If it's true, given the date, the most likely answer is Christmas Music until the new year to get attention.

tdotwriter wrote:

I'm not trying to be a douchebag, but may I kindly ask "Where?". I think it's reasonable to ask to name sources in situations like this.

I heard it here! And onwards it spreads…

If they were flipping 95.3 to Classic Hits, there would be only 1 (one) job posting, and it would be posted after the flip.

If your correct, and its not just a stunt for a contest or a flip to all-Christmas, then here my predictions.
Country.
Hot AC.
Classic hits.
Classic alternative.
Maybe trying fm talk in the gtha.
Soft ac if brave.
Rithmic chr.
Or maybe just a brand change back to Fresh radio.
I hope its not just a roomer.
Energy was getting boring.

Small town news and features.  Hog futures, soybean prices, tradeio.

Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 wrote:

Easily Amused wrote:

Small town news and features. Hog futures, soybean prices, tradeio.

I hope so.

With Les Nessman as the morning man. 

PwrSurge wrote:

dmcjeff wrote:

Hot 95.3 Urban CHR

They should keep the Energy name but rebrand to "The NEW Energy 95.3" and switch to Rhythmic / Urban CHR and really bring back the energy and spirit they had in the 1990's which was spectacular.

Why not just be a wayback playback station? Target those who "lived those times" 
It worked with oldies formats for years... 

Radiowiz wrote:

PwrSurge wrote:

dmcjeff wrote:

Hot 95.3 Urban CHR

They should keep the Energy name but rebrand to "The NEW Energy 95.3" and switch to Rhythmic / Urban CHR and really bring back the energy and spirit they had in the 1990's which was spectacular.

Why not just be a wayback playback station? Target those who "lived those times" 
It worked with oldies formats for years... 

That would be pretty awesome and might actually track.  
Energy 108 back in the day had quite a following maybe a throwback like X in Windsor would be a good idea.
Bring back some old listeners except now we have money and don't live with our parents... 

The irony is not lost on me after this post about Energy 108 that those that know know that " Energy Radio " effectively was the end of our local station K104 in Woodstock that is depicted in my avatar..

The Hawk was pretty awesome after that but hardly a "local" Woodstock station.

Last edited by sbpointer (November 10, 2025 10:31 am)

PwrSurge wrote:

dmcjeff wrote:

Hot 95.3 Urban CHR

They should keep the Energy name but rebrand to "The NEW Energy 95.3" and switch to Rhythmic / Urban CHR and really bring back the energy and spirit they had in the 1990's which was spectacular.



 

They should but it won't happen-they would have to actually hire live and local broadcasters to bring back the spirit of those days. 

km93 wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

mace wrote:

I miss Vinyl 95.3.

Me, too. It had a lot of promise but not a lot of listeners. 

Here's their original if short lived line-up. Some memorable names there.

Vinyl 95.3 Line-up

Actually they did have a lot of listeners particularly in Hamilton-I recall they were #2 in the ratings. Corus just screwed it up as usual.
 

With Bounce and now Legend using a greatest hits format, they would be dead in the water by switching to this format.  Keep in mind that when Vinyl 95.3 first launched, Boom 97.3 did not exist yet as they only started 2 months later as a response to CHUM-AM ending their Oldies format.  With also 92.9 The Grand / 88.5 The Lake having a similar format, they would only get breadcrumbs of an audience.

 

RadioActive wrote:

km93 wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

Me, too. It had a lot of promise but not a lot of listeners. 

Here's their original if short lived line-up. Some memorable names there.

Vinyl 95.3 Line-up

Actually they did have a lot of listeners particularly in Hamilton-I recall they were #2 in the ratings. Corus just screwed it up as usual.
 

If that's the case, I wish they'd stuck with it a little longer to give it a chance. It might have caught on before competitors stole their thunder. Certainly the talent who was there were pretty good. Some fairly legendary Southern Ontario radio names and a good signal into the GTA. 

I think another problem was that their playlist had gotten too broad. I generally liked that their playlist was wider than Boom's, but then Vinyl went off in some weird directions. They started off with a good mix of '70s and '80s music with a bit of the late '60s, but then they started incorporating more Oldies 1150-type of music to the mix, like "My Boyfriend's Back" by The Angels and "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" by The Cowsills, which sounded jarring alongside the likes of "New Orleans is Sinking" by The Tragically Hip. Like pouring gravy on a hot fudge sundae. Why they wanted to emulate the second-from-the-bottom radio station in the city was beyond me.

Then they started incorporating more CHFI-like music into their format, like Natasha Bedingfield and Adele. They swore on their Facebook page that they were still very much loyal to their classic hits format, but a few years later their listeners found out that wasn't the case.

A lesson learned in trying to be too many things to too many people, I suppose.



PJ

Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 wrote:

If 95.3 is actualy going classic hits, Then, out of all our classic hits stations, CKOC shoud change there format.
Maybe to a real oldies format, a full-survice music/talk format, a classic country format, or a talk format.
I think the smart choice for 95.3 is a 90s/00s format, a soft ac format, an older leaning country format, or a softer classic hits format with balads and yatch rock.
Because boom and legend are harder with lots of classic rock in the mix.

Full-service talk won't happen as that would again be costly...I agree yes either Soft A/C or a broader country playlist would be the way to go! Ahhh Yacht 95-3...yesss...Ride Like The Wind!
 

Last edited by km93 (November 10, 2025 12:40 pm)

brian451 wrote:

I have a feeling they will flip to the classic alternative. I feel that the GTA will have a demand for it, and instead of flipping Edge to it, they can flip a different station and give it a shot. I said when Edge Calgary launched and Power 97 Winnipeg flipped to the classic Alternative format that Corus would probably flip more stations to that format. I actually wouldn't be surprised if one of the Big or Boom stations were to flip as well. 

That would be great but I highly doubt it since Edge is mixing in a lot more 80's and 90's lately--flipping one of the Big or Boom's would make sense though (i.e. Big Kingston, Barrie or Boom Ottawa)

If they're actually flipping (beyond just all-Christmas) it will be to something not designed to be super-successful in itself, but rather to help the Toronto cluster. It could be something that either shores up or fills a missing demo for sales, a way to get 640 on FM (doubt), or something that flanks Boom to help Q in rankings.

PwrSurge wrote:

km93 wrote:

Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 wrote:

If 95.3 is actualy going classic hits, Then, out of all our classic hits stations, CKOC shoud change there format.
Maybe to a real oldies format, a full-survice music/talk format, a classic country format, or a talk format.
I think the smart choice for 95.3 is a 90s/00s format, a soft ac format, an older leaning country format, or a softer classic hits format with balads and yatch rock.
Because boom and legend are harder with lots of classic rock in the mix.

Full-service talk won't happen as that would again be costly...I agree yes either Soft A/C or a broader country playlist would be the way to go! Ahhh Yacht 95-3...yesss...Ride Like The Wind!
 

No chance for country or soft A/C as the GTHA is already well served with this format, KX 94.7, KX 96, Country 93,5 and Hot Country 88.5 for Country.

All those are country formats but there is no true Soft A/C in the market anymore even CKPC is more regular A/C now.