Norman Rudock and Treana Bathgate-Rudock stand with Bobby Curtola in a photo taken at their radio station CJNE in Nipawin. The station is up for sale. (Submitted photo/Treana Bathgate-Rudock)

By Susan McNeil

Retirement beckons for Nipawin radio station owners

Mar 10, 2022 | 3:05 PM

For 20 years, residents of Nipawin and the surrounding area have listened to the voices of Norman Rudock and Treana Bathgate-Rudock as they told the stories and news of the area on CJNE ‘The Storm’.

That could soon be a thing of the past as both CJNE and its younger, much more country sister station CITJ are up for sale.

“It’s been a great 20 years and I’ve turned 65 now. I think it’s time for someone else to maybe take the gauntlet and run with it,” said Norman “We’ve got a pretty good setup for someone to come in and take over.”

Buyers need to be approved by the Canadian Radio‑television and Telecommunications (CRTC) in order to transfer the license but most Canadians would have no issues with it, Norman said.

Being part of the local media scene means the couple has had some interesting times and met some interesting people.

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“It’s gone by fairly quickly. We’ve certainly had our ups and downs as everybody else in business does. But we’ve had so many great people come through our doors and some celebrities. It’s been an experience to say the least,” said Treana.

Celebrities such as Bobby Curtola and others have been interviewed in their studio.

Treana spent the first years in the studio with Norman but then found she enjoyed traffic and scheduling, and working with some of the national accounts.

The business is well-established in the community and both Norman and Treana, who turned 60 in January, say that the station needs some new energy and focus with some younger owners.

Over the last 20 years, Nipawin has had multiple tragedies that have made their way on to the airwaves.

“We’ve had the unfortunate coverage of the gas explosion downtown Nipawin when we first started, the state of emergency that went through — the fire was outside of town threatening to come through town. We’ve had the Humboldt bus crash which we covered. We were the voice for a lot of these events that went through the area,” Norman said.

Along with rain comes sunshine though, and Treana said that is evident in physical changes such as the town square that was completed in the last several years and a thriving business community.

“Even through COVID I’m pretty proud of Nipawin, they’ve done quite well,” said Treana.

Norman said one unwelcome change is the trend of listeners calling to complain about lyrics in songs but he expects that will balance out as time goes by.

The good outweighs the bad though and despite being tired and wanting to start the next phase of life, both have fond memories.

“We’re looking for someone to come in and run with it. Somebody to come in here with a crack sales team and fresh ideas,” said Treana.

Norman is planning to re-focus on the technical aspect of things while Treana is looking to grow in different areas.

She is taking herbalist classes and wants to spend her time watching a new kind of growth, just not in a business format.

The community has a lot to offer for new owners, situated at the edge of the boreal forest with snowmobiling and many fishing tournaments on Codette or Tobin Lakes.

“I would like to see a younger couple come in here and take it over and take it to the next level. There’s a lot of potential growth. Things are starting to ramp up with the diamond exploration, logging is going well and oil leases have been signed in the area,” Norman said.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow