AM rocker from Ottawa late 80's

[CCemployee]

I am from Philadelphia, PA and I remember a station I used to listen to from Ottawa in the late 1980's. I would pick them up at night, loud and clear every night. The frequency was around 540-550, don't know exactly. I never heard a rocker on AM before, and it was a treat to listen to. They played great rock music and I used to call in many times, they always took my requests and put me on the air now and then. They knew me as the Flyers Guy from Philly. I cannot receive any trace of this station now-adays, are they still around and if so, are they still rocking. Thanks...

 

[agreenbe]

the station was 54 rock and they moved over to fm in the early 90's..they are known as 106.9 The Bear.

> I am from Philadelphia, PA and I remember a station I used
> to listen to from Ottawa in the late 1980's. I would pick
> them up at night, loud and clear every night. The frequency
> was around 540-550, don't know exactly. I never heard a
> rocker on AM before, and it was a treat to listen to. They
> played great rock music and I used to call in many times,
> they always took my requests and put me on the air now and
> then. They knew me as the Flyers Guy from Philly. I cannot
> receive any trace of this station now-adays, are they still
> around and if so, are they still rocking. Thanks...
>

 

[opies]

... and the station is only a watered down version of its former AM days.



> the station was 54 rock and they moved over to fm in the
> early 90's..they are known as 106.9 The Bear.
>
> > I am from Philadelphia, PA and I remember a station I used
>
> > to listen to from Ottawa in the late 1980's. I would pick
> > them up at night, loud and clear every night. The
> frequency
> > was around 540-550, don't know exactly. I never heard a
> > rocker on AM before, and it was a treat to listen to. They
>
> > played great rock music and I used to call in many times,
> > they always took my requests and put me on the air now and
>
> > then. They knew me as the Flyers Guy from Philly. I
> cannot
> > receive any trace of this station now-adays, are they
> still
> > around and if so, are they still rocking. Thanks...
> >
>

 

[CCemployee]

Thanks for the info, it seems they are not as good as when they were on AM. That was the question I was going to ask you, are they as good as they were when on AM, I guess you answered that. The were so good they outdid the Rock FM stations in Philly I listened to, so at night I had them on all the time. Is there anything on 540 now since they moved, seems like its dead air at night.

 

[go14]

> Thanks for the info, it seems they are not as good as when
> they were on AM. That was the question I was going to ask
> you, are they as good as they were when on AM, I guess you
> answered that. The were so good they outdid the Rock FM
> stations in Philly I listened to, so at night I had them on
> all the time. Is there anything on 540 now since they
> moved, seems like its dead air at night.
>


540 went dead a few months after they flipped. 54 Rock is still one of my all-time favourites.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

> 540 went dead a few months after they flipped. 54 Rock is
> still one of my all-time favourites.
>
They were up against Energy 1200, so I gather the battle back then was like the battle between Toronto's hog at 640 (in 1990) and 680 CFTR, only with better ratings for both stations, than the ratings CHOG pulled in.

Regardless, the move to FM is smart for ANY rock format anyway.
I wish the Hog were an FM station.
That would have been nice, but also impossible thanks to the 49% non hit rule for fm in Canada back then.

<P ID="signature">______________
"If you never say NO, How much is your YES worth?"
</P>

 

[ian]

> I wish the Hog were an FM station.
> That would have been nice, but also impossible thanks to the
> 49% non hit rule for fm in Canada back then.
>

Not impossible at all. When 54 Rock moved to FM they still had their hard-edge and attitude and kept it all nice and legal in reagrds to non-hit.

 

[CCemployee]

How much power were they cranking out and were they directional toward Philly?? They always had a great signal as soon as dusk moved in.

 

[ian]

> How much power were they cranking out and were they
> directional toward Philly?? They always had a great signal
> as soon as dusk moved in.
>

http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/MB/Databases/AM_DA_patterns/495424-66879.pdf

 

[Yeziknoradio]

> > I wish the Hog were an FM station.
> > That would have been nice, but also impossible thanks to
> the
> > 49% non hit rule for fm in Canada back then.
> >
>
> Not impossible at all. When 54 Rock moved to FM they still
> had their hard-edge and attitude and kept it all nice and
> legal in reagrds to non-hit.
>
Were they a top 40 rock hybrid as the Bear? Or the Variety rock they are today?
I also forgot at the time of my last posting, that CDN music was granted a year as hit music before it could be counted as a part of the 51% hit content.

<P ID="signature">______________
"If you never say NO, How much is your YES worth?"
</P>

 

[ian]

> Were they a top 40 rock hybrid as the Bear? Or the Variety
> rock they are today?
> I also forgot at the time of my last posting, that CDN music
> was granted a year as hit music before it could be counted
> as a part of the 51% hit content.
>

Not sure what "Top 40 Rock" is, but they were fairly hard-rock, only slightly softer than 54 Rock. Not much like today.

 

[LJV-Borg]

the station was 54 rock and they moved over to fm in the early 90's..they are known as 106.9 The Bear.> I am from Philadelphia, PA and I remember a station I used> to listen to from Ottawa in the late 1980's. I would pick> them up at night, loud and clear every night. The frequency> was around 540-550, don't know exactly. I never heard a> rocker on AM before, and it was a treat to listen to. They> played great rock music and I used to call in many times,> they always took my requests and put me on the air now and> then. They knew me as the Flyers Guy from Philly. I cannot> receive any trace of this station now-adays, are they still> around and if so, are they still rocking. Thanks...>

You mean in 1994 (the mid 90's), and they kept the same format. They play tons of currents.

 

[black ops]

You mean in 1994 (the mid 90's), and they kept the same format. They play tons of currents.

The amount of currents does not a format make. The BEAR does not even remotely resemble 54 Rock. Maybe the first few years, but certainly not the last 5.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Unfortunatly I never got to hear them, as 540 in Canonsburg, PA came in too strong out in my end of PA.From what I've read, it sounds like the plan in Canada is to eventually vacate theAM band completely, is that correct? What a shame!

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Unfortunatly I never got to hear them, as 540 in Canonsburg, PA came in too strong out in my end of PA.From what I've read, it sounds like the plan in Canada is to eventually vacate theAM band completely, is that correct? What a shame!

The CRTC regs for FM in Canada are still too strict to abandon AM radio all together.(at this time...)

 

[novtrack]

I know it's been a while since this string was used, but the other cool part of 54 Rock was they were that AM Stereo signal. My Plymouth picked it up and I used to listen when I was driving to work in early 90's when it had just switched to The Bear.

 

[AMonFM]

AM Stereo got a much fairer shake from stations in Canada... not sure just how many actually listened in stereo, but anytime I went close to the border (either Montreal or Toronto), the stereo light lit on many of their channels, especially the Toronto & Niagara area.

I remember CJSB from it's inception right up thru it's incarnation as 54 Rock. Awesome station in about '88 or '89, came booming in from near sunset til 10 or 11 at night, then the signal would go sour. Although I had AM Stereo capability from '85 on, I dont remember ever listening to 54 Rock in stereo...

54 ROCK - OTTAWA'S BEST ROCK ;D

Still get CHEZ and whatever that is on 93.9 (Frank, Ben, Jack, whoever) when the band opens up.... CanCon really did wreck Canadian rock radio. Just how much Chilliwack & Rush can one stand?

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Still get CHEZ and whatever that is on 93.9 (Frank, Ben, Jack, whoever) when the band opens up.... CanCon really did wreck Canadian rock radio. Just how much Chilliwack & Rush can one stand?

93.9 BOB FM aka Kool FM, and I still say Kool was a better hit music station than Hot 89.9, but oh well...

Jack is down the dial at 92.3, but it was meant to serve Smith falls, not Ottawa, so it was never a threat to BOB.

Hey?
Speaking of rock, and cdn regs, remember Fox FM? 101. something?
Now there's a great station from the states, with the right touch to shake up the cdn stations, and tell the CRTC where to go...too bad their signal is crap in Ottawa.
The Antics were something else.
It was very funny when they ran that banner over the Downtown Ottawa sky one day a few years back that read "GO LEAFS GO! LISTEN TO CHEZ 106!"

I would LOVE to see Martz communications buy a CBS property in Buffalo NY and pull the same stunt targeting Toronto Canada.
At least then, there'd be a better signal strength to do so. (depending on the station...)

 

[mimo]

the fox is 101.5, it comes in in Orleans, south Ottawa and in the west end. Not here in Little italy at all, but then again neither does CHRI or Y-101. In terms of the CRTC eliminating AM altogether. I don't think that's the case seeing as they just awarded 2 new am frequencies to Toronto and 4 to Montreal. There's also a plan to reactivate the 1250 frequency here in Ottawa by brining radio enfants which was heard until june here at 101.9. They've applied for the frequency and have it, according to their website, they're just waiting for the money to relaunch the station. I hope they don't eliminate AM. I'm still mourning the loss of AM music radio here in Canada which is much more recent than it is in the states. If anyone has noticed on WABC 770 on Saturday nights, they're back to playing music again for the first time since the early 80's. At least until 10 pm. In the U.S. music is slowly coming back to AM.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

the fox is 101.5, it comes in in Orleans, south Ottawa and in the west end. Not here in Little italy at all, but then again neither does CHRI or Y-101. In terms of the CRTC eliminating AM altogether. I don't think that's the case seeing as they just awarded 2 new am frequencies to Toronto and 4 to Montreal. There's also a plan to reactivate the 1250 frequency here in Ottawa by brining radio enfants which was heard until june here at 101.9. They've applied for the frequency and have it, according to their website, they're just waiting for the money to relaunch the station. I hope they don't eliminate AM. I'm still mourning the loss of AM music radio here in Canada which is much more recent than it is in the states. If anyone has noticed on WABC 770 on Saturday nights, they're back to playing music again for the first time since the early 80's. At least until 10 pm. In the U.S. music is slowly coming back to AM.

In respect to AM, I agree with the idea that if the music was recorded in mono, why not let it be heard in mono the way the listener grew up hearing it anyway.

Edmonton had a short lived idea that expanded beyond the oldies format into *Anything* mono, as Joe 880. "radio for the average Joe that loves mono" but they saw that going back to an oldies format is better, and moved Joe to the FM side with more variety.