Yeziknoradio said:
Sorry, I meant channel 1200, the buzz went all sports.
1310 could have beaten them to it, but didn't.
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Favourite Canadian radio station, past and present
- Thread starter mimo
- Start date
Sorry, I meant channel 1200, the buzz went all sports.
1310 could have beaten them to it, but didn't.
top 2: in this Order
1. am640 ( the music era)
2. CING-FM, energy108. ( the dance era),most fave, and the ENERGY-Radio days as well.
1. am640 ( the music era)
2. CING-FM, energy108. ( the dance era),most fave, and the ENERGY-Radio days as well.
Radio_bored-Op said:
Dance era? It started as Dance 108...
To Clarify:
the station/frequencey, [107.9]FM, under the 'moniker'
"ENERGY"108, was my 2nd most fave. radio station, and
it was theeee best, during the (energy) dance era.
later, it was the watered-down,mainstream "ENERGY FM"
it was okay, but not as great as C-i-N-freeekin-G !!
however, when it was "dance108", perhaps, i didnt hear
it enough; or know of the station long enough to apperciate it.
even though, i wasnt a fan of "watered-down" top40,(more like top20)
i enjoyed "watered-down"-danceRadio. is there a difference? sure:
what z103,plays as far as "dance" today, differs, from the
late,late-club246/after hours-party-music...well, baaaack in the 90s
i liked what was radio-friendly, in the dance catergory.
also:
signal reception, in very southern ontario/western new york,
was not the best when it was "dance108" and never knew the
station, until it was..... ....... ...... ENERGY
the station/frequencey, [107.9]FM, under the 'moniker'
"ENERGY"108, was my 2nd most fave. radio station, and
it was theeee best, during the (energy) dance era.
later, it was the watered-down,mainstream "ENERGY FM"
it was okay, but not as great as C-i-N-freeekin-G !!
however, when it was "dance108", perhaps, i didnt hear
it enough; or know of the station long enough to apperciate it.
even though, i wasnt a fan of "watered-down" top40,(more like top20)
i enjoyed "watered-down"-danceRadio. is there a difference? sure:
what z103,plays as far as "dance" today, differs, from the
late,late-club246/after hours-party-music...well, baaaack in the 90s
i liked what was radio-friendly, in the dance catergory.
also:
signal reception, in very southern ontario/western new york,
was not the best when it was "dance108" and never knew the
station, until it was..... ....... ...... ENERGY
Re: To Clarify:
Dance 108 was the pre Corus ownership, I believe.
I might have an aircheck of it some place.
The old Dance 108 sounded alot like the old Hot 103 from back when Hot 103 was still "The heartbeat of Ontario DC103five" durring the day, and Hot 103 at night.
Radio_bored-Op said:
Dance 108 was the pre Corus ownership, I believe.
I might have an aircheck of it some place.
The old Dance 108 sounded alot like the old Hot 103 from back when Hot 103 was still "The heartbeat of Ontario DC103five" durring the day, and Hot 103 at night.
Favorite Canadian stations of the present:
630 CFCO Chatham. Nice variety of oldies ranging from roughly 1955-1985, much better than Detroit's WOMC in my opinion. Possibly one of the few stations around to feature Connie Francis and Culture Club on the same playlist. 580 CKWW Windsor is also a decent oldies station, though I personally preferred it as Adult Standards "580 Memories."
740 CHWO Toronto. This station is now what WQEW New York and WSAI Cincinnati used to be - the 50,000-watt Adult Standards voice of North America. WJR's IBOC hash makes them unlistenable in most of the Detroit area during the day (you have to go north toward Port Huron/Sarnia to hear them clearly), but at night the IBOC goes off and they come in just fine.
101.3 CKOT-FM Tillsonburg, ON. The Beautiful Music sound lives on on this 50,000-watt, locally owned station which DXes into the Detroit area when conditions are right.
630 CFCO Chatham. Nice variety of oldies ranging from roughly 1955-1985, much better than Detroit's WOMC in my opinion. Possibly one of the few stations around to feature Connie Francis and Culture Club on the same playlist. 580 CKWW Windsor is also a decent oldies station, though I personally preferred it as Adult Standards "580 Memories."
740 CHWO Toronto. This station is now what WQEW New York and WSAI Cincinnati used to be - the 50,000-watt Adult Standards voice of North America. WJR's IBOC hash makes them unlistenable in most of the Detroit area during the day (you have to go north toward Port Huron/Sarnia to hear them clearly), but at night the IBOC goes off and they come in just fine.
101.3 CKOT-FM Tillsonburg, ON. The Beautiful Music sound lives on on this 50,000-watt, locally owned station which DXes into the Detroit area when conditions are right.
ChrisInMI said:
CKOT is a pretty good station, and their regional news coverage is quite good, with live newscasts late at night when everyone else is on automation. They have pretty deep pockets I think too - I recall one day they gave away $10,000 in a contest.
If the pockets are so deep, where's the stream?M.J. said:
I'd love to give it a listen.
I miss "Beautiful music". It used to help me sleep when it aired on CKQT back in the day (now CKGE, currently maintaining a rock format in Oshawa Ontario)
Even though I don't know much French, I enjoy CKOI, and as I was driving up the Autoroute 40 between Trois Rivieres and Quebec, I heard a rock station on 100.9 that was excellent.
Other ones I like: Mix 99.9 Toronto, CHTZ in Niagara Falls/Ste Catharines, and one in Victoria BC 100.3 Q-FM
Other ones I like: Mix 99.9 Toronto, CHTZ in Niagara Falls/Ste Catharines, and one in Victoria BC 100.3 Q-FM
Yeziknoradio said:
They don't have a website either. However, I think that is likely because they would rather put their money into their on-air product than on a website that would generate very few hits since they seem to target older listeners who aren't using the Internet. Just a theory.
M.J. said:
That's very sad...who's running the place? Mr. Grant? (original owner of CKQT from thier "Always quiet and beautiful" days)
The story someone from power broadcasting told me was that Mr. Grant "wouldn't invest in a cotton swab!"
(*note: power bought CKQT and fliped it to CKGE, as an adult hits station, then known as edge 94.9...before the edge102 days)
Staying on topic, I do agree that Edge 94.9 was a good station.
I used to like it when they went to news and said "For the edge on information now, here's the news..."
I loooved Energy Radio in its Mainstream CHR years. Mastermind and Axel in evenings, Stu in the mornings, and local middays...what more could I ask for?
Even better was the fact that I lived in between three of the four stations: 93.1 Barrie, 94.9 Oshawa, and 107.9/95.3 Burlington.
Even the CanCon was oddly fascinating. In fact, I'm still looking for one song I kept hearing and want to add to my collection....it had female group vocals, "butterflies" in the chorus, and one heck of a good beat!
Even better was the fact that I lived in between three of the four stations: 93.1 Barrie, 94.9 Oshawa, and 107.9/95.3 Burlington.
Even the CanCon was oddly fascinating. In fact, I'm still looking for one song I kept hearing and want to add to my collection....it had female group vocals, "butterflies" in the chorus, and one heck of a good beat!
My favourite then was 54 ROCK (Which i listened to @ night of course)
Now my favourite is: 101.5 the hawk www.1015thehawk.com
Now my favourite is: 101.5 the hawk www.1015thehawk.com
sister437659 said:
Not being local was exactly the problem for Energy. When it was just Energy 108 it was a good station.
They really messed themselves up when they went all over the dial.
They'd still be around today if they didn't go Ontario wide.
Don't look for them on 94.9 any time soon though. Corus sold that station to Durham radio inc, and they switched it to rock a few years back...they plan to keep it that way.
(it's not a bad station for those who want a variety of rock music...)
A
al_atl
Guest
Current Favourites:
CFCO-630 in Chatham. Great mix of oldies on one of the best sounding AM stations anywhere. Audio
quality rivals some FMs...and they're in stereo, too! Now if they'd just add streaming audio to their
website...
CIDC "Z103.5" Toronto. Great music mix! Personalities aren't as strong as one would expect of a TO
station, but they're not too bad. Signal strength in TO is a bit weak.
CHFI 98.1 Toronto. Erin and Mike in the morning are great, as is Don Jackson at night with "Lovers and
Other Strangers.
Honourable Mentions: CKOT Tillsonburg...please add a website with streaming audio. CHWO Toronto...
please add stereo! CKOC Hamilton...please turn the stereo back on!!! CJOY Guelph...only have listened
online, and they're not bad...but no idea what they sound like "off air." CFTR "680 News" Toronto.
All of the above, with the exception of "680 News," would be much better if they relied less on
automation and had live personalities on the air 24/7.
Past Favourites:
CFTR-680 Toronto. CHR never sounded better anywhere than on CFTR. For me, they will always be the
standard by which all CHRs are measured.
CHUM-1050 Toronto. They're the ones most people think of when they think of great Top-40/CHR in
Toronto and I do think they were an awesome station. But for me, CFTR was just a little bit better.
CHFI-FM 98 Toronto. Early to mid 80s they were sitting on the fence somewhere between "beautiful
music" and AC. Sandy Hoytt mornings, Don Parish doing "Candlelight and Wine," Paul Fisher, a young Brian
Master working overnights. Live news updates in the overnight hours. During this time, CHFI was firing
on all 8 cylinders. They sounded awesome. They had this "high class" sound to them, when you listened
to CHFI it just sounded like it was a cut above all the others...radio held to a higher standard. The
technical sound of the station as well as the presentation came across in such a way that it sounded
like something, well, "high class," with some serious money behind it. Yet it was still fun to listen to
without being "stuffy" or "stuck up."
CKLW-800 Windsor. Right up there with WLS, WABC etc. Not quite up to CFTR or CHUM, but still a very
good radio station.
Honourable mentions: CISS "KISS 92" in Toronto was a very good CHR before they killed it by taking it
too urban. Could have been the next CFTR, but they never quite made it to that level. CING "Energy
108" in Burlington. CKLG "LG-73" Vancouver, CHOG-640 Toronto during the CHR years.
Canada has had, and still has, some great radio. Radio in Canada, while certainly not as good over all as it
was 20 or 30 years ago, is still pretty good and is much better on average than radio in the US. And Toronto
is the very best of the very best. I'm not sure why radio in Canada seems so much better than US radio. I've discussed this with a few people and opinions include the influence of CBC, certainly world-class public radio...that the private broadcasters in Canada are forced to "step it up" because of CBC's exceptional radio and high ratings. Others argue it's because Canadian radio content is regulated to some degree, where it is apparently not regulated at all in the US. Others even say it's Cancon. Whatever the reason, Canadian radio, I believe, is better and this is evidenced by what I am told is a much lower market share for satellite radio in Canada vs the US.
CFCO-630 in Chatham. Great mix of oldies on one of the best sounding AM stations anywhere. Audio
quality rivals some FMs...and they're in stereo, too! Now if they'd just add streaming audio to their
website...
CIDC "Z103.5" Toronto. Great music mix! Personalities aren't as strong as one would expect of a TO
station, but they're not too bad. Signal strength in TO is a bit weak.
CHFI 98.1 Toronto. Erin and Mike in the morning are great, as is Don Jackson at night with "Lovers and
Other Strangers.
Honourable Mentions: CKOT Tillsonburg...please add a website with streaming audio. CHWO Toronto...
please add stereo! CKOC Hamilton...please turn the stereo back on!!! CJOY Guelph...only have listened
online, and they're not bad...but no idea what they sound like "off air." CFTR "680 News" Toronto.
All of the above, with the exception of "680 News," would be much better if they relied less on
automation and had live personalities on the air 24/7.
Past Favourites:
CFTR-680 Toronto. CHR never sounded better anywhere than on CFTR. For me, they will always be the
standard by which all CHRs are measured.
CHUM-1050 Toronto. They're the ones most people think of when they think of great Top-40/CHR in
Toronto and I do think they were an awesome station. But for me, CFTR was just a little bit better.
CHFI-FM 98 Toronto. Early to mid 80s they were sitting on the fence somewhere between "beautiful
music" and AC. Sandy Hoytt mornings, Don Parish doing "Candlelight and Wine," Paul Fisher, a young Brian
Master working overnights. Live news updates in the overnight hours. During this time, CHFI was firing
on all 8 cylinders. They sounded awesome. They had this "high class" sound to them, when you listened
to CHFI it just sounded like it was a cut above all the others...radio held to a higher standard. The
technical sound of the station as well as the presentation came across in such a way that it sounded
like something, well, "high class," with some serious money behind it. Yet it was still fun to listen to
without being "stuffy" or "stuck up."
CKLW-800 Windsor. Right up there with WLS, WABC etc. Not quite up to CFTR or CHUM, but still a very
good radio station.
Honourable mentions: CISS "KISS 92" in Toronto was a very good CHR before they killed it by taking it
too urban. Could have been the next CFTR, but they never quite made it to that level. CING "Energy
108" in Burlington. CKLG "LG-73" Vancouver, CHOG-640 Toronto during the CHR years.
Canada has had, and still has, some great radio. Radio in Canada, while certainly not as good over all as it
was 20 or 30 years ago, is still pretty good and is much better on average than radio in the US. And Toronto
is the very best of the very best. I'm not sure why radio in Canada seems so much better than US radio. I've discussed this with a few people and opinions include the influence of CBC, certainly world-class public radio...that the private broadcasters in Canada are forced to "step it up" because of CBC's exceptional radio and high ratings. Others argue it's because Canadian radio content is regulated to some degree, where it is apparently not regulated at all in the US. Others even say it's Cancon. Whatever the reason, Canadian radio, I believe, is better and this is evidenced by what I am told is a much lower market share for satellite radio in Canada vs the US.
al_atl said:
I agree. A year ago when I went to New York City my hotel roomate wanted to put on the radio and see what was on the FM band there, thinking there would be something good on. I told him not to get his hopes up because American radio is nothing like Canadian radio, saying "there's no stations like FM96 here". After doing a bandscan, he agreed and the only station either of us even remotely liked was WAXQ 104.3, which is classic rock. Nothing like Q107 or The Hawk though. I ended up just listening to 1010 WINS to get news updates if I felt like listening to any radio.
al_atl said:
It *might* not have anything to do with the CBC, but instead have everything to do with ownership regulations.
Add in the Can Con regs,(35-40% Canadian music Content) and it *may* make a difference in sound.
The main thing to remember is that Canadian radio ownership is restricted to owning two FM and two AM, rather than 60% of a market as it is currently in the States.
Here's a good example (from a news/talk point of view)
The best news radio in Buffalo had to be News Radio 55, and it would still be around today competing with WBEN 930 if the States were to be more like Canada.
(When News broke out...WGR broke in.)
It's sad when the station that wasn't as good has to come along and buy it's competition and own quite a bit of Buffalo radio.
Respectfully, it can also be argued that it is good that same company was able to protect WKSE by buying 107.7, so I guess there are some good and bad points to be made.
***sticking with the thread...best news/talk radio of past: WGR 550 Buffalo(not canadian, but still great news station)
Best News radio current: 680 News Toronto
J
jiminCT
Guest
I used to spend summers in Northern NY on Chateguay Lake and listen to CKGM-980 out of Montreal. Classic AM top 40 station.
CJAD-800 from a larger reason is my current favorite. Even listen to it at work here in Connecticut (wife is a Montrealer so I have an excuse). Local talk show hosts...very little syndicated radio...weekend oldies...comedy shows. Just a great full service AM talk station...with PERSONALITY.
CJAD-800 from a larger reason is my current favorite. Even listen to it at work here in Connecticut (wife is a Montrealer so I have an excuse). Local talk show hosts...very little syndicated radio...weekend oldies...comedy shows. Just a great full service AM talk station...with PERSONALITY.
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