CFZM
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| City of license | Toronto, Ontario |
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| Broadcast area | Greater Toronto Area |
| Branding | Zoomer Radio, AM 740 |
| Slogan | "The Best of the Best" |
| Frequency | 740 kHz (AM) |
| First air date | 1956 |
| Format | adult standards |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
| Class | A |
| Callsign meaning | Derived from sister station CFMZ-FM |
| Former callsigns | CHWO (1956-2008) |
| Owner | ZoomerMedia (MZ Media Inc.) |
| Sister stations | CFMX-FM, CFMZ-FM |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | Zoomer Radio |
CFZM is a Canadian clear-channel radio station, licensed to Toronto, Ontario, which airs at 740 kHz on the AM radio dial. The station airs a pop standards format branded as Zoomer Radio, with the slogan "The Best of the Best, AM 740".
CFZM is perhaps the only remaining adult standards-formatted station in North America that broadcasts on a 50,000-watt clear channel signal. The station's nighttime signal blankets a substantial area of Canada and the United States and can reach as far away as Minneapolis, Minnesota; Winnipeg, Manitoba and as far south as Atlanta, Georgia.
CFZM's daytime signal can be heard as far north as Georgian Bay; as far south as Youngstown, Ohio; as far east as Watertown, New York; and as far west as the Michigan Thumb. Such signal strength allows CFZM to often register significant Arbitron ratings in such markets as Buffalo, New York and Erie, Pennsylvania, cities where disenfranchised listeners of former adult standards stations WECK and WRIE can easily pick up CFZM. CFZM also offers online streaming of their audio through their website.
[edit] History
The station was originally launched in 1956 on AM 1250 in Oakville, with the call sign CHWO, by broadcaster Howard Caine and a number of minority investors. In 1967, shortly before Caine's death, his wife Jean was appointed to the board of directors and took over the station's management.
In 1974, CHWO added a sister station, CJMR in Mississauga.
In 2000, after the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's CBL relinquished the AM 740 frequency and moved to FM, the prized clear channel frequency became hotly contested by new and existing stations in the area. CHWO applied for the frequency, citing that it could provide a stronger service to the region's older adult population. Concurrently, the Caine family also applied for a new station on the old 1250 frequency, to air a Christian music format. The applications were granted, and CHWO moved to the 740 frequency on 8 January 2001, leasing CBL's former transmitter in Hornby from the CBC. CHWO originally applied for the new call sign CFPT, but when this was denied by Industry Canada because the call sign was already in use, the station chose to retain its heritage CHWO calls. CHWO's replacement at AM 1250, CJYE, launched on 5 February.[1]
On 18 September 2007, Prime Time Radio announced a deal to sell the station to Moses Znaimer, under whom it would become a sister station to Toronto's classical music station, CFMZ. The deal was approved by the CRTC on 31 March 2008.[2] Znaimer also moved the station's studios and city of licence into Toronto, and changed the station's call sign to CFZM on 22 July 2008.[3]
Under Znaimer's ownership, the station's program schedule now includes a daily talk show, airing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by consumer advocacy journalist Dale Goldhawk.The station still plays "traditional" nostalgia music weekday evenings on the show Sentimental Journey and on some weekend specialty shows, and still caters principally to listeners over 40 years of age. Other personalities currently associated with the station include television and radio sportscaster John Gallagher and former MuchMusic VJ Ziggy Lorenc.
Monday through Thursday nights, CFZM carries three late-night speciality programs: Theatre of the Mind (10-11 P.M. Eastern time), rebroadcasting in their entirety classic shows from the "Golden Age of Radio"; Stardust (11 P.M.-12 Midnight Eastern time), an hour of romantic music; and Midnight Blue (12 Midnight-1 A.M.), an hour of "raunchy" music that CFZM promotes as "the only X-Rated radio show" (in truth, some of the lyrics are raunchy and suggestive, but most listeners would not consider them "X-Rated").
CFZM also carries two weekly shows featuring 1950's/1960's oldies music, Friday Night Bandstand (7 P.M.-1 A.M. Eastern time, focusing more on the 1950s and early 1960s, with fewer post-1964 songs) and The Heart and Soul of Rock 'n Roll (7 P.M.-1 A.M. Eastern time on Saturday nights, focusing more on music from 1964 to the early 1970s, although some 1950's and early 1960s hits are heard).
Applause, consisting of musical selections from musicals, and television and film soundtracks with commentary is heard Saturday (4-6 P.M. Eastern time).[4]
The station was originally owned by Znaimer's privately held MZ Media Inc. As part of a reorganization of Znaimer's media assets, the station was transferred to the publicly-traded ZoomerMedia in 2010.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Decision CRTC 2000-205
- ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-73
- ^ History of the former CHWO AM at Canadian Communications Foundation
- ^ applause website
- ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2010-193
[edit] External links
- Zoomer Radio
- CHWO history at Canadian Communications Foundation
- Query the REC's Canadian station database for CFZM
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