John F. Eddy (1951-2008)

John F. Eddy

Year Born: 1951

Year Died: 2008

Year of Induction: 2008

Member of CAB Hall of Fame

Eddy, John F. (1951-2008)

John Fraser Eddy was born in Bathurst, New Brunswick on May 17th 1951. He went to J. Gordon Chalmers School in Bathurst, and then to Bishop’s College in Lennoxville, Que. He later attended the University of New Brunswick, followed by the University of British Columbia, obtaining a BA in 1976 and his LL.B in 1979.

After practising law in Vancouver with Mackenzie and Company from 1980 to 1989, John returned to New Brunswick to join Radio Atlantic, a company of which the Eddy family had just acquired control, and which owned CFNB Fredericton.  In 1993, John became sole owner of Radio Atlantic,  and in the mid-1990’s he worked to operate and expand a network of Maritime radio stations.

In 1999, Radio Atlantic was sold to Telemedia, but John stayed with the company to manage their Atlantic Canada broadcast holdings. By this time, CFNB-AM had been replaced by CIBX-FM. 

In 2002, Telemedia Radio Atlantic Inc, which now consisted of CFXY-FM, CIBX-FM and CKHJ-AM Fredericton, CKBC Bathurst and CJCJ-FM Woodstock, NB, and CKTO-FM and CKTY-FM Truro N.S., was purchased by Astral Media Inc., and John eventually became Executive Vice President of Astral Media Radio Atlantic.

In the course of John’s career, he demonstrated far-sighted leadership on a number of occasions. He was the guiding light in the creation and development of the ongoing East Coast Music Show. This program, which was dedicated to fostering and showcasing East Coast talent, was launched in 1996.

John also demonstrated his leadership as an early adopter of innovative technology. For example, he was the first broadcaster in North America to use the “Genesys” operating system, which provided the most advanced tools and technology for networking, automation and other applications.

John made an invaluable contribution through his active involvement with the Atlantic Association of Broadcasters of which he was President for a term. The Association benefited from his wise counsel and his experience as the industry successfully made its way through a rapidly changing broadcasting environment.

Through his dedicated efforts, John Eddy helped ensure that private radio in Atlantic Canada had the critical mass and the advanced tools needed to provide audiences with the programming they deserved. John Eddy’s leadership and vision were instrumental in raising private radio to a new level in the region.

John F. Eddy died of cancer on January 10th 2008. In November 2008, he was inducted posthumously into the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame.

Written by Pip Wedge – November, 2008