This doesn't come as any surprise, since the CRTC states it's in the "public interest" to see these three AM outlets keep operating.  

"The Commission finds that approval of the transaction is in the public interest and will have a positive impact on the diversity of voices. The continued operation of three AM radio stations by an independent owner focused on the revitalization of these stations will benefit listeners in the Windsor and Hamilton markets."

But there was one eyebrow-raiser in the notes about intervenors - CHIN Radio objected to the fact no one knew that the Hamilton outlets were up for sale, or they would have applied to transfer their troublesome 1540 frequency to either 820 or 1150. (They've been on 1540 since what was then CHFI-AM switched to 680 in the mid-60s at great expense to free up the frequency.)

And of course, the folks at CHIN know new owner Neeti P. Ray is experienced in ethnic radio, owning CINA, the all-Indo-Canadian outlet on the X-band at 1610 in T.O. They may not want the competition, perhaps fearing he'll take at least one of his new trophies into other language territory. 

Nonetheless, it's a done deal and now the only remaining questions are a) when does he officially get his hands on the stations and b) what formats will they wind up becoming? 

Those queries may be answered soon.

The further I read into this decision, the more interesting it is to try and decipher what might be next. 

For example, CJRK-FM in Scarborough, an ethnic station on the already crowded 102.7 frequency pointedly objected that, since CKOC and CHAM both reach its Toronto market, that Ray should be excluded from soliciting any advertising in the GTA. But Ray noted that people in Hamilton regularly drive into Toronto for work and vice versa, so that ruling shouldn't apply. He claims he won't be any competition to CJRK, since it's primarily Tamil language programming. 

The CRTC quickly put the kibosh on that ad restricting idea. 

That said, both Steel Town stations are licenced for English language programming, with a 15% limit of shows in other tongues. Ray said CJRK has been around since 2016 and doesn't face the challenges an AM outlet does, indicating their concerns were not relevant. But he pointedly notes that 15% is allowed and he didn't say he wouldn't make use of it. 

And check out this statement about CHAM's current licence obligations.

"Of the 126 hours of programming broadcast each broadcast week on the station, 9.75 hours are locally produced."

What 9.75 hours would those be? CHAM has been on autopilot for years. When does this mysterious locally produced programming air, if ever? Not THAT's funny, 820!

Finally, both CKOC and CHAM, should they play any music, must adhere to the 30% CanCon rules. Ray has hinted in the past he may leave CKWW as an oldies station. If that's the case, the CRTC says its CanCon playlist only has to be 20%. Interesting difference, especially if he retains the format on AM580.

In the last few years when they were still trying with CKWW, the station was aimed at Detroit. Their slogan was even "Motor City Favorites"

When they closed their Detroit sales office, they automated it and changed the slogan to target Windsor.

CKWW still must have listeners in Detroit and parts of Michigan.  Roger Ashby almost always has one or two requests from Michigan every week on his show.  AM 580 has been running his program since day one.  On the Michigan Radio and TV Buzzboard the station still comes up fairly regularly and there was a lot of interest in the sale of the station.  Both the Detroit and Ontario regional forums on the Buzzboard  have the sale approval release today. 

RadioActive wrote:

Hamilton isn't Canada's largest market, which means he could be targeting Toronto out of the Steel City. And while we know the biz format is soon to be toast, what do you suppose the "fresh new sound" could be?

I wonder if the word "Retro" will be used instead of "Oldies" for CKOC, if they go with oldies or classic hits...?
 

Also, even given CKOC's history as a former Top 40/oldies station, there's now a Classic 1220 in St. Catharines that wasn't around when 1150 was spinning tunes. There are big signal differences, of course, but is there really room for two oldies formats on AM so close to each other in the Southern Ontario market? I don't get the impression that advertisers are exactly knocking down the doors of CFAJ to hand over their money. 

Paul Jeffries wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

Also, even given CKOC's history as a former Top 40/oldies station, there's now a Classic 1220 in St. Catharines that wasn't around when 1150 was spinning tunes. There are big signal differences, of course, but is there really room for two oldies formats on AM so close to each other in the Southern Ontario market? I don't get the impression that advertisers are exactly knocking down the doors of CFAJ to hand over their money. 

Is CFAJ actually running any paid spots? Last time I listened (which was about maybe a couple of months ago) they were only running PSAs and station IDs between songs.



PJ

There are a few paid ads on the air. I operate a weekend show on CFAJ.