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February 11, 2021 12:56 pm  #1


1220 CFAJ Could Officially Be On Air In 2-3 Weeks - & They're Hiring

Thanks to TVguy in a previous thread, I was finally able to get the answers I've been looking for about CFAJ St. Catharines and when - if ever -  they plan to sign on after a year of testing. 

According to the owner, it could be as soon as 2-3 weeks. What's been the long delay? He says the existing facilities were sitting idle for more than a decade and needed a lot more TLC than they expected. And they're working with Industry Canada to ensure everything is up to standard before they start up fulltime. 

As for hiring, he says there are several people working there already, mostly an engineering staff, a G.M. and its chief announcer, music director and bottle washer, previously revealed here as Peter Borbely. The guy I spoke to wouldn't say how many people they'll need, (announcers or news types) but indicated there would be some on-air openings. So if you're looking for work at a small station in the Niagara area, know oldies music and can survive a job that probably doesn't pay a lot, you can write rd@iccimmigration.ca and they will hopefully get back to you. 

My only area of concern in what I was told is this: when I asked them if they had actual physical studios established, I was told "not yet." With possibly less than a month before they go full time, that doesn't make a lot of sense. But the gentleman on the phone insists most of the work will be done remotely, as is now common in the time of COVID, so it's not certain you would actually need to be wherever they eventually land.

So stay tuned to 1220 over the next few weeks. That sound you hear may be a real radio station coming to life. But unlike any other newborn, it will be over a year old on the day of its birth. 

 

March 14, 2021 10:54 am  #2


Re: 1220 CFAJ Could Officially Be On Air In 2-3 Weeks - & They're Hiring

Well, it's been more than a month since I was told by its owners that CFAJ, the new station at 1220, would finally be on the air. And despite a vastly improved signal from a year ago when testing started, there's still no trace of an official sign-on date. 

And now comes this interesting tidbit - in a section of the CRTC website called "Radio, TV and Cable Broadcasting Services that do and do not need a licence," CFAJ is listed on the first page. But what caught my eye was its "language" designation. It's listed as "Ethnic." As far as I recall, that wasn't the original assigned condition of licence and in fact, its former owner's abuse of that format is one of the factors that got its licence pulled in the first place.

A simple mistake? Or a glimpse into 1220's future? I guess we'll never know for sure as long as the station remains in its seemingly endless test mode. 

  

     Thread Starter
 

March 14, 2021 10:38 pm  #3


Re: 1220 CFAJ Could Officially Be On Air In 2-3 Weeks - & They're Hiring

Tardis wrote:

All of these stations as far as I can know have a licence and require a licence. What am I missing? I just woke up....

The "discretionary" stations do not need a licence somehow...  


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

March 15, 2021 12:34 pm  #4


Re: 1220 CFAJ Could Officially Be On Air In 2-3 Weeks - & They're Hiring

I have been saying this from the point of go on this station..  I just can't see it working as a stand alone full time music station on AM radio.    Adjusting the license to Ethnic, could work as most "ethnic" stations broker time and work on the AM band.  Religion may too, but there is too many in that area to have any programming that pays.   We will see on launch day what happens and over the next year... but it's going to be a hard battle if they try to program music at this point.    I wish them luck.

Last edited by radiokid (March 15, 2021 12:35 pm)