The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » CHUM FM NEW FORMAT

jughead jones · July 22, 2026 2:36 pm

CHUM-FM Toronto has formally updated its status to Canada-Main AC, or simply AC (Adult Contemporary). This change brings a softer, more gentle-pop-oriented & throwback approach, with less emphasis on Top 40 hits. Chum’s playlist now aligning more closely with 98.1 CHFI, and less competitive with 99.9 Virgin radio and Kiss 92.5 which still focus on today’s hottest hits. This transition reflects the ongoing structural pivot under Program Director Christian Hall and Music Director Kelsey Lehman, officially dropping the station's long-held Hot AC tracking status. Dropping the Hot AC designation after more than 40 years is a massive pivot for 104.5, especially coming right on the heels of Marilyn Denis stepping down from mornings and Nat & Josie taking over the airwaves. It sounds like Bell Media is executing a complete strategic repositioning for the station behind the scenes.

Shorty Wave · July 23, 2026 7:20 am

I’m surprised that they didn’t go more the way of Boom, it is doing well and generally speaking, play a decent, upbeat selection. I don’t care for “softer, more gentle-pop-oriented” music, so won’t be tuning in to CHUM-FM anytime soon.

kevjo · July 24, 2026 4:30 am

jughead jones wrote:
Dropping the Hot AC designation after more than 40 years is a massive pivot for 104.5, especially coming right on the heels of Marilyn Denis stepping down from mornings and Nat & Josie taking over the airwaves. It sounds like Bell Media is executing a complete strategic repositioning for the station behind the scenes.

ack when Bell acquired former Astral and CHUM properties, I was always surprised they sold off BOOM but kept two stations that were closer in sound ie Virgin and CHUM. It sounds like they've realized they need to differentiate the two stations' sounds further. That said, could trying to grab some of the CHFI pie result in eroding that powerhouse's audience? Stay tuned.

Radiowiz · July 24, 2026 5:56 am

kevjo wrote:
That said, could trying to grab some of the CHFI pie result in eroding that powerhouse's audience? Stay tuned.

To quote a friend of mine at the late great EasyRock "We had to switch to Boom. We were sinking..."

There really is no room in the Toronto market to literally sound like CHFI. There's going to be differences for sure, but CHUM FM just might find themselves "sinking" just like EasyRock did if they're not careful...

RadioAaron · July 24, 2026 9:39 am

About time.

There's PLENTY of room where they seem to be headed; definitely more than the muddy Diet CHR place where they were. Plenty distinct from CHFI still.

Probably should have done this a year or two ago while Marilyn was still there to ease the transition.

For context, in the current book CHFI is #1 with a 15.8 and CHUM is #8 with a 4.4. Yeah, it's summer and the sample can be (and is) terrible....but still.

Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 · July 25, 2026 6:40 pm

I'm so happy about this change.
I hope it becomes breezelike and it lasts for years.
Kiss has now changed mostly to Hot AC with virgin being the only real CHR in the market.
Maybe a rebrand to move or bringing back EZrock is in the works?
I have some Ideas for there hd subchannels.
Hd2 should change to sunny radio with classic easy listening and soft AC, hd 3 should be smooth jazz and new-age, and hd 4 should be sunday funnies or an oldies format, and pure country should move back to 99.9 hd4.

paterson1 · July 25, 2026 8:22 pm

I really don't notice that much difference in the music. They were upbeat with a lot of female vocalists when I listened the other night. Hasn't CHUM been more or less this for years? I do like on the website showing that the show is live. Heard Andrew Uyeno on air and he was fine, and he was present throughout the show, not just a lazy break every 12-15 minutes. Also the announcer previous to Andrew, also live, said her goodbye's about 4 minutes before the top of the hour. Not 20 minutes or more like other statons when voice tracking.

EDIT..I have been listening Saturday evening 8-9pm for over 40 minutes and no announcer breaks at all. The website says that Kelsey is "live" until 9pm and I have been listening since since 8:15pm. Shame on CHUM, just music, promo, station id's and commercials, but no Kelsey and certainly not live as advertised on the website.

The Weekend Blowout which supposedly begins at 9pm began four minutes early. Sloppy.

Last edited by paterson1 (July 25, 2026 9:01 pm)

markow202 · Yesterday 9:34 am

I checked their playlist for the past few days - there is no changes as of such yet. Music is the same. These same songs in constant rotation.

Radiowiz · Yesterday 10:40 am

markow202 wrote:
I checked their playlist for the past few days - there is no changes as of such yet. Music is the same. These same songs in constant rotation.

Was Saturday night the same? I don't normally tune in for that, but it really had a Z103 feeling to it last Saturday night. (after 9 PM)

RadioAaron · Yesterday 10:42 am

paterson1 wrote:
I really don't notice that much difference in the music. They were upbeat with a lot of female vocalists when I listened the other night. Hasn't CHUM been more or less this for years? I do like on the website showing that the show is live. Heard Andrew Uyeno on air and he was fine, and he was present throughout the show, not just a lazy break every 12-15 minutes. Also the announcer previous to Andrew, also live, said her goodbye's about 4 minutes before the top of the hour. Not 20 minutes or more like other statons when voice tracking.

EDIT..I have been listening Saturday evening 8-9pm for over 40 minutes and no announcer breaks at all. The website says that Kelsey is "live" until 9pm and I have been listening since since 8:15pm. Shame on CHUM, just music, promo, station id's and commercials, but no Kelsey and certainly not live as advertised on the website.

The Weekend Blowout which supposedly begins at 9pm began four minutes early. Sloppy.

“Live” on the website doesn’t mean it’s not tracked; it just means it’s the current show.

markow202 · Yesterday 10:46 am

Radiowiz wrote:
markow202 wrote:
I checked their playlist for the past few days - there is no changes as of such yet. Music is the same. These same songs in constant rotation.
Was Saturday night the same? I don't normally tune in for that, but it really had a Z103 feeling to it last Saturday night. (after 9 PM)

That might be more of a upbeat show as its, Saturday night. On a Saturday night im not depending on radio for a good time those days are gone lol. However the rest of the daily playlists are pretty much the same as a month ago. Some 90s throwbacks mixed in with todays hits and similar to virgin

paterson1 · Yesterday 3:01 pm

RadioAaron wrote:
paterson1 wrote:
I really don't notice that much difference in the music. They were upbeat with a lot of female vocalists when I listened the other night. Hasn't CHUM been more or less this for years? I do like on the website showing that the show is live. Heard Andrew Uyeno on air and he was fine, and he was present throughout the show, not just a lazy break every 12-15 minutes. Also the announcer previous to Andrew, also live, said her goodbye's about 4 minutes before the top of the hour. Not 20 minutes or more like other statons when voice tracking.

EDIT..I have been listening Saturday evening 8-9pm for over 40 minutes and no announcer breaks at all. The website says that Kelsey is "live" until 9pm and I have been listening since since 8:15pm. Shame on CHUM, just music, promo, station id's and commercials, but no Kelsey and certainly not live as advertised on the website.

The Weekend Blowout which supposedly begins at 9pm began four minutes early. Sloppy.
“Live” on the website doesn’t mean it’s not tracked; it just means it’s the current show.

It's misleading. Why not just show the name of the current program eg. Weekend Blowout With Jamar. To indicate it's LIVE gives the wrong impression. And why have Kelsey's name on for a show that possibly wasn't even voice tracked with her or by anyone? Over 40 minutes listening and not one break from Kelsey. Her show just ended, no goodbye, thanks for listening or Jamar is coming up. Just plowed into the Weekend Blowout 4 minutes early. How CHUM has fallen...

markow202 · Yesterday 3:48 pm

paterson1 wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
paterson1 wrote:
I really don't notice that much difference in the music. They were upbeat with a lot of female vocalists when I listened the other night. Hasn't CHUM been more or less this for years? I do like on the website showing that the show is live. Heard Andrew Uyeno on air and he was fine, and he was present throughout the show, not just a lazy break every 12-15 minutes. Also the announcer previous to Andrew, also live, said her goodbye's about 4 minutes before the top of the hour. Not 20 minutes or more like other statons when voice tracking.

EDIT..I have been listening Saturday evening 8-9pm for over 40 minutes and no announcer breaks at all. The website says that Kelsey is "live" until 9pm and I have been listening since since 8:15pm. Shame on CHUM, just music, promo, station id's and commercials, but no Kelsey and certainly not live as advertised on the website.

The Weekend Blowout which supposedly begins at 9pm began four minutes early. Sloppy.
“Live” on the website doesn’t mean it’s not tracked; it just means it’s the current show.
It's misleading. Why not just show the name of the current program eg. Weekend Blowout With Jamar. To indicate it's LIVE gives the wrong impression. And why have Kelsey's name on for a show that possibly wasn't even voice tracked with her or by anyone? Over 40 minutes listening and not one break from Kelsey. Her show just ended, no goodbye, thanks for listening or Jamar is coming up. Just plowed into the Weekend Blowout 4 minutes early. How CHUM has fallen...

A lot of these weekend "shows" are pre-recorded such as the Back in the day Brunch on Sundays if they still call it that, I remember Ingrid Schumacher on a podcast with Toronto Mike mentioned this is recorded during the week.

RadioAaron · Yesterday 5:41 pm

paterson1 wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
paterson1 wrote:
I really don't notice that much difference in the music. They were upbeat with a lot of female vocalists when I listened the other night. Hasn't CHUM been more or less this for years? I do like on the website showing that the show is live. Heard Andrew Uyeno on air and he was fine, and he was present throughout the show, not just a lazy break every 12-15 minutes. Also the announcer previous to Andrew, also live, said her goodbye's about 4 minutes before the top of the hour. Not 20 minutes or more like other statons when voice tracking.

EDIT..I have been listening Saturday evening 8-9pm for over 40 minutes and no announcer breaks at all. The website says that Kelsey is "live" until 9pm and I have been listening since since 8:15pm. Shame on CHUM, just music, promo, station id's and commercials, but no Kelsey and certainly not live as advertised on the website.

The Weekend Blowout which supposedly begins at 9pm began four minutes early. Sloppy.
“Live” on the website doesn’t mean it’s not tracked; it just means it’s the current show.
It's misleading. Why not just show the name of the current program eg. Weekend Blowout With Jamar. To indicate it's LIVE gives the wrong impression. And why have Kelsey's name on for a show that possibly wasn't even voice tracked with her or by anyone? Over 40 minutes listening and not one break from Kelsey. Her show just ended, no goodbye, thanks for listening or Jamar is coming up. Just plowed into the Weekend Blowout 4 minutes early. How CHUM has fallen...

Pretty meaningless word anyway. The music's not live, and phone calls aired aren't live. If a show's on in multiple markets little to none of it is live.

paterson1 · Yesterday 8:00 pm

It is misleading when they have a picture of the host and LIVE in a red box under their name. If the host isn't live it shouldn't be promoting that the host and show are. If the word is meaningless take it down then.

RadioAaron · Yesterday 8:13 pm

You're just using your definition of live.

Today, it can just mean "not on-demand" or "this is happening now" The night show on Virgin would be mostly tracked, but is otherwise fucntionally live.

kevjo · Yesterday 9:36 pm

RadioAaron wrote:
You're just using your definition of live.

Today, it can just mean "not on-demand" or "this is happening now" The night show on Virgin would be mostly tracked, but is otherwise fucntionally live.

Precisely. The term "live" has largely shifted to mean live on air now as opposed to a podcast.

paterson1 · Yesterday 10:46 pm

RadioAaron wrote:
You're just using your definition of live.

Today, it can just mean "not on-demand" or "this is happening now" The night show on Virgin would be mostly tracked, but is otherwise fucntionally live.

It's just another radio programming gimmick and nothing else. And it's misleading.

RadioAaron · Yesterday 11:01 pm

paterson1 wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
You're just using your definition of live.

Today, it can just mean "not on-demand" or "this is happening now" The night show on Virgin would be mostly tracked, but is otherwise fucntionally live.
It's just another radio programming gimmick and nothing else. And it's misleading.

Not to the people who listen to CHUM or Virgin.