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AM 740 Originally Wanted 88.1 Instead Of 96.7, But Didn't Get It
I accidentally stumbled on a long archived page from Zoomer Radio that shows Moses Znaimer actually wanted 88.1 for his FM rebroadcast of AM 740. The page asks listeners to contact the CRTC and support their goal for an FM translator.
No mention is made of the frequency in the online entreaty, but the URL gives it away. It ends with "881 FM," so you know what they were going for back in 2012. As we all know, it eventually went to CIND and Moses had to threaten the CRTC with closing the station if it didn't get something to combat ongoing electrical interference in the core. And that's how 96.7 in "downtown Toronto" was born. (Although it's certainly available outside that area.)
It's interesting to speculate what Moses might have done with 88.1 had he been successful. Would he have simulcast for a while and then turned it into an altogether separate entity, like CHIN has done with its one-time 91.9 FM -1540 AM rebroadcaster? And what would they have used that mighty 740 signal for then?
We'll never know, of course, but it's a part of Toronto broadcast history I'd either never known or had long forgotten about.
Zoomer Radio: Toronto, Brings Us To FM
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Re: AM 740 Originally Wanted 88.1 Instead Of 96.7, But Didn't Get It
As I look back on the original CRTC page, it’s amazing just how many different applicants there were for this precious Toronto frequency – no less than 26 companies. So what were the options that might-have-been for 88.1?
One wanted a Christian music format.
Another, Newcap, suggested a Modern Adult format aimed at women with the unusual stated demo as 24-44. (A second applicant had the same idea.)
A fourth proposed World Beat and International music.
A numbered company had plans for a talk station, as did something called “World Band Media.”
A second numbered company believed an all business format would be just what the city needed.
Larche Communications thought Toronto would love an Adult Album Alternative there.
Durham Radio would have soothed the city with an Easy Listening outlet.
This might have been interesting – MyFM wanted it for an AC music format in either Alliston or Orangeville. They eventually got the first one at 92.1 in 2013, and the latter at 101.5 in 2017.
Something called “Family FM” pitched a “positive message family friendly” format that would have been a real dog’s breakfast. Among the music it promised: folk, country, adult contemporary, blues and the ever present “etc.”
CHIN wanted the open spot for a station that it would eventually get as a rebroadcaster some five years later at 91.9. Five other would-be ethnic applicants also tried for it.
Here’s a confusing one – somebody named Stanislaus Anthony proposed something called an “Emerging Genres” format, whatever that might have been. We’ll never know, because a licence never emerged.
And our old friend Frank Torres tried to tell the CRTC that a Jazz/Blues station was just what Toronto was missing.
One that really kills me is the CBC, which suggested this would be the perfect place for a CJBC rebroadcaster. (Ironically, the same excuse as Moses used, claiming its signal was interfered with in downtown Toronto. Equally ironic – both former CBC frequencies 740 and the current 860 are among the strongest signals in all of North America.)
Here’s an unusual sidenote I hadn’t realized until now. CKFG, aka G98.7, wanted to keep its existing format but leave its current frequency for the much stronger one at 88.1. And it wasn’t the only one. CHOQ, the French language station at 105.1, also tried for a frequency swap and was turned down.
But this one is my favourite of them all and talk about chutzpah. There’s an application there from Ryerson for a campus radio station to replace CKLN – you know, the one at the same frequency whose licence was pulled because they couldn’t get their act together. Not surprisingly, it was denied.
CRTC List: The Race For 88.1
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