Does anyone have any information on a station at 860-AM that is broadcasting in French? At night, that station really booms in here. It reminds me of when WWL - 870-AM - used to have a night-time show that was in French. Thank you for any information.
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French Station on 860-AM At Night
- Thread starter Cincinnati Kid
- Start date
That's CJBC Toronto, an outlet of the Radio-Canada (French-language CBC) network. It runs 50,000 watts from the same tower in Hornby, Ontario that was home to former sister station CBL 740 (now commercial CFZM). It's been on 860 since the early 1940s and in French for almost 50 years.
For some traditional reason that I'm sure we once explained to each other, the wife and I listen to CJBC one night each year -- 12/24 Christmas Eve. We have a white fake tree with all blue decorations plus a Menorah blinking in the front window, and we wrap gifts, have a sip of egg nog, find any old house of worship with the lights on and attend, maybe finish the bottle of nog, enjoy the music, and try to make out what the station is talking about.
One year, the hosts of the 7-midnight fare that eve were two gals who might've been doing a remote from a hotel lobby. The pair seemed to be getting more and more blasted on cognac with every passing song they played. Progressively longer intervals of giggles and giddiness followed every song. (And a thunderous on-air female belch in French is not as dignified or as delicate as many people might believe).
In any case, what is a 50,000,000-watt omnidirectional station in Toronto doing, still broadcasting in French? The last I saw from the ratings was that they had like a 1.4 share with that huge signal, in a market that does not have a sizable French-speaking population. What a waste of that much wattage. It's in the wrong province.
(On a DX note, we once managed to null CJBC on a portable, using two external antennas which all wound up with some wicked cardioid vacuum, so we could ID the English speaking station in the back was, nibbling away at CJBC from time to time. It turned out to be WAMO from Pittsburgh)
One year, the hosts of the 7-midnight fare that eve were two gals who might've been doing a remote from a hotel lobby. The pair seemed to be getting more and more blasted on cognac with every passing song they played. Progressively longer intervals of giggles and giddiness followed every song. (And a thunderous on-air female belch in French is not as dignified or as delicate as many people might believe).
In any case, what is a 50,000,000-watt omnidirectional station in Toronto doing, still broadcasting in French? The last I saw from the ratings was that they had like a 1.4 share with that huge signal, in a market that does not have a sizable French-speaking population. What a waste of that much wattage. It's in the wrong province.
(On a DX note, we once managed to null CJBC on a portable, using two external antennas which all wound up with some wicked cardioid vacuum, so we could ID the English speaking station in the back was, nibbling away at CJBC from time to time. It turned out to be WAMO from Pittsburgh)
Steve Green NEPA said:
A 1.4 for that station would set some kind of record. I don't think it's broken a half-share in many years. The answer to the question is simple, though: politics. Same reason there's 100 kW of FM power blasting out CBC Radio One in English on 104.7 in Quebec City...and they'd move CJBC to FM in a heartbeat if a frequency were available. (In fact, I'm pretty sure CJBC was one of the 21 unsuccessful applicants for 88.1 in Toronto just this year.)
Scott Fybush said:
IIRC, the CBC charter requires French service everywhere where there is any population of francophones in Canada.
My guess is that, legally, they can't abandon French language service.
Scott Fybush said:
In an earlier thread, we were talking about CKSB....the big signal Radio-Canada outlet in Winnipeg on 1050. To my understanding, the reasoning behind CJBC and CKSB is pretty much the same. Given that the francophone population in Toronto as well as Winnipeg is a distict minority....but spread out over a wide area....one big French signal makes more sense than a bunch of little FM sticks (which would otherwise be the case).
Speaking of CJBC, I posted in another thread that I started that it was putting a pretty decent signal into Kansas City Saturday night....while CFZM from the very same stick was barely present.
And Steve....thanks for the interesting post. I'll try to remember to check out CJBC next Christmas eve....perhaps with a little "nog" as well!
Scott Fybush said:
It was, although they proposed to operate 88.1 as an "embedded repeater" - i.e., they were going to stay on AM 860 as well.
Then again, that's what they said about the 90.5 embedded relay of CKSB -- which they have now proposed to convert to a 100,000-watt replacement for the AM 1050 transmitter.
Thank you for the information.
Interesting that this station has been on that frequency for so long and that I have only noticed it in recent months. Makes you wonder if there has been some change in the direction of their signal. I do remember CJBC from years past when it broadcasted in English, but not coming in here as well as this station does now.
I well remember CBL - 740-AM - going back many years. Used to enjoy listening to their late-night weather forecasts for the various regions of Canada and in the winter months how cold it was predicted to go. This is far enough back when temperatures in Canada were given in fahrenheit. Hard to hear the current Toronto station on that frequency over the air here now because there is a local religous station on 740 kc that broadcaasts on low power at night.
Interesting that this station has been on that frequency for so long and that I have only noticed it in recent months. Makes you wonder if there has been some change in the direction of their signal. I do remember CJBC from years past when it broadcasted in English, but not coming in here as well as this station does now.
I well remember CBL - 740-AM - going back many years. Used to enjoy listening to their late-night weather forecasts for the various regions of Canada and in the winter months how cold it was predicted to go. This is far enough back when temperatures in Canada were given in fahrenheit. Hard to hear the current Toronto station on that frequency over the air here now because there is a local religous station on 740 kc that broadcaasts on low power at night.
Cincinnati Kid said:
CJBC has been non-directional 50 kW from the same site for as long as it's been on 860, which takes us back to about 1943. The last material change to its facility came when its tower was replaced with a new one of the same height at the same location in the mid-1990s.
Cincinnati Kid said:
Though I'm not a nightly DX'er, I can tell you 860/CJBC delivers a (usually) strong and reliable signal here in Cincinnati. No doubt, you just hadn't noticed till now.
As for 740/(CBL) CFZM in Toronto, I'm in the secondary lobe of 740/WNOP, the local Cincinnati religious station you mention. At my house, WNOP has a strong signal, but if I drive 2 or 3 of miles north, CFZM dominates.
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