carved out a loyal audience and were successful.<\/p>\n
Everyone pulled in big enough numbers to pay their talent and pay them comfortably.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s all changed with the proliferation of social media and how the younger generation not only consumes its content but who it looks to for its content.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s younger demographic leans towards podcasts, YouTube, TikTok and X to get their information rather than traditional mediums such as newspapers, television and radio.<\/p>\n
Not only that but it seems the younger sports media consumer doesn\u2019t place too much emphasis on who gives them their information.<\/p>\n
In theory, it would be easy to just convert some of the traditional media to digital and continue to be successful but that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n
A quick glance on YouTube shows that some more popular sports channels are being created by non-traditional media types. They aren\u2019t accredited, don\u2019t attend games and don\u2019t have any insider connections.<\/p>\n
They find a way to regurgitate social media posts and video highlights and combine that with their own opinions. That formula has allowed for some to become extremely popular despite not having the credibility of traditional media.<\/p>\n
The end result is that traditional media has lost a lot of its consumers to digital, and in turn, the advertising revenue that was used to sustain their mediums, and in this case, sports-talk radio.<\/p>\n
That pie that had big enough pieces to feed everyone at the table now has 51 slivers that barely provide sustenance to those trying to survive.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a different world when it comes to sports media and it\u2019s going to be interesting to see how it evolves moving forward.<\/p>\n
EXTRA POINTS: With Sportsnet 650 ceasing operations, speculation has begun in where the Vancouver Canucks radio broadcasts will be aired. Rogers has the rights until 2033, so the only options available are Jack 96.9 and Kiss 104.9. Also impacted are the Vancouver Giants and Vancouver Canadians radio broadcasts. At least there are options in Vancouver. With the closure of its two stations in Calgary, Rogers doesn\u2019t have any remaining stations to carry the Calgary Flames games.<\/p>\n
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