sowny.net | The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum


You are not logged in. Would you like to login or register?

SOWNY » London and Windsor Radio Ratings » July 10, 2025 5:51 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 19

Go to post

Classic Rock 98-1 looks like it will stay with Blackburn Radio. 

SOWNY » London and Windsor Radio Ratings » July 6, 2025 11:20 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 19

Go to post

When the CRTC receives an application for an addition radio station in the Windsor radio market, both the Ontario and the Michigan broadcasts are mentioned. Some of that information might still be available. 

On the documentary known as "The Rise and the Fall of the Big 8" I think they said that about 60 percent of Windsor radios were tuned to Detroit radio. That video came out a number of years ago, and that has likely changed. 

 

SOWNY » London and Windsor Radio Ratings » July 5, 2025 5:02 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 19

Go to post

AM 800 CKLW has been at or near the top of Windsor's rating since the 1990's. 

I have a feeling that 580 CKWW will switch to an Ethnic format in the long run. I just don't know when.

I am keeping an eye of what happens next in London. I will not make a prediction this early. 

SOWNY » London and Windsor Radio Ratings » July 4, 2025 6:11 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 19

Go to post

I was wondering how the public can access those ratings. They are not PPM markets, so they have been difficult to impossible to find in recent years. 

SOWNY » Detroit-area AM tower toppled » June 20, 2025 1:26 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 19

Go to post

WHND was still Honey Radio when I heard it in Goderich in the 80's. They began as WMIC Monroe in 1956, which is why CFOS has a null to the Southwest. 
CKGL has a very strong signal into its intended market. Head to the south and both the limitation and the interference from WKBN is evident. CKGL gets weak very rapidly, and WKBN can be heard.

SOWNY » Detroit-area AM tower toppled » June 19, 2025 10:11 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 19

Go to post

With CKNX 920 going to FM and the 900 CHML license revoked, CKGL could also move to 900 AM with 50 KW from the existing transmitter site. 

SOWNY » Detroit-area AM tower toppled » June 19, 2025 4:25 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 19

Go to post

WRDT is on one of the HD streams that 103.5 WMUZ-FM airs. It is either the HD-2 or the HD-3. Most people in the listening area would be unaware of that.
580 CKWW has no FM assignments that they could move over to unless one of the existing Windsor stations shuts down.
The Kitchener station on 570 is News and Talk meaning that the CRTC will not allow them to move to FM. 

The statement that no broadcaster chooses to be AM only is true. They often remind people to stream them online.

SOWNY » Detroit-area AM tower toppled » June 18, 2025 10:09 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 19

Go to post

I noticed how the old WHND mixed with CFOS in Goderich during the daytime while I was there in the late 1980's. There is a possible frequency shuffle that could happen in theory, but likely won't happen in practice.

1. After CFCO leaves 630, the current CKWW in Windsor could move there with higher power.
2. With 580 vacant, allow WRDT to use it rather making it a Canadian phantom station that will remain silent forever.
3. Let 570 in Kitchener use 560 after CFOS shuts down. 
 

SOWNY » Detroit-area AM tower toppled » June 18, 2025 4:31 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 19

Go to post

I checked that signal in Sarnia. It is close to 1030 WKEG and 1310 WDTW as far as strength and clarity. Thunderstorms are interfering. The signal into Windsor and more than two thirds of Metro Detroit should be fine. If they could use more than 125 watts from that site in the future, they would need the Monroe towers anymore. That's because Ferndale is centrally located. 

SOWNY » The new CFCO-FM Chatham-Kent signal on 91.3 FM » June 11, 2025 10:41 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 5

Go to post

The cheaper cost of using a four in one master antenna is the main reason for this decision. Blackburn also has Country music listeners covered to the west with CJWF on both 95.9 & 92.7, and to the north with CHOK. This means that using 630 AM for too much longer would not be serving them well.

I cannot verify if the new 91.3 has begun yet in my location. That's because WRSX from Port Huron is also on
91.3 FM.

SOWNY » The new CFCO-FM Chatham-Kent signal on 91.3 FM » June 11, 2025 5:35 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 5

Go to post

It sounds like it will begin shortly. Right now the 89.3 / 94.3 / 95.1 transmission is temporarily shut off. The online stream is still on, and 630 AM could stay on for up to three more months. CFCO also will no longer need to use 92.9 FM in Chatham anymore. 

SOWNY » A New Car That Has A Better AM Radio Than The Old One » June 3, 2025 7:22 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 16

Go to post

In Downtown Windsor the Quodosen radio picked Toledo FM's without any kind of overload getting in the way. The one problem that no radio solves is digital interference from HD Radio. If you were on a first adjacent from a Detroit signal, nothing came through. In Downtown Toronto it might be different because overloading is more likely to happen there. 

SOWNY » Where's The Farthest Distance You’ve Ever DX-ed On AM Or FM? » January 17, 2025 11:08 am

Marc1178
Replies: 44

Go to post

Both of my records happened away from home. 1150 CKOC Hamilton came in on a portable radio up in Fort McMurray, AB one night when it was Oldies. On FM I heard Texas near Brantford. That was in 1993. One of the stations I remember hearing was the main Z-Rock signal on 99.1 FM. The was before CBC Radio One moved from 740 AM to 99.1 FM. 

SOWNY » Blowtorch Radio Station The Latest To Reach 100 Years » December 17, 2024 1:07 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 2

Go to post

Next year WJR Detroit hits 100 years on the air. In 1925 the Jewett Radio and Phonograph Company started sharing 580 kHz with WCX. Although WCX began in 1922, it was owned by the Detroit Free Press, and was not WJR. In 1929 there was no longer a WCX, and the radio station simply became known as WJR. During the daytime WJR's 50 KW signal can be heard from Northeast Indiana to about where Woodstock, Ontario is. At night it compares to AM 740 Toronto and 1100 WTAM from Cleveland.

SOWNY » The Null Points Of HD Radio » November 17, 2024 12:38 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 26

Go to post

HD Radio is too low powered compared to regular FM to have good coverage. WOMC Detroit easily exceeds 120 km on regular FM when you head towards London on the 402. The HD signal starts breaking up right in Sarnia which is about 80 km from Ferndale, Michigan. 

SOWNY » The Two Radio Formats Becoming More Popular In The U.S. » October 16, 2024 10:26 am

Marc1178
Replies: 10

Go to post

Whiteoaks Communications Group is one possible buyer. 

SOWNY » CHLO 530 AM » September 19, 2024 11:58 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 4

Go to post

That is actually a good question because signal drop outs have always been severe on AM HD radio stations. During the daytime CHLO is 10 watts digital. The closer to Ashgrove (near Georgetown) you get, the more solid the digital side of the broadcast becomes. Their daytime power is higher than their night power in both standard AM and HD. It always takes a few seconds for the digital to decode. 

A very limited number of former AM only stations in the United States now use the 100% digital mode without the analog. These are supposed to be technically superior to the hybrid broadcasts. 
 

SOWNY » 820 » September 16, 2024 1:16 am

Marc1178
Replies: 28

Go to post

820 starts coming in west of London on the highway during the daytime. Kingston seems like a bit of a stretch, but I have not tried to hear 820 east of Toronto, so I'm not sure on that. 

SOWNY » Giant FM & Country 89 Knocked Off Air After Transmitter Vandalism » September 3, 2024 12:34 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 25

Go to post

Did they attempt to steal copper? That's what happened to the former CKCO-TV-3 (channel 42) site in Lambton County a number of years ago. 

SOWNY » WGN Affilation Change » September 1, 2024 10:55 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 4

Go to post

WKBD 50 Detroit just did the same thing. Now channel 20 is Independent. 

SOWNY » New Country 93.5 » August 29, 2024 8:50 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 61

Go to post

It would still be KX Country. 

SOWNY » New Country 93.5 » August 29, 2024 7:51 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 61

Go to post

This gives Durham Radio the chance to move The Rock to both 95.9's & 89.9 with KX Country going to 94.9
Having two Country stations right in Toronto will not work for very long. Country on 94.9 will continue to serve The Durham Region and points further East than what 95.9 does.

SOWNY » CHED Talk Radio In Edmonton Moving From 630 To 880 On Oct 9th » August 29, 2024 4:24 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 15

Go to post

Many AM broadcasters changed dial positions over the years. Here are the Ontario stations from about 1950 to now.

CBEF : 540 to 1550  Windsor 
CHYM : 1490 to 570  Kitchener*
CKTB : 620 to 610  St. Catharines
CFGM (a) : 1310 to 1320  
CFGM (b) : 1320 to 640  Richmond Hill
CHFI : 1540 to 680  Toronto
CJRN : 1600 to 710  Niagara Falls
CKGB : 680 to 750  Timmins
CIAO : 790 to 530  Brampton
CHAM : 1280 to 820  Hamilton*
CFTJ : (a) 1110 to 1320
CFTJ : (b) 1320 to 960  Cambridge
CKKW : 1320 to 1090  Kitchener
CKJD : 1250 to 1110  Sarnia*
CJMR : 1190 to 1320  Mississauga
CHWO : 1250 to 740  Oakville / Toronto*
CHLO :  680 to 1570  St. Thomas / London
CHNR :  1560 to 1600  Simcoe
CKEY :  580 to 590  Toronto
CKSL :  1290 to 1410  London
CFOS :  1470 to 560  Owen Sound*
CKDO :  1350 to 1580  Oshawa
* = vast improvement



 

SOWNY » CHED Talk Radio In Edmonton Moving From 630 To 880 On Oct 9th » August 28, 2024 10:11 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 15

Go to post

Here is a recording of when CHLO in the London area switched from 680 to 1570. The story behind it is also mentioned. 

https://rockradioscrapbook.ca/arc-feb14.html


 

SOWNY » 900 CHML Closing » August 26, 2024 9:29 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 141

Go to post

It's starting to look like HD could become the next AM Stereo (not in a good way). In the U.S. they are now testing radio over ATSC 3.0 UHF signals. 

https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/guest-commentaries/atsc-3-0-audio-services-the-how-and-why

On paper it appears that the coverage of the Michigan test beats all of the HD signals. WOMC-HD-1 and 2 breaks up in Sarnia as you drive. I have heard WOMC's standard FM broadcast in the London area many times. 

SOWNY » CKWW "Made In Windsor" » August 24, 2024 11:02 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 20

Go to post

To restate what I just said, CKWW will just need more spoken word content than what they have right now. A certain amount of music is okay. They could also consider Ethnic programming from 9 pm to 6 am. I am familiar enough with the Motor City radio dial to know that playing old CKOC / CFTR / CHUM tunes full time will not give them the same results in Windsor as if it were done in Toronto, Hamilton, London, and most other Canadian cites. The 1980's CHR battles looked like this. 

Toronto : CFTR and CHUM AM
Hamilton : CKOC and Toronto Radio
London : CJBK and CKSL 
Windsor : Z 95.5, Power 96, and 99.5 The Fox from Detroit - All FM Stereo and no minimum Cancon requirement.

 

SOWNY » CKWW "Made In Windsor" » August 24, 2024 9:07 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 20

Go to post

CKWW will need to go more in a News and Talk direction before it will work in Windsor. The only AM radio music format the worked in that market from the mid 1980's up until the 2000's was Adult Standards. CKWW remained Oldies for years because it was Windsor-Detroit rather than Windsor only like what both the current CKWW and 1960's to 1993 version of CKWW was. 
 

SOWNY » Columnist: Hamilton Deserves Its Own CBC Radio Stn. & 900 Is Available » August 22, 2024 6:50 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 6

Go to post

Could you imagine 95.3 FM going back to being Y 95 after 23 years, and then 107.9 becoming CBC Radio One? Energy was actually scoring a lower 25-54 number than CHML in the Spring ratings. I think the Summer ratings are due out within the next week or two. 

SOWNY » Preset Predicament: How To Replace What's Gone » August 19, 2024 3:10 pm

Marc1178
Replies: 9

Go to post

At night you could try these in the GTA / Southern Ontario
(1)  680 News
(2)  AM 740 / Zoomer
(3)  770 WABC
(4)  1030 WBZ Boston
(5)  1060 KYW Philly
(6)  1150 CKOC or 1220 CFAJ

Locally where I live.
(1)  580 CKWW Windsor
(2)  AM 800 CKLW Windsor
(3)  News Radio 950 WWJ Detroit
(4)  1030 WBZ Boston
(5)  WTAM 1100 Cleveland
(6)  1380 WPHM Port Huron

SOWNY » And The Format For 820 CHAM Is... » August 19, 2024 11:38 am

Marc1178
Replies: 18

Go to post

To hear CHAM 820 I have been using the London, ON Kiwi SDR

http://99.244.14.12:8073/

 

Board footera