CJAQ-FM

Infobox Radio station
name = CJAQ-FM


city = Toronto, Ontario
branding = 92_5 Jack FM
slogan = "Toronto's best rock variety"
airdate = 1993
frequency = 92.5 MHz FM
format = Rock/Classic rock
power = 9.1 KW
callsign_meaning = C JAQ for JACK
former_callsigns = CISS
owner = Rogers Communications
website = [http://www.925jackfm.com 92.5 Jack FM]

CJAQ is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 92.5 FM in Toronto, Ontario. The station uses the Rock/Classic rock format and uses the Jack FM brand.

History

The station was launched by Rawlco Communications in 1993 as a country music station, with the call letters CISS. The station's licensing by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission had been controversial, because the CRTC had passed over an application by Milestone Radio for an urban music station, which would have been a new format in the Toronto market, in favour of Rawlco's application to serve a niche which was already served by existing stations. (Milestone's second attempt at an urban station was also passed over in favour of CBLA; the company finally won a license on its third attempt, and launched CFXJ in 2001.)

The KISS 92 years

The station was purchased by Rogers Communications in 1999, and shortly switched to a contemporary hit radio format. The way the transition was announced to most of the station's staff – they were taken out for a party to celebrate the success of the country station, then returned to the station, unaware, to find their access passes no longer worked and they were out of work – became legendary in Canadian radio circles. The station brand briefly became Power 92 FM, which attracted adverse attention from the operators of CKDX, then a dance music station branded Power 88.5 in Newmarket, north of Toronto, and from Corus Entertainment, who had taken steps towards potentially turning their Toronto rock music station Q107 in a new direction as Power 107. The station soon took on the identity KISS 92 FM.

In its early days, the station also aired imaging material in which an announcer pronounced the name of the city "Toe-ron-toe", widely considered a mispronunciation of Toronto. New material was soon substituted.

Thanks to former CRTC content regulations on FM radio, Power and then KISS 92 FM was the first, and remains the only, contemporary hit radio or top 40 format on FM licensed to the City of Toronto. The station rode a wave of popularity for pop music acts like Backstreet Boys and N'SYNC, and often seemed to supertarget a primary market of young teenage or preteen girls. Station personalities included Jay Michaels, first paired with Daryn Jones as Mad Dog and Daryn and then with Billie Holiday in mornings as Mad Dog and Billie, frequently accompanied by voice actress Stephanie Beard as "Suga BayBee", Kris James (a re-hired veteran of the country format, and temporarily the CHR format's first morning host) middays, Tarzan Dan afternoons, Cory Kimm and Taylor Kaye evenings with Slim hosting Slim Jams slow jams overnights.

In the early 2000s, somewhat ironically, the station moved to take CFXJ's turf with a shift to an urban contemporary format billed as "Toronto's hip hop and R&B." Hiring local urban flavoured talent DJX and Haddy, Axel, Kwame and RG.

Jack FM arrives

On June 4, 2003 much to the disappointment of the listeners and fans of the "Kiss" format, the station moved to its current Jack FM branding, and adopted the CJAQ calls a few months later. The CISS calls were moved to a station in Ottawa, also owned by Rogers.

In late September 2005, CJAQ announced that it would become the first jock-free station in Canada. Pat Cardinal, general manager and program director, announced that "The move came as a result of listener feedback. The audience has been telling us that they want no DJs on Jack. They want more music." In November of 2005, [http://www.hainsworth.com/?p=707 Cardinal defended his decision] in an interview with Michael Hainsworth of Report on Business Television and stated why he doesn't see commercial-free iPods and satellite radio as a threat to a non-DJ format.

When it first launched, the station operated without disc jockeys in an effort to establish the "Playing What We Want" concept which was new to Toronto. DJs were introduced within weeks. However, ongoing research has confirmed that listeners would rather hear Jack's huge range of music without the stereotypical announcer banter.

Despite the constant efforts by Rogers to boost ratings of 92.5, their efforts have yet to pay off. In fact, ratings have tumbled on the 92.5 FM station to the lowest numbers seen in years. As of the latest book, Jack FM came in at a 2.3 share, sliding from 2.7 in the previous book and plunging from a 2005 book-high of a 4.1 share.

On June 1, 2006, Pat Cardinal was replaced as General Manager and Program Director by Steve Kennedy, formerly PD of CKIS, the Jack FM station in Calgary. On July 4, 2007 Steve Kennedy was replaced as PD by Jeff Brown, formerly PD of CHEZ 106 in Ottawa with GM duties being handled by Sandy Sanderson, the Toronto market manager.

In mid-May 2006, the play list of CJAQ evolved into a classic-rock format. The 80s Top-40 bands such as Madonna, Duran Duran, Kim Wilde, Cyndi Lauper, Falco etc. were dropped in favor of an all-rock format. Station IDs such as "Playing what we want" remain, but oddly the variety which once was the Jack FM claim to fame has gone. Since this change, the overall share of the radio station has declined 17% and the circulation has dropped by over 27%. Even in males, the share is down 14%.

On December 11, 2006 CJAQ abandoned its DJ free format when they launched a new morning show featuring Ben McVie and Kerry Gray (formerly the morning team at Dave FM in Cambridge). The station was still DJ free for the remainder of the day, but on December 12, 2006 other DJs were heard on the station including Jeff Chalmers and Samantha Stevens. Ben and Kerry were eventually fired on August 16, 2007.

ee also

* List of media outlets in Toronto.

External links

* [http://www.925jackfm.com 92.5 Jack FM]
* [http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/radio/histories.php?id=412&historyID=193 CJAQ history at Canadian Commuications Foundation]
* [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/1992/DB92-543.HTM Decision CRTC 92-543]
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