dmcjeff wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

The audience for rhythmic CHR does not use radio.

Well; unless it was gold-heavy like 'BLK which 'grew up with their audience who are now in that target demo.

I am in the U.S. a lot and noticed the 'classic hip hop & RnB genre often had two stations covering it in major cities.  

This CHR\Rth or Urban is under represented in Toronto considering the popularity of it on the radio.

Existing signals like Flow and Vibe are extremely low powered and try to cover a massive genre so wide that there's a sprinkling of everything in their playlists ranging from Soca Caribbean to Reggae Hip Hop R&B new and old that it's not truly a single Genre.

As for CING; perhaps if it really does change to some variety of A/C then may I suggest a new Boom but without the 90's
 

That would hurt Boom 97.3 and besides Boom is sucessful. If there was another Classic Hits on a station that has a superpower signal it would hurt Boom’s ratings.

Dicky Doo wrote:

The audience you are describing, when it comes to country, is faithfully tuned to AM 650 Nashville (Grand Ole Country country), and has been for generations.     

Depending on cloud cover, it clicks in around 8:30 p.m. at this time of year

Right, of-course. Am650

everyone knows about that

cash wrote:

So what happened with this?

Christmas music until Christmas...... duh.....

Well the big day is coming Friday..  What are we going to here on 95.3? 
Back to status quo?
Rebroadcast of 640? 
New Format? 

I don't even know what to speculate.  To me Corus bumbled the return of Energy and there's a good chance they will bumble whatever is next...

Someone earlier in this thread joked about Yacht Rock 95.3 but you know that might actually work. Like a softer side classic rock station..  There is plenty of regular classis rock around..

Last edited by sbpointer (December 22, 2025 2:31 pm)

haydenmatthews14 wrote:

sbpointer wrote:

Well the big day is coming Friday..  What are we going to here on 95.3? 
Back to status quo?
Rebroadcast of 640? 
New Format? 

I don't even know what to speculate.  To me Corus bumbled the return of Energy and there's a good chance they will bumble whatever is next...

Someone earlier in this thread joked about Yacht Rock 95.3 but you know that might actually work. Like a softer side classic rock station..  There is plenty of regular classis rock around..

Rumors have been going around that 640 AM’s talk format could end up on 95.3 since their transmitter site was sold this past year. So most likely 95.3 could switch to a talk format or switch to a different format like Rhythmic CHR. But I doubt that will happen since you got CHR formats like Kiss 92.5 and 99.9 Virgin Radio that covers Hamilton just fine. But we will have to wait after Christmas to see what gift Corus might give us.

How does this whole thing pan out during a mayoral election year?

As strictly a guess, talk on 95.3 will mean covering Hamilton heavily during the mayoral election. 
Talk on 102.1 would mean covering Toronto heavily during the mayoral election. (meaning Edge would move to 95.3 to make that possible)

 

Radiowiz wrote:

haydenmatthews14 wrote:

sbpointer wrote:

Well the big day is coming Friday..  What are we going to here on 95.3? 
Back to status quo?
Rebroadcast of 640? 
New Format? 

I don't even know what to speculate.  To me Corus bumbled the return of Energy and there's a good chance they will bumble whatever is next...

Someone earlier in this thread joked about Yacht Rock 95.3 but you know that might actually work. Like a softer side classic rock station..  There is plenty of regular classis rock around..

Rumors have been going around that 640 AM’s talk format could end up on 95.3 since their transmitter site was sold this past year. So most likely 95.3 could switch to a talk format or switch to a different format like Rhythmic CHR. But I doubt that will happen since you got CHR formats like Kiss 92.5 and 99.9 Virgin Radio that covers Hamilton just fine. But we will have to wait after Christmas to see what gift Corus might give us.

How does this whole thing pan out during a mayoral election year?

As strictly a guess, talk on 95.3 will mean covering Hamilton heavily during the mayoral election. 
Talk on 102.1 would mean covering Toronto heavily during the mayoral election. (meaning Edge would move to 95.3 to make that possible)

 

This would be an interesting outcome for sure.  Edge on 95.3 would probably cut into Y108s audience a bit though? 
 

My prediction? Punk country. 

Actually that's a joke that Bill Gable used to tell when he was PD at CFTR. Someone asked him about a format he'd like to do that no one ever thought of and he came up with "Punk Country." 

Even though there's no such thing, with the state of radio today, it would not surprise me if someone actually tried it! 

RadioActive wrote:

If they were to switch the FM to all talk, how long would they have to reasonably leave the 640 signal on before shutting it off,  changing its format or simply selling it altogether?

CRTC says you can do it for a year without asking, then you have to ask

RadioActive wrote:

My prediction? Punk country. 

Actually that's a joke that Bill Gable used to tell when he was PD at CFTR. Someone asked him about a format he'd like to do that no one ever thought of and he came up with "Punk Country." 

Even though there's no such thing

The late CKLN host Handsome Ned would disagree!

haydenmatthews14 wrote:

torontostan wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

How does this whole thing pan out during a mayoral election year?

As strictly a guess, talk on 95.3 will mean covering Hamilton heavily during the mayoral election. 
Talk on 102.1 would mean covering Toronto heavily during the mayoral election. (meaning Edge would move to 95.3 to make that possible)

 

Hamilton would not be the focus market. There's no more money to be made in Hamilton radio.
 

Hamilton’s radio stations are pretty much dead except for a few. The Corus cluster is not doing well. When 95.3 brought the Energy branding and Tucker and Maura it was not bad. But now since Tucker and Maura moved to Edge Mornings they decided to simulcast the 91.5 morning show from Kitchener. So the question is why not Corus sells one of the Hamilton stations like 95.3 or shut down 107.9? They shut down CHML back in August 2024 or they can sell 95.3/107.9 to a reliable brodcaster who cares about local and not have to air hosts from different locations like London or Kitchener etc.

If they sell 95.3, they then have to compete against it in Toronto, so they won’t until the whole Toronto/Hamilton cluster is sold.

RadioActive wrote:

My prediction? Punk country. 

Actually that's a joke that Bill Gable used to tell when he was PD at CFTR. Someone asked him about a format he'd like to do that no one ever thought of and he came up with "Punk Country." 

Even though there's no such thing, with the state of radio today, it would not surprise me if someone actually tried it! 

Actually there was such a thing it was called Cowpunk. Green on Red, Jason and The Scorchers, The Long Ryders and Rank and File were part of it in the 80's and The Jayhawks, Wilco and Son Volt continued in the vein later. Started almost as a splinter of the Paisley Underground.








 

Last edited by Fitz (December 22, 2025 11:55 pm)

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... 

They had it as Vinyl 95.3. in my opinion it was the best of its kind at the time. The variety of tunes was wider than BOOM and they often had great weekend features that dug even deeper.
Could such a format be a contender to go against 102.9 in its current form?

kevjo wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

PwrSurge wrote:

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... 

They had it as Vinyl 95.3. in my opinion it was the best of its kind at the time. The variety of tunes was wider than BOOM and they often had great weekend features that dug even deeper.
Could such a format be a contender to go against 102.9 in its current form?

They're not going to do anything new. If anything happens, it's because they have to turn off 640 but they need to keep the format going. Don't expect anything else; the company is paralyzed. 
 

sbpointer wrote:

RadioAaron wrote:

mic'em wrote:

It seems to me that 640 has a large listenership outside of the GTA based on locations of callers. 640 comes in up here in Sudbury fairly clear most days. They obviously would lose these listeners if a switch to FM was to occur. 

Those listeners don't do them any good,

And are probably listening online..
I CAN get both 640 and 1010 in Woodstock but when I listen to either of them its online..

Has anyone seriously broached the notion of 640 going silent, or at least also changing formats/owners?

RadioActive wrote:

I asked in a previous post on this thread what might happen to the frequency if 640's talk format were moved to FM. No one knows of course, but you would hope someone would find a way to make a full powered AM station on a pretty good frequency with decent reach work in the biggest market in Canada, rather than just have it go silent. (Hello, CHML!)

What that new format might be is for smarter minds than yours truly to figure out. 

I know. It stays as is until it’s turned off. That’s it.