Put A Sock On The Rock
• Durham Radio Active Rock CKGE (94.9 The Rock)/Toronto has wisely availed itself of the unique talents of famous Canadian multimedia icon Ed the Sock to revive the classic — and much-missed — overnight radio format with… wait for it… the All-Night Show!
After a successful two-week trial-run electrifying the airwaves of Toronto, Ed the Sock will be LIVE on 94.9 The Rock Wednesday to Sunday from midnight to 5am, starting Wednesday, May 17. Who is Ed the Sock, you ask? You’re kidding, right? According to the prestigious pages of Wikipedia, “Ed the Sock is a sock puppet character, created and voiced by Steve Kerzner, who first appeared on Canadian local cable television in 1987. He is best known for his hosting appearances in the 1990s on MuchMusic and his own late night talk show, Ed’s Night Party.”
Describing the long overdue concept of resuscitating the overnight show, Doug Elliott, PD of 94.9 The Rock,says, “Radio has pretty much given up on the all-night shows, letting the juke box take over. We see this as a major opportunity to inject a strong personality in a daypart that has been ignored for years.”
Steve Macaulay, VP of Sales at Durham Radio, notes, “I had this idea that there’s a huge untapped market in Durham and the GTA of overnight shift workers, insomniacs and the like that just aren’t being serviced much by radio broadcasters anymore. And for radio to better compete with all the streaming audio options out there, I believe we need to go back to what radio can do best — provide companionship on a personal level, with a personality that is local and live, right in our communities. We’re providing a product that is unavailable elsewhere.”
Hey, they even got Ed the Sock to comment, as he said, “I got my start on late-night TV and that’s my ‘hood. The subversive vibe of being awake while the city sleeps, sharing the night with the shift-workers, eccentrics and insomniacs — these are my people!”
