CFZM

Infobox Radio station
name = CFZM


city = Toronto, Ontario
area = Oakville/Toronto, Ontario and vicinity
branding = "Prime Time Radio, AM 740"
slogan = "All Time Favourites"
frequency = 740 kHz (AM)
repeater =
airdate = 1956
share =
share as of =
share source =
format = pop standards
power = 50 kW
erp =
haat =
class = A
facility_id =
coordinates =
callsign_meaning = Derived from sister station CFMZ-FM
former_callsigns = CHWO (1956-2008)
affiliations =
owner = MZ Media Inc
licensee =
sister_stations = CFMZ-FM
webcast =
website = [http://www.am740.ca/ www.am740.ca]

CFZM is a Canadian radio station, licensed to Toronto, Ontario, which airs at 740 kHz on the AM radio dial. The station airs a pop standards format branded as Prime Time Radio, with the slogan "All Time Favourites, AM 740".

The station was originally launched in 1956 on AM 1250 in Oakville, with the call sign CHWO, by broadcaster Howard Caine and a number of minority investors. In 1967, shortly before Caine's death, his wife Jean was appointed to the board of directors and took over the station's management.

In 1974, CHWO added a sister station, CJMR in Mississauga.

In 2000, after the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's CBL relinquished the AM 740 frequency and moved to FM, the prized clear channel frequency became hotly contested by new and existing stations in the area. CHWO applied for the frequency, citing that it could provide a stronger service to the region's older adult population. Concurrently, the Caine family also applied for a new station on the old 1250 frequency, to air a Christian music format. The applications were granted, and CHWO moved to the 740 frequency on January 8, 2001, leasing the former CBL transmitter in Hornby from the CBC. CHWO originally applied for the new call sign CFPT, but when this was denied by Industry Canada because the call sign was already in use, the station chose to retain its heritage CHWO calls. CHWO's replacement at AM 1250, CJYE, launched on February 5. [ [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2000/DB2000-205.htm Decision CRTC 2000-205] ]

On September 18, 2007, Prime Time Radio announced a deal to sell the station to Moses Znaimer, under whom it would become a sister station to Toronto's classical music station, CFMZ. The deal was approved by the CRTC on March 31, 2008 [ [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2008/db2008-73.htm Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-73 ] ] . Znaimer also moved the station's studios and city of license into Toronto, and changed the station's call sign to CFZM on July 22, 2008.

CFZM is perhaps the only remaining adult standards-formatted station in North America that broadcasts on a 50,000-watt clear channel signal. The station's nighttime signal blankets a substantial area of Canada and the United States and can reach as far away as Charlestown, Rhode Island and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. CFZM's daytime signal can be heard as far north as Georgian Bay; as far south as Youngstown, Ohio; as far east as Watertown, New York; and as far west as Saginaw, Michigan. Such signal strength allows CFZM to often register significant Arbitron ratings in such markets as Buffalo, New York and Erie, Pennsylvania--cities where disenfranchised listeners of now-former adult standards stations (WECK and WRIE, respectively) can easily pick up AM 740. CFZM also offers online streaming of their audio through their website.

Under Znaimer's ownership, the station's program schedule now includes a daily talk show, airing from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by consumer advocacy journalist Dale Goldhawk.

References

External links

* [http://www.am740.ca/main.htm The AM 740 Official Site]
* [http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/radio/histories.php?id=409&historyID=190 CHWO history at Canadian Communications Foundation]
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