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CFAJ 1220 Marks 3 Years On Air & It's Still Not A Real Radio Station
It first appeared on SOWNY on Feb. 11th, 2020 - a post from user Saul noting a station playing music at 1220 AM. It turns out it was CFAJ St. Catharines, doing a test broadcast. But according to the station's seldom updated Facebook site, it actually first went on the air on Feb. 4th, seven days earlier.
That means this weekend marks exactly three very long years since the first music went out over the old CHSC frequency. I've been listening to it off and on over the years and outside of the occasional PSA, there has never been a single sponsor or paid commercial - not one - or any news or announcers (beyond Peter Borbely reading the same pre-recorded liners over and over and over again.)
So while it's been asked here before, after three years(!) it needs to be asked again - how is this thing even remotely affordable? It doesn't appear to have made a single dollar in 1,095 days and counting.
How are they paying for the electricity to power the transmitter? Who's paying for the rights to the music? Are they ever going to actually have a real "show" on this supposed station? Does the CRTC even care that CFAJ is barely fulfilling even the smallest provisions of the Promise of Performance it made to get the licence in the first place? And has anyone ever gotten a single answer to a query to its "we welcome your questions and concerns" phone number and email address? I know I haven't. (And how come a St. Catharines radio station has a 416 area code?)
Some here have suggested this is strictly a tax write-off. I have no idea if that's true, but even if it is, how long can the government allow that to go on?
So "happy" third anniversary to the only radio station I've ever heard that's on the air, but really isn't. I'd love to find out the real story behind this place and wonder how much longer it can go on this way. 
- Saul
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Re: CFAJ 1220 Marks 3 Years On Air & It's Still Not A Real Radio Station
I didn't know it was on the air for 7 days before I actually logged it. I must be slipping as a DXer!
OTOH, maybe the fine folks at CFAJ still don't know they're on the air, though all it would take would be a quick read of the hydro bills. Three years is indeed a long time for testing. Happy birthday!
- RadioAaron
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Re: CFAJ 1220 Marks 3 Years On Air & It's Still Not A Real Radio Station
RadioActive wrote:
Who's paying for the rights to the music?
That's based on revenue, so nobody. Quite the mystery the rest of it, though,
- Skywave
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Re: CFAJ 1220 Marks 3 Years On Air & It's Still Not A Real Radio Station
ISED's Spectrum Management System web site shows that a Technical Operating Certificate has been in fact granted. It says "granted", not "preliminary granted", which implies that a final proof of performance for the two directional antennas was filed. Given that, it should no longer be in "test" mode, and should be programming full time in accordance with the pertinent Cancon regulations of the CRTC, as well as any specific conditions of license. Does anybody know if it has been airing emergency alerts?
- RadioActive
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Re: CFAJ 1220 Marks 3 Years On Air & It's Still Not A Real Radio Station
They no longer seem to be calling their output a "test broadcast" of their signal. Those announcements have been removed, but you could hardly call what they're doing regular programming. So if this is their full time plan, it's very weird. Maybe they've made a deal like the CBC and are being funded by the taxpayer!
Otherwise, where is the money coming from? It's certainly not from commercials, because they've never aired a single one.
I think they are keeping up with CanCon requirements and I believe they're obligated to pay into the fund that all broadcasters have to, to support Canuck talent. How they're paying for that is also in question.
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Thread Starter- Fitz
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Re: CFAJ 1220 Marks 3 Years On Air & It's Still Not A Real Radio Station
This is another station that had or has been testing for a long time:
This from wiki. They do have a web site now and may indeed be out of test mode now but were not when I checked them out a few years ago:
FrenchFormatExpected to be French health and wellness format; currently stunting with continuous music
CFNV (940 kHz) is a French language AM radio station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is owned by TTP Media and was licensed in 2011. CRTC records indicated that the station was not in operation for the majority of the license term. CFNV began test broadcasting in 2016, with a full-time power of 50,000 watts as a clear channel (class A) station, and a Francophone talk radio format. Broadcasts started in 2017 with mainly music, rather than talk, using the branding AM 940 La Superstation.In July 2018, it was announced that CFNV would offer a French health and wellness program format once the extended testing of the technical facilities was completed. The CRTC gave CFNV a short-term license renewal on August 21, 2018 to August 31, 2023.[1]
Last edited by Fitz (February 3, 2023 10:46 pm)
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