It's unlikely to happen, but just to add to the speculation - if 95.3 did adopt the 640 talk format in a frequency/band swap, what would Corus do with 640? There would obviously be a time of simulcasting, which - like CFOS' recent conversion to FM - would eventually end. 

Then what? Giving up an AM frequency in the top market in the country doesn't seem like a good idea, and something should be done with it. What, exactly, would that be?

need 95.3 The Hog
 

Radiowiz wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

It's unlikely to happen, but just to add to the speculation - if 95.3 did adopt the 640 talk format in a frequency/band swap, what would Corus do with 640? There would obviously be a time of simulcasting, which - like CFOS' recent conversion to FM - would eventually end. 

Then what? Giving up an AM frequency in the top market in the country doesn't seem like a good idea, and something should be done with it. What, exactly, would that be?

To answer that accurately, how does 640 compare to any of the multicultural frequencies...ie shutting down 1430 instead, and moving them to 640 (or something like that...)

Plus also, doesn't CHIN AM want something better than what they have now?  
That's two possibilities...

All of which presumes Corus wants to give back the license. But maybe there's something else they could do with it. Remember, at one point, they were just days away from going all news, before CFTR beat them to it. Could 680 use a competitor close by on the dial? (Not that I think this would ever happen, but it's fun to speculate.)

From June 1983:

RadioAaron wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

It's unlikely to happen, but just to add to the speculation - if 95.3 did adopt the 640 talk format in a frequency/band swap, what would Corus do with 640? There would obviously be a time of simulcasting, which - like CFOS' recent conversion to FM - would eventually end. 

Then what? Giving up an AM frequency in the top market in the country doesn't seem like a good idea, and something should be done with it. What, exactly, would that be?

If/when an FM simulcast happens, Numeris will be able to break down the proportion of listening for each band. They can use that information to know when it's safe to pull down the AM.

AMs will be shut down sooner than later. Vancouver has already lost three heritage full-power AMs, essentially the equivalent on 590, 640, and 1050.
 

How is it different when the FCC could allow stations like WINS 1010 could simulcast with one of their FM stations in New York City while the CRTC here requires a special application for that?

torontostan wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

Then what? Giving up an AM frequency in the top market in the country doesn't seem like a good idea, and something should be done with it. What, exactly, would that be?

Why isn't it a good idea? It costs far more to run an AM station like 640 than it does to run an FM station with a massive footprint like 95.3. AM audiences are dying off. As I've said before on this forum, within a few years the only English AM left in Toronto will be 680. Stations will either shut down, or be sold to multilingual groups. The CRTC's recent course correction allowing of talk on FM just cemented that.......

Even with the CRTC's recent policy change, there are several reasons why flipping 640 to 95.3 is a BAD idea:

1. Both stations are licensed to different markets.  If Corus wants to do talk radio on 95.3, they would have to focus on Hamilton rather than Toronto.
2. As Corus abandoned talk radio in Hamilton by shutting down CHML with no prior warning, it would be extremely difficult for them to convince the CRTC that they are committed to talk radio for Hamilton again.
3. Very rarely has flipping an AM station to FM resulted in a net audience gain for both stations.


 

PwrSurge wrote:

Even with the CRTC's recent policy change, there are several reasons why flipping 640 to 95.3 is a BAD idea:

1. Both stations are licensed to different markets.  If Corus wants to do talk radio on 95.3, they would have to focus on Hamilton rather than Toronto.
2. As Corus abandoned talk radio in Hamilton by shutting down CHML with no prior warning, it would be extremely difficult for them to convince the CRTC that they are committed to talk radio for Hamilton again.
3. Very rarely has flipping an AM station to FM resulted in a net audience gain for both stations.
 

1. Doesn't matter, they can do some Hamilton news & traffic and say they're servicing Hamilton
2. Doing this wouldn't require CRTC's approval until the one year mark, by which time they would be able to prove their program intentions with real world examples. 
3. Doesn't matter. It's not about gaining listeners, it's about saving expenses and selling depreciating assets 

PwrSurge wrote:

3. Very rarely has flipping an AM station to FM resulted in a net audience gain for both stations.

 

News/Talk is hit-and-miss. It has worked wonders in Sports and Newswheels. CBC's audience really grew quickly when they migrated.

Ida Spencer wrote:

It didn't get much softer than this:

Mid 60's, before it was renamed CKDS after its owner's death: Kenneth D Soble.

"Coming up next, The Hallelujah Tabernacle Choir with their rendition of "You're Having My Baby"!"  



PJ
 

I remember this station when it was CKDS and it seemed to have a very powerful signal. It played easy listening music and was a nice station to listen to. It is now CING? Last time I checked CING was 107.9 from Burlington.

What makes 95.3 stand out and desirable to listen to?

darcyh wrote:

I remember this station when it was CKDS and it seemed to have a very powerful signal. It played easy listening music and was a nice station to listen to. It is now CING? Last time I checked CING was 107.9 from Burlington.

What makes 95.3 stand out and desirable to listen to?

Not much. Pretty much I found out my friend I went to school with did the weekend show. Her name is Taylor Tsakoniatis and she does the morning show on Fresh 103.1 in London. I don’t listen to the Fresh morning show much. At least I found something for me listenable on 95.3 during the weekends. But now that might come to an end since the switch will happen tommorow morning at 8AM.

Last edited by haydenmatthews14 (November 13, 2025 1:18 pm)

PwrSurge wrote:

Heard some liners as of this morning stating something like    "....Toronto, the answer will be revealed tomorrow at 8:00am" and "Only one day away golden horseshoe, the answer will be revealed tomorrow at 8:00am".  They are playing at about every 15 mins.

Then, do they want to get away from surving a Hamilton audience and surv a toronto audience with this new format?

RadioAaron wrote:

Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 wrote:

PwrSurge wrote:

Heard some liners as of this morning stating something like    "....Toronto, the answer will be revealed tomorrow at 8:00am" and "Only one day away golden horseshoe, the answer will be revealed tomorrow at 8:00am".  They are playing at about every 15 mins.

Then, do they want to get away from surving a Hamilton audience and surv a toronto audience with this new format?

That’s what they’ve been doing for at least 20 years now.

The reason why CING-FM has been changing formats is because they are trying to avoid losing listeners. Look at how they rebranded back in 2019. They had Tucker and Maura after they were let go from 99.9 Virgin back in 2018. Then in 2023 they moved to CFNY in Toronto and the morning show was done from Kitchener. They did ok on launch but then they went downhill a couple years later.

ckg927 wrote:

Maybe I'm playing the contrarian, but aren't we ALL being played a bit in re what 95.3 is(or is NOT)doing? What if Corus goes COMPLETELY off the board and does nothing?

 

Played by whom? HM14 is the only one claiming to really know anything. TS sort of seemed to. Everything else is talking about hypotheticals. 

PwrSurge wrote:

ckg927 wrote:

Maybe I'm playing the contrarian, but aren't we ALL being played a bit in re what 95.3 is(or is NOT)doing? What if Corus goes COMPLETELY off the board and does nothing? 

Impossible that they aren't changing anything tomorrow given the liners now playing on-air.  Hopefully they do the right thing tomorrow and flip to Rhythmic CHR.  They were very successful with this format in the Energy 108 days but had lost their edge once they went to Hot AC, same issue as of today.  They need to return to their roots!

I hope so. Rhythmic CHR is a good format and I hope CING-FM makes a comeback.

Their website still shows Energy 95.3. Remember they replaced the stations website with a clock back then telling listeners to tune in at the time of launch? Maybe they should have done that to show the surprise?