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The Defunct Toronto Radio Stations You Never Knew Existed
As radio approaches the 100th anniversary of the very first stations (CFCF vs. KDKA) ever to get on air, it turns out there are a number of radio outlets that once existed here that are no longer around to tell the tale.
You know about more recent disappearing acts like CKAV, the Aboriginal station at 106.5, whose licence was pulled for continuous non-compliance. And CKO, the all-news format on FM that went down in flames in 1989, freeing up 99.1 for the CBC. Not to mention CKLN, the one-time Ryerson operator that was forced to vacate 88.1.
But most of the stations left the air in the 1920s and 30s, before the medium was a sure thing. The Canadian Communications Foundation has a list of the now defunct Toronto stations that signed off long before almost all of us were born.
And some of them are intriguing.
Eaton’s had its own station, CJCD at 840 AM, for a time.
CJBC’s call letters live on but it’s no longer operated by the Jarvis St. Baptist Church. (Hence the "JBC" in its call letters.)
And while most here associate CHIC with Brampton and 790 AM, it once existed at 860 and was owned by a power company.
The Toronto Star’s CFCA is fairly well known, but its once fiercest competitor, the Telegram, also had its own broadcasting outlet – CJSC aired on a number of frequencies for seven years, before going silent at 690 in 1930. (The Star’s station lasted another three years.)
Nestle's CKOW (first at 1030, then at 840) must have been a station that was in good taste - or at least, tasted good.
And Greg Carrasco would probably have felt at home on CHVC-AM. It was owned by Metropolitan Motors.
As a fan of broadcast history, I’d never heard of some of them. Not much is known about many of these relics, but the basics can be seen here by clicking the "View Former Stations" button. And if some of these companies had the foresight or the wherewithal to see what was coming, you can only wonder how different the AM dial in Toronto would look today.
- Dale Patterson
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"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
- the original hank
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thus proving you can't be forgotten if people never knew you existed.
- RadioActive
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Re: The Defunct Toronto Radio Stations You Never Knew Existed
CHEV was one of the strangest of all Toronto stations. If I recall correctly, they only came on when they had a sporting event to broadcast, then left the air. They weren't even a full time broadcaster, yet they had a licence on the X-Band (1610) until CHHA came along.
I'd forgotten about them, but they certainly were unique - and very short-lived.
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Thread Starter- Dale Patterson
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"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
- Radiowiz
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RadioActive wrote:
CHEV was one of the strangest of all Toronto stations. If I recall correctly, they only came on when they had a sporting event to broadcast, then left the air. They weren't even a full time broadcaster, yet they had a licence on the X-Band (1610) until CHHA came along.
I'd forgotten about them, but they certainly were unique - and very short-lived.
Oh believe me, I am well aware of Markham's very short lived MAGIC 1610.
Another fine Frank Rogers creation.
DO NOT trust that a radio station is going to be around long, (or launch, or whatever) once Frank Rogers is involved in any way.
He bankrupts EVERYTHING he touches!
RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person.
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.
- Dale Patterson
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"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
- RadioActive
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Re: The Defunct Toronto Radio Stations You Never Knew Existed
There was also an airport station on 1280, CFYZ.
Another really odd station. It started as a sort of tourist information outlet, giving basic facts about the airport and what to expect if you were going there. At some point, it morphed into a service with actual programming - including a live morning show.
I alway wondered who they were expecting to listen to this thing and apparently no one ever did. It eventually became the all business channel - also doomed because of a non-existent signal. Now it's CJRU Ryerson, aka "The Scope" and it barely gets outside of the campus.
I used to listen to 1280 back when it was the home of Top 40 rocker CHAM, now the all comedy station at 820.
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Thread Starter- RadioAaron
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CJBC’s call letters live on but it’s no longer operated by the Jarvis St. Baptist Church. (Hence the "JBC" in its call letters.)
That's really interesting. I've always wondered why that station doesn't use the typical CBC CBxx calls.
- splunge
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Frank Rogers was also the mastermind behind community station CFAO-FM in Alliston, which started running test programming in June 2009 and was off the air by July 2010. Believe it or not, he actually tried for a license renewal in 2014 but was denied by the CRTC.
Haven't heard ol' Frank's name since then. Any word what he's doing now?
- splunge
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He applied for the 88.1 frequency in Toronto when it became available in 2012. Since then, crickets.
Thanks Chuck. the only word that comes to mind is... "fortunately"