I came across this somewhat lengthy article from RPM back in 1995. It's kind of fun to see what the experts were predicting about the future of AM in the country and especially Toronto. They seem to be absolutely convinced that the future of the band was digital - a guess that not only hasn't come true but ultimately failed spectacularly. 

But boy, were they buying into it back then. 

Check out this quote from Danny Kingsbury, who had just converted 640 from a rock format to its first go-round as all talk. "People are either cutting to the bone and just keeping the transmitters warm until digital comes along."

Then there's one-time Standard (CFRB at the time) programmer J.J. Johnston, who was also convinced digital was an inevitability. "I think people are waiting to hang on to their AM stations in the hope that, when the digital takeover happens, they get two licences for dark properties."

And I'm sure CHUM's Duff Roman would like to take this bold projection back: we can expect to see digital broadcasting up and running as early as next year (i.e. 1996), obsoleting both AM and FM.

And finally Ross Davies, who was the PD of CHUM, came out with this bold assertion about his station's format, which was at the time oldies. "I can tell you right now that 1050 CHUM is not changing...CHUM-AM is going with a 4.5 rating in Toronto and that's pretty good."

If only they'd had a crystal ball.

Here's the entire article, which also talks about the end of music on AM in analog form in Toronto.