News Update: News 95.7 LIVE- October 10th

Clinton Wilkins discussed the evolution of his show, which began 10 years ago with short educational tips and has grown into a comprehensive program addressing housing issues.

Dan Ahlstrand
Now joining me on the other side of the stage, the host of Mortgage 101, and Clinton Wilkins, of course, making this broadcast happen with some sponsorship money, my friend, welcome.

Clinton Wilkins
It’s really the least I could do. I’m glad that you’re here because you know what, you guys support me and my business, and help us educate consumers every single day. I just love being a part of the station.

Dan Ahlstrand
So tell me a little bit about the genesis of Mortgage 101, tell us how that all became what this powerhouse is now.

Clinton Wilkins
You know, I’ve been doing business with the radio station for going on 10 years. This is the 10th year that I’ve been doing a version of Mortgage 10. We first started with Rick back in the day, you know, we were doing five-minute little educational tips. And it started as a full-blown show the first year that there was a live show on the weekend. And we started it with Todd. And originally, we were going to start with one season. Mortgage lending doesn’t seem that exciting. You know, we thought we would say everything, and after one season, we would be done. But a lot has changed, and housing is really at the forefront of people’s minds. And you know, the rates were changing, policies changing with the federal government. And, you know, we were just there being a part of the conversation. And I think there’s actually more for us to say today than there was 10 years ago.

Dan Ahlstrand
And I think that the path to home ownership is not as aut and dried or as straight a run as it was maybe when we started doing this show.

Clinton Wilkins
Definitely not. And it’s certainly more challenging today, Dan, than it was even 10 years ago, when we’re talking about the cost of housing, inflation, you know, all these things. And, you know, our show pivoted a couple of years ago. You know, when COVID struck, we stopped going into the studio. You know, we’re really, I will call it like, kind of like a subcontractor coming into the studio, was really only Rogers employees that were going in, and we were lucky enough to keep the messaging going, we pivoted. We started doing the show originally in our office, and we were producing it and then giving it to you guys, and we kept that messaging going, and there was just more and more and more to say. And right now, we’re actually producing our show at a studio downtown, and I know you’ve been a part of Mortgage 101 here a couple of times.

Dan Ahlstrand
And that Podstarter Studio is something else, I’ll tell you. It’s a local success story, much like Clinton Wilkins is a local success story.

Clinton Wilkins
We actually have one of our producers here from Podstarter, so we wanted to give Podstarter a shout-out. We have Rhys. Welcome to the show.

Rhys Waters
Thank you so much for having me.

Clinton Wilkins
I always joke with Dan, you know, next time he or Todd has a sick day, I’m gonna start pressing the buttons and getting behind.

Dan Ahlstrand
I have been inside the Podstarter studio, and I got to tell you, working in the Sonic medium for all these years, it really is a fantastic local facility.

Rhys Waters
Thank you so much. I think that one of the things we’ve been really lucky with in the last five years is to kind of really ride that wave and the growth in podcasting, and Clinton, your show is incredible because obviously it started as a radio show, but it has this whole other life as a podcast.

Clinton Wilkins
It’s taken on so many different variations as well. And I mean, Rhys, we wouldn’t be able to do that without the support of your company, and frankly, without the support of 95.7, we wouldn’t even be here. We were able to make these into TikTok and Instagram reels and blog posts, and we’re on Spotify and Apple Music and all these things that you know, really, you guys have enabled.

Rhys Waters
Yeah, I think that’s it. There are so many platforms, and people are all using all these different platforms, so you know the legitimacy of the radio show, and then that spills out across all the other mediums. You’ve got to redevelop an audience where, in all this uncertainty, you have someone who can come on and regularly give them an update about what does that mean for me as a homeowner? What does that mean for me? That means for me, for me and my housing situation? So it’s been a real privilege to be part of that for certain.

Dan Ahlstrand
Now, I work in radio, obviously, and I was talking about this with a guest earlier that I’ve been hearing for 30 years, hearing that radio’s dead and that it’s a dying medium, yadda yadda yadda. Podcasts are going to kill it. You work in the podcast industry, but I think you think the same way that there’s a way that we can work together to grow it even bigger.

Rhys Waters
I got into podcasting from radio right originally at the BBC, where they were doing a lot of podcast radio hybrids. And I love radio as a medium. I think we can flow back and forth between both media. I think they complement each other. I think radio and podcasting accompanying each other is a real opportunity. When I moved to Canada, I tuned in to this station and listened to Rick because I didn’t know anyone here. I didn’t know what the local culture was like, but by listening to this and hearing people call in and the local debates, I kind of really got familiar with the community that was harder to find in podcasting at the time, but there’s a real, consistent, solid presence that radio delivers, and podcasting is this whole other world that can kind of build off that as well.

Clinton Wilkins
So, some people would never hear our show. Dan, to be frank, on 95.7. Obviously, we’re a part of the station. We love it. We want people to tune in. We sound good on FM. I can’t say that, but it enables a whole different population for us to take it from 95.7 and on to the Spotify, Apple Music of the world, because different people consume their news in different ways, and we want to be there where people get their news.

Dan Ahlstrand
Well, Clinton, thank you very much for being a part of our team for all these years, and I hope that we continue that relationship for many years to come. Rhys, I know that we were having discussions; maybe we’ll have some kind of collaboration in the future that’ll be a dream.