VOCM (AM)

VOCM programming includes talk shows such as Open Line with Paddy Daly, and NightLine with Jonathan Richler, where Newfoundland and Labrador-related issues are discussed with callers and emails/tweets sent to the station are read and discussed. These programs are well known and often perform highly in the radio ratings province-wide. Although the current hosts of two of the programs have past or present political involvement (Simms was previously the mayor of the St. John's suburb of Mount Pearl, while Rowe was a former leader of the provincial Liberal party), these shows are generally considered to be non-partisan and are not driven by the hosts' personalities, unlike the majority of contemporary North American talk radio programs. However, accusations of partisan activity by specific callers, such as political staffers calling in the guise of "regular Joes", have been made from time to time.

During the late 1990s, the VOCM network experimented with syndicated talk programming in the form of the Dr. Laura Schlessinger show, which aired on tape delay in the early evening. As with most Canadian stations airing the program, it was quietly dropped shortly after a Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruling admonishing the host for making comments the CBSC claimed were discriminatory. While VOCM continues to air some short syndicated features and occasionally brokered programming (i.e. infomercials) on Sunday mornings, it does not regularly air other extended-length syndicated programming.

On December 1, 2016, VOCM expanded its talk programming to include syndicated programs such as Coast to Coast AM as well as shows that feature experts in the fields of finance, real estate and renewable energy sources that air at 11:35am weekdays. In addition, Tim Powers had his own show on VOCM that aired Fridays at 6:00 p.m. with a repeat at 2:00 on Sunday afternoons. Unlike Open Line, BackTalk or NightLine, Tim interviews various individuals to go beyond the headlines. And, Thursdays from 11:30am, Conversations with John Moore. This show featured the CFRB personality interviewing celebrities, authors, athletes and others from a wide range of subject areas.

As time progressed, the expansion of talk radio was met with negative feedback from its listeners, even taking to social media and expressing their anger over the change (including the lack of music). Therefore, since August 21, 2017, VOCM has reverted to its Full Service format, reincorporating music in its programming. Also, feature talk shows heard on weekday mornings have been rescheduled to air on Saturday afternoons.[1]

VOCM's play-by-play sports coverage is currently limited to the Royal St. John's Regatta every August, and in some cases the Herder Memorial Trophy championship games. The VOCM network had carried the games of the American Hockey League's St. John's Maple Leafs throughout the 1990s; however, coverage was dropped around the start of the 2000s, since the team's fortunes were declining somewhat, and coverage interfered with the station's more successful talk programming.

VOCM does not typically broadcast play-by-play coverage of out-of-market sports events, unlike most other full-service or news-talk stations in medium-sized Canadian markets, again since it would interfere with live talk programming.

Outside of its talk programming, VOCM previously used a current country format, having adopted that format in mid-2002 shortly after sister station CKIX-FM dropped country music. Before that, the St. John's station had aired a mix of soft adult contemporary and classic hits, veering more towards the latter since CJYQ's flip to Newfoundland music in 2000; however, most VOCM network stations had carried a country format since at least the early 1990s.

VOCM is noteworthy for switching to an all-Christmas music format every year running until the playing of Auld Lang Syne at New Years Eve. The Christmas music typically starts on the day of the yearly Dial-a-Carol event in late November. Dial-a-Carol is an annual fundraising effort by VOCM's charity, the VOCM Cares Foundation, where listeners call in to make pledges and request their favourite Christmas songs be played. It is often commented on-air how overwhelming the requests are for Jim Reeves' Old Christmas Card, sometimes having to play it multiple times per hour.[2]

On April 14, 2015 at 10:00pm, VOCM, without notice, shifted its country format over to CJYQ and returned to its pre-2002 format of soft AC and classic hits, playing soft to medium tempo hits focusing on popular music from the 1970s to the mid-80s. Examples of artists featured under the new format include Glass Tiger, Billy Joel, The Human League, Foreigner, Berlin and Bob Seger.

Other specific programs include: the VOCM Morning Show, which carries a variety of information features (such as school information); the Saturday Night Cabin Party, which is devoted to classic country music from the 1950s to the 1980s; and the VOCM Saturday Morning Irish Newfoundland Show, playing Newfoundland music.[3]