Hosted by Ryan Rider Brownstein, a political science student, TME is now in its fifth season on Concordia radio even though Rider has not even finished his first year at the university. He was able to get a radio spot at CJLO when he was 15 years old thanks to his experience in production and his response on steroid use in wrestling to CJLO representatives.
“I basically said steroids are not running rampant as much as everyone thought,” he said. “Obviously, today things are a little different, because of what happened with Chris Benoit and the wrestling scandal that happened a few months back in [World Wrestling Entertainment].”
How they roll
Along with co-hosts Steve “Rockamaniac” Wilson and Gavin “The System” Schwartz, the show airs every Sunday. TME is also available live on their (which website? TME’s or CJLO?) website along with a history of past shows that mainly discuss happenings in wrestling federations: WWE, Total Non-Stop Action and a couple of local Quebec leagues.
“There are a lot of great talk shows [on CJLO],” said Schwartz. “But we’re pretty much what the majority listen to.”
“We get over 2,000 listeners a week,” said Rider. “We got people listening in from all over Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.”
The team has been rewarded in the past for their hard work—winning the CJLO Talk Show of the Year Award twice. The Concordia and Internet communities have both been helpful in boosting the show’s fame.
“We do have a lot of Concordia students listen in,” said Rider. “A lot of people come up to me at school and say ‘Hey are you Rider? I love your show!’ We try to cater to all kinds of fans.”
The show has seen more than six co-hosts come and go. While the show has continued to grow and expand contacts within the wrestling community, the addition of a female host seems far from possible for now.
“I’ve always wanted a female intern or co-host but we just haven’t found anyone good enough,” said Rider. “I’m not being sexist or anything, it’s just the way it has been.”
A big format change to the show went down when Wilson got more involved with the show. Instead of having the hosts engage in over-the-top gimmicks and wrestling angles, like having local wrestlers come on the show and slapping a host as hard as possible. Wilson has pushed for a more professional news-style approach.
“This is not imagination theatre,” said Wilson. “It doesn’t sound good on the air. I never liked the format of hosts getting into feuds.”
The jump to AM radio
Sometime near the end of this summer, CJLO is expected to go on the air at 1690 AM on the Montreal radio dial. This has been a long time coming for the crew who expected to be on the air before the end of 2007.
“When they were setting up the satellite, they didn’t expect it would snow in December,” said Rider.
Getting on AM radio will help bring in new advertisers for the show as local businesses are hesitant to join with them since the show is currently difficult for most people in Montreal to hear.
“With the new satellite we will be able to reach all of Montreal, Ontario, Burlington in the States and Quebec City,” said Rider.
When TME makes it to AM, Rider hopes to have perfected the show to a new standard.
“We’re going to try to be crisper,” said Rider, as he turned his head towards Schwartz. “We’re not going to stutter as much.”
Homecoming anniversary
The crew is hoping to see a lot of old faces coming in to discuss their history this weekend. Rider has sent an open invitation to all his past hosts and past guests to join the two-hour trip back in time.
“We also plan to talk about the most recent happenings in wrestling,” said Rider. “I don’t want to just look at the past I want to build towards the future. I have improved over the years but there is always room for improvement.”
The fourth-year anniversary show of TME will air on CJLO from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Sunday. More information can be found at www.myspace.com/maineventshow and the show is also available for download at www.maineventradio.com
