LIST OF STATIONS BELL WILL DIVEST RELEASED

[mimo]

Bell has released the list of the 10 stations that they will be divesting if the Astral takeover is approved.

Calgary: CKCE 101.5 (Kool)
Ottawa: CJOT 99.7 (Boom), CKQB 106.9 (The Bear)
Toronto: CFXJ 93.5 (Flow), CHBM 97.3 (Boom)
Vancouver: CISL 650, CKZZ 95.3 (Virgin), CHHR 104.3 (Shore)
Winnipeg: CHIQ 94.3 (Fab), CFQX 104.1 (QX 104)

 

[mjlarochelle]

In other words, the Bell will keep:

Ottawa - CFRA 580, CFGO 1200, CKKL 93.9, CJMJ 100.3
Toronto - CFRB 1010, CHUM 1050, CKFM 99.9, CHUM 104.5

Who knew Frank Ryan's station, the Rogers Batteryless station, and 1050 CHUM would one day all be under common ownership

 

[e-dawg]

So....if the merger between Astral and Bell is approve. Will these stations change their names?
Halifax CJCH 101.3 THE BOUNCE -> Virgin Radio
Kingston CFLY 98.3 FLY-FM -> Virgin Radio
Ottawa CJMJ 100.3 Majic 100 -> EZ ROCK
Peterborough CKPT 99.7 Energy -> Virgin Radio
Vancouver CFBT 94.5 THE BEAT -> Virgin Radio (Switch with CKZZ)
Vancouver CHQM 103.5 QM/FM -> EZ ROCK
Victoria CHBE 107.3 KOOL FM -> Virgin Radio
Waterloo CFCA 105.3 KOOL FM -> Virgin Radio
Brockville CFJR 104.9 JR-FM -> EZ ROCK
Edmonton CFRN 1260 THE TEAM -> TSN RADIO

Also, will these formats will change?
Calgary CKMX 1060 Classic Country -> TSN RADIO (Sports)
London CKSL 1410 Comedy -> TSN RADIO (Sports)
Fredricton CKHJ 1260 Country -> TSN RADIO (Sports)

 

[e-dawg]

Also, what will CTRC approve the language switch of CKGM 990 from English to French?

 

[davideduardo]

Who knew Frank Ryan's station, the Rogers Batteryless station, and 1050 CHUM would one day all be under common ownership

Here's CFRB's Tenth Anniversary Album from 1937 with a bit of the "batteryless" story.

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Station-Albums/CFRB-Album-1937-10th.pdf

 

[Yeziknoradio]

So....if the merger between Astral and Bell is approve. Will these stations change their names?
Halifax CJCH 101.3 THE BOUNCE -> Virgin Radio
Kingston CFLY 98.3 FLY-FM -> Virgin Radio
Ottawa CJMJ 100.3 Majic 100 -> EZ ROCK
Peterborough CKPT 99.7 Energy -> Virgin Radio
Vancouver CFBT 94.5 THE BEAT -> Virgin Radio (Switch with CKZZ)
Vancouver CHQM 103.5 QM/FM -> EZ ROCK
Victoria CHBE 107.3 KOOL FM -> Virgin Radio
Waterloo CFCA 105.3 KOOL FM -> Virgin Radio
Brockville CFJR 104.9 JR-FM -> EZ ROCK
Edmonton CFRN 1260 THE TEAM -> TSN RADIO

Also, will these formats will change?
Calgary CKMX 1060 Classic Country -> TSN RADIO (Sports)
London CKSL 1410 Comedy -> TSN RADIO (Sports)
Fredricton CKHJ 1260 Country -> TSN RADIO (Sports)

In Ottawa, would "Your EZ Rock is back!" work? (regardless of frequency)
It didn't last long before becoming Boom!
The rest of the list is interesting speculation.

 

[Tincap]

Bell has released the list of the 10 stations that they will be divesting if the Astral takeover is approved.

Ottawa: CJOT 99.7 (Boom)

Hmmm...'The New Classical 99.7' has a rather nice ring to it. Do it, MZ, do it!

~BG

 

[mimo]

1060 won't go sports. CFAC 960 is Sports and Calgary can barely support one sports station. It would be kind of odd to see 2 stations go from country to sports. I don't know why London's 1410 would go sports...not a big enough market. Funny 1410 is doing well with it's new format.

 

[mjlarochelle]

1060 won't go sports. CFAC 960 is Sports and Calgary can barely support one sports station. It would be kind of odd to see 2 stations go from country to sports. I don't know why London's 1410 would go sports...not a big enough market. Funny 1410 is doing well with it's new format.

Agreed...in London, 1290 CJBK already has a fair deal of sports, and whatever they don't have is on AM 980.

I'm predicting we'll see more Funny stations. Funny 1060 in Calgary is definitely possible. Would be a shame to see the old CFCN reduced to that though.

 

[mimo]

CFCN was actually the first radio station I ever visited when I was 9. We did tour it's FM CJAY as well but didn't get to go inside the studio. The jock at CFCN (as it was still known as back then) was actually nice enough to let us in take a few requests and let us say hi on the air. I still refer to the station though, as AM 106, which it will always be to me.

 

[azumanga]

Bell has released the list of the 10 stations that they will be divesting if the Astral takeover is approved.

Vancouver: CISL 650, CKZZ 95.3 (Virgin), CHHR 104.3 (Shore)

It's been an unlucky year for CHHR, that's for sure -- back in February, Astral took over the station, only for Bell to announce it's purchase of Astral a month later. And now, if the sale succeeds, CHHR will be on the block yet again.

It's not everyday that a radio station's been under four owners within the same year.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Hmmm...'The New Classical 99.7' has a rather nice ring to it. Do it, MZ, do it!
~BG

I was going to say CHLX might not like that, but then again, if one is English and the other is French, it might not matter...

 

[mimo]

Hmmm...'The New Classical 99.7' has a rather nice ring to it. Do it, MZ, do it!
~BG

I was going to say CHLX might not like that, but then again, if one is English and the other is French, it might not matter...

CHLX gave up the classical/jazz format years ago. It's now lite AC as Planete 97.1. I do like boom 99.7 but I'd be just as fine will classical 99.7.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

If a Zoomer FM could be done in the Ottawa market, I bet he'd rather do that instead.
No doubt, he just might try to go for a Classical licence for Ottawa.
There is a hole in the market to fill.
I thought there was still a French Classical.
There's room for both, is there not? Maybe he should try to get both Classicals up and running for Ottawa area...?

 

[Tincap]

Hmmm...'The New Classical 99.7' has a rather nice ring to it. Do it, MZ, do it!
~BG

I was going to say CHLX might not like that, but then again, if one is English and the other is French, it might not matter...

CHLX gave up the classical/jazz format years ago. It's now lite AC as Planete 97.1. I do like boom 99.7 but I'd be just as fine will classical 99.7.

I remember CHLX and tuned in quite often. Although it was part of Radio Nord, it basically had to stand alone, trying to generate its own advertising income, which proved to be very difficult for a specialty station in a bilingual market. Based on the CRTC ruling for the CFMX/CFMZ 'Classical' move, with a new station granted for the Collingwood ON area, I think they could stand a very good chance of being granted a licence to operate in Ottawa.

Quote: (Bold highlighting is mine)

29. Given the highly specialized nature of the Classical music format proposed by MZ Media, and given that the station would operate with a modest amount of split-feed local programming and advertising, the Commission considers that the impact of the proposed station would be limited. As such, the Commission is of the view that approval of MZ Media’s application would not have an undue negative impact on existing radio stations in the area.
30. The Commission considers that the programming proposed by MZ Media and the audience targeted by its proposed service would contribute to meeting the needs of an underserved demographic in the Collingwood radio market. The addition of this service would contribute to the musical diversity of that market, with a Classical and Fine Arts music format targeting adults 50 years of age and older. Furthermore, the proposal by MZ Media would contribute to diversity of ownership by introducing a new player in the local market. The Commission is also satisfied that the applicant is committed to its Classical music format and to maintaining the proposed station and format in the Collingwood market over the long term.

/Quote

Source: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2012/2012-123.htm

So in a nut shell, any advertising would have minimal impact on the other stations and the classical music format would service the needs of listeners, who simply have nothing on the dial to choose from. I think the Collingwood decision was the most intelligent decision to come out of the CRTC for years. Here's hoping!

~BG

 

[CKNF]

1060 won't go sports. CFAC 960 is Sports and Calgary can barely support one sports station.

Indeed. Sports formats in general don't have very high numbers up here in western Canada. In Calgary's case, the market is already fragmented with CHQR being the official Stampeders station and CFAC's deal with the Flames. What would CKMX cover?

My prediction is CKMX will either stay put where it is for another couple of years, or flip to Funny1060. FUNNY1060.COM and FUNNY1060.CA were snatched up by Astral last year. Question now is, will Bell proceed with the format flip?

While I’m sure it would never happen in reality, I still believe that a well programmed Oldies or Classic Hits station with live talent, compelling shows and a large well thought out and thorough playlist could work well on the 1060 signal to rock the airwaves of southern Alberta. But that would require management to resist the temptation of not messing it up with programming decisions such as brokered programming for that extra little bit of cash, a narrow playlist and excessive use of voice tracking. It would also require management to actually give a damn which, again…won’t happen…not as long as it’s owned by Bell.

 

[Dan Sys]

I'm really curious to find out what will happen to CISL 650 in Richmond-Vancouver. Local rumours have Newcap being very interested in purchasing CKZZ 95.3 & CHHR 104.3, but I doubt they would want CISL in light of the fact that they have been flipping all their AM's to FM wherever possible over the past few years. I can't really see anyone, other than perhaps an ethnic group, interested in CISL.