CISL 650 AM is now MOR

[IBadget1]

CISL 650 AM has just switched to MOR as "All Time Favorites." They mix oldies and adult standards of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. It picks up where the now-defunct CKBD 600 AM left off. It even streams online.

 

[theradiokid]

Good. I remember when CKLC (1380 Kingston) was MOR. Now, I hate standards music. But, while DXing CKLC, waiting for the AM to FM move, I had to listen to it day after day after day after day to see if anything changed. While listening, the MOR format grew on me. So much so that, while part of mewas happy when they replaced it with a Classic Alternative station on the FM (“The Drive), part of me was sad to see the format go away. Now, when I want to hear MOR, I’ll just listen to the stream that is provided here. Thank you, Ivan.

Does anyone know who owns CISL?

--The Radio Kid
(AKA Oswego Jeremy, as nicknamed by George of the Radio Racket.)
My email: [email protected].

 

[mjlarochelle]

CISL is owned by Astral, and it was one of the former Standard stations. The new format looks a lot like Astral's CKSL in London.

 

[mimo]

This is almost a full circle for C-ISL. They were an more modern sounding MOR in the 80's before the flip to oldies.

 

[cyberdad]

As a frequent business traveler to Vancouver, I say better to have both! (CKBD and CISL) That said....with CKBD gone, adult standards is probably the bigger void.

 

[SeattleObserver]

They got a great Web site up fast!

Also, why can't a U.S. station play this interesting mix of standards and oldies? I really wish someone would abandon Jones' "M.O.Y.L" and give it a try. Sadly, I've never lived anywhere that bothers.

 

[cyberdad]

They got a great Web site up fast!

Also, why can't a U.S. station play this interesting mix of standards and oldies? I really wish someone would abandon Jones' "M.O.Y.L" and give it a try. Sadly, I've never lived anywhere that bothers.

Good point. The only station that readily comes to mind with this type of format is CHWO (or whatever "zoomer" is now officially called). And that, of course, is in Toronto.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

They got a great Web site up fast!

Also, why can't a U.S. station play this interesting mix of standards and oldies? I really wish someone would abandon Jones' "M.O.Y.L" and give it a try. Sadly, I've never lived anywhere that bothers.

Good point. The only station that readily comes to mind with this type of format is CHWO (or whatever "zoomer" is now officially called). And that, of course, is in Toronto.

CHWO *would* be a fine example, just don't try to tune in between 10 am and 1pm.
I hope that talk show they added fails.
People want music on that station durring that time, and the ratings are (hopefully) going to show it to be so.

 

[tenwatts]

I sent CISL an e-mail after their change, asking them for the rationale behind it, as it seemed they were skewing toward an even older audience than before. I got back a reply from the program director, explaining the difficulty AM music stations were having holding on to their audiences, and noting that they were looking to pick up some of the now defunct 'Unforgettable AM 600' listeners.

Fair enough, but it seems to me that outside of seventy year old guys driving old land yachts that don't have FM radios, there's probably a very limited audience for this stuff.

Jerry Vale, anyone?

 

[cyberdad]

Jerry Vale, anyone?

740 in Toronto (at least as CHWO) keeps this sort of junk to a minimum. Although you do here it once Vale, Buddy Greco, John Gary and others of that ilk once in a while. I caught CISL in December on a business trip, shortly after the flip. They seemed to me to pretty much be all over the map. What the PD was saying in his e-mail makes sense. If that's the case, I'd think they'd want to go somewhat in the direction of the "timeless classics" satellite-delivered format here in the US.

That's pretty much about where Toronto 740 seems to be....sans the annoying midday interruption talk show and the frequently excellent evening specialty music programming.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

The big mystery here is, what will Jewel 88five be doing now that the rules for FM have changed. (Jewel 88.5: http://www.jewelradio.com/main.php?radiostation=2

Will Jewel FM continue trying to sound like AM 740, or will they go after the 1050 CHUM crowd?

Time will tell, I guess.