Having lived in southeast Michigan and in Chatham, I began listening to CFCO in the early 1960s

They had a great local presence, and for a time even had a studio 2   in Wallaceburg
Pete McGarvey and Dave Hodge are among their notable broadcasters

91.3 also has a Michigan education station near Port Huron

I fondly remember a 1960s slogan of CFCO  (maybe a bit of hyperbole)
"From Chicago to Toronto,  from Erieau to Owen Sound"
A couple of years ago I heard them fairly clearly in Dayton Ohio

I will miss 630 CFCO,  "serving the bountiful heartland of the great Southwest"

 

Bill Brady, who was born in Windsor, got his start in radio at CFCO. 

Fitz wrote:

On 630 AM, they are/were the last AM stereo station in Canada. I got a distorted DX of them last year and the stereo indicator went on. The main problem with the signalis the adjacent channel interference from 640 but I will give another shot

We had a great thread on AM stereo a few years ago. I often wonder if it had caught on, would AM be in the precarious situation it is now. 

ok so I just tried CFCO 630 to get a trace of the AM stereo but nada. No trace, I wonder if they are on reduced power. Would anyone know if their stereo signal is still active ?

Anyway as a substitute I gave my AM stereo Transmitter a spin and recorded these two tracks from Pink Floyd and Syd Barret which were probably never on a AM stereo station. Perhaps they were played on AM  mono when there were a few prog stations on the band but I think by the time of AM stereo rolled around,  AM prog was history.

Syd PInk Floyd AM Stereo



 

Last edited by Fitz (January 27, 2026 10:14 pm)

The transmitter towers are on old Hwy 2 (Queens Line) near the Dillon Side Road....
They are visible from the 401.   If they are gone it is usable farm land for sure.
I guess their commercial sponsors don't mind the very reduced range of broadcast, but as I have said on another post, I will miss the big signal that you can get driving towards Chatham..

I have not listened as much in recent years as they went country several years ago
But with their 94.3 and 95.1 stations they have a variety of music.
I wonder how the region can support so many stations.
For many years Chatham (and the former Kent County) had one station:  CFCO

Yes that is correct.
In its day CFCO was truly a full service station, with farm market reports, and its own reporter Harold Smith.  They featured live church services every Sunday and went remote for many events.   The announcers were well-known throughout the city and were really involved in the community.  In another post, I had forgotten the name of the sports reporter to went on to CKCO TV.  It was Randy Steinman.       Dave Hodge was also on in the 1960s.
I wish them luck in their new venture, and hope they are successful.

 

gch wrote:

Yes that is correct.
In its day CFCO was truly a full service station, with farm market reports, and its own reporter Harold Smith.  They featured live church services every Sunday and went remote for many events.   The announcers were well-known throughout the city and were really involved in the community.  In another post, I had forgotten the name of the sports reporter to went on to CKCO TV.  It was Randy Steinman.       Dave Hodge was also on in the 1960s.
I wish them luck in their new venture, and hope they are successful.
 

Steinman is well represented on the CKCO History site, including a piece on the Special Olympics, which he wrote, hosted and produced. You can see it here. Steinman appears on camera around the 2:30 mark. 

Fitz wrote:

Fitz wrote:

That Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett AM stereo sample I uploaded up-thread suffered from some distortion and so I recorded a more format specific sample. I doubt it's the type of country featured on the station as this is hippie country music by way on the Flying Burrito Bros. from their country rock classic The Gilded Palace of Sin album. I believe the audio is cleaner but it is AM. Love the vocal work of Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman and the Everly influence.

I am sad to see the last AM stereo station in the country go kaput. Technically AM stereo lasted in Canada from the mid 80's until 2026 but was very much reduced during the last 20 years. Could have been a saving grace for AM music formats but now with FM losing traction as well it's radio that's in decline in general.

FBB Gilded Palace of Sin Sample AM Stereo 

Actually according to wiki. There is one other AM stereo station in Canada. CKJH 730 in Melfort Sask. The closest AM stereo station to the GTA may be WOKR  Canandaigua NY. 1310. Wonder if anyone has been receive their signal in Toronto. 

It gets out well enough that I heard it consistently at night up at Kawarthas DX site last week mixing in with a few lesser signals on 1310. Had no idea it was stereo...

Fitz wrote:

What time at night Saul and also can you tell me the radio and antenna you were using. Kawarthas being east may help you but I am further south and that may help me.

AOR 7030 + radio, and in this case an outdoor amplified loop aimed south (and north, bidirectional). Anytime starting pre-sunset to past sunrise...and in winter comes in all day under right conditions. I'm east enough that the reception shoots across Lake Ontario.

I grew up in the Owen Sound area, about 170 miles north of Chatham. CFCO uused to pound in  there like a local during the day.

Before they flipped to cowboy music and they had an oldies format, a friend of mine in western Ohio would listen to them often.

Last edited by turkeytop (January 29, 2026 10:07 pm)

Marc1178 wrote:

Technical question. Could AM 640 Toronto modify their directional pattern after CFCO leaves 630 am? 

I believe all protections for AM frequencies continue to exist even when a station leaves the air. Theoretically (but unlikely) the frequency could be used by a new station. 

Even if it was allowed, the cost to modify the directional pattern would be substantial and probably not improve the stations profitability.
 

Well tonight I managed a AM stereo signal  on CFCO. AM stereo is not like HD which only locks in on a clean signal. There is distortion on this but the entire clip below is in stereo. I'll keep trying over the next few days to get a better signal but would not bet on it. Will also take Saul's tips on WOKR 1310 to see if I can manage a stereo signal with that but that also looks difficult. I appreciate his assistance though. Of course if I was near Chatham things would sound a lot better and I can only hope that a good signal makes it's way over here.

CFCO AM STEREO Jan 31/2026


 

Last edited by Fitz (January 31, 2026 10:47 pm)

The one radio station I know of that modified their directional pattern was 1290 CJBK in the 1980's after Hamilton's CHAM moved from 1280 over to 820 on the dial. The power remained 10,000 watts. 

I would imagine that CKWW in Windsor wishes they could move from 580 to 630 with a power increase. I just don't know if that kind money would be spent on an AM transmitter site anymore. By that I mean CKWW would be using their existing site in the Windsor area. 

RadioActive wrote:

Fitz wrote:

Well tonight I managed a AM stereo signal  on CFCO. AM stereo is not like HD which only locks in on a clean signal. There is distortion on this but the entire clip below is in stereo. I'll keep trying over the next few days to get a better signal but would not bet on it. Will also take Saul's tips on WOKR 1310 to see if I can manage a stereo signal with that but that also looks difficult. I appreciate his assistance though. Of course if I was near Chatham things would sound a lot better and I can only hope that a good signal makes it's way over here.

CFCO AM STEREO Jan 31/2026

Alan Cross reminded us a few years ago that the very first radio test of stereo actually came on the AM dial.

The Introduction Of Stereo Radio

Early days of Quad utilized two FM's stations. Here is an article I scanned from Rolling Stone about that and it's also an early example of TV/Radio simulcasting. Remember that before stereo TV:


 

I also started listening to CFCO in the early to mid 1960s in Genesee County, Michigan. I think it was still 1000 watts at the time. When it went to 10000 watts Daytime, I think that it improved somewhat, but that may have been when the new Day Directional Antenna put a shallow null toward Genesee County, Michigan. I have heard reports that say they heard it in Washington State from time to time on Day Pattern at Night.