872 is a high capacity exchange.....   typically they want to keep media using 870,872 etc because of this.  

My guess is they switched providers and couldn't take their number with them OR are having issues with voice on the 872 number and they are using one of the spill numbers to get around it? 

It also could be someone internally not getting the concept and wanting calls to come up differently OR simple concept of cheaper provider based on the current state of Corus, that could be a driving force.

If you can use a single number for both voice and text, that's ideal for branding alone.   

RadioActive wrote:

You can still text to 872-6400, but for some reason, if you want to go on air as a caller, you have to dial 607-6400.

Unless there was a problem taking voice calls on the old line, why would they do this? They've crammed the old digits into listeners heads for years. Why would they change it to a prefix no one has ever heard before? 

872 or 870?? 
I remember 8 seven oh in their music days.
I believe it's still 870 today, and was never 872.

Last edited by Radiowiz (August 24, 2026 10:45 am)

Greg Brady was soliciting calls on his show in the morning about the trade war and he gave the 870 (or 872) number for texts, but the other one for calls. It seems odd that they would do that, because people can probably remember one set of digits endlessly repeating themselves on air. Add in a new number and it just confuses everything.

We'll see if it goes back to normal in future days.  

Radiowiz wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

radiokid wrote:

872 is a high capacity exchange.....   typically they want to keep media using 870,872 etc because of this.  
 

So cost savings then.
 

Not likely. 416-870-6400 still rings.  Not sure if anyone ever picks up anymore, but it was never discontinued.
If it was, it would go to number not in service.

 

Overlap time

RadioAaron wrote:

This thread is giving me deja-vu. Didn't this happen one before and it was temporary due to a tech issue?

That's my suspicion, too. Why change a phone number so ingrained in listeners' brains by dint of repetition? It makes no sense otherwise. We'll see how long it lasts.

This may no longer be an issue, but 870,872 was used for media to manage high call volumes without crashing the phone system.   Most exchanges couldn't/can't handle calls radio contests or call in shows would cause because of volume.    I'm not sure if their is any premium attached to having these numbers...   

As well remember just because it rings doesn't mean it works on the other end.   If they are having technical issues with that line on the other end, they could be using the 607 number that was next on the hunt queue structure to cut that line out of getting calls on it.    

I've been at a station that crashed the local exchange because of a contest we did in recent years, and it was due to us not having a high capacity number.   in Toronto... 416-870 and 416-872 are setup to handle very high volumes.  Bell btw tried to make us pay for the issue at their exchange office... but because we agreed to change our number, they dropped that idea. 

Cost savings or Technical need are likely the case here. 

Last edited by radiokid (August 24, 2026 12:40 pm)

Doubt it.  it was the phone companies that wanted radio stations to use the choke numbers (87*) because when 10,000 teenyboppers were calling CFTR it would kill the 36* or 86* exchange that the phone numbers actually sat on. 

87-whatever just acts as a controlled gateway between 872-1234 and 864-1234 or whatever the centrex chain numbers really were. (That's why you had to dial 9 to get an outside line when using the 87 numbers) 

I have to guess that in the digital age, none of this matters anymore.  It's all ip, and not only that, nor are stations getting the call influx in massive peaks like they used to.

RadioAaron wrote:

radiokid wrote:

872 is a high capacity exchange.....   typically they want to keep media using 870,872 etc because of this.  
 

So cost savings then.
 

Last edited by ig (August 24, 2026 6:00 pm)

I sit corrected; a friend told me the 87* HVCI lines _used_ to be a bonus, but after some tariff changes- something about Special Assembly Tariffs or Competitor Access Tariffs this changed, and apparently those High Volume lines are not cheap.

I can't verify this, but she would know, and I don't.

ig.

ig wrote:

Doubt it.  it was the phone companies that wanted radio stations to use the choke numbers (87*) because when 10,000 teenyboppers were calling CFTR it would kill the 36* or 86* exchange that the phone numbers actually sat on. 

87-whatever just acts as a controlled gateway between 872-1234 and 864-1234 or whatever the centrex chain numbers really were. (That's why you had to dial 9 to get an outside line when using the 87 numbers) 

I have to guess that in the digital age, none of this matters anymore.  It's all ip, and not only that, nor are stations getting the call influx in massive peaks like they used to.

RadioAaron wrote:

radiokid wrote:

872 is a high capacity exchange.....   typically they want to keep media using 870,872 etc because of this.  
 

So cost savings then.
 

 

jughead jones wrote:

Must be a slow news day.

Don't know about that. This thread has attracted over 700 page views so far and 16 replies. Someone must have been interested in it.