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| Broadcast area | Greater Toronto Area Southern Ontario |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 590kHz |
| Branding | Sportsnet 590 The Fan |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Sports |
| Affiliations | Sportsnet Ontario Toronto Raptors Radio Network Toronto Maple Leafs Radio Network Toronto Blue Jays Radio Network Buffalo Bisons Radio Network Buffalo Bills Radio Network Infinity Sports Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| CFTR,CHFI-FM,CKIS-FM,CFMT-DT,CITY-DT,CJMT-DT | |
| History | |
First air date | February 21, 1951 (74 years ago) (1951-02-21) |
Former call signs | CKFH (1951–1981) |
Former frequencies | 1400kHz (1951–1960) 1430 kHz (1960–1995) |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | CRTC |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 43°9′10″N79°32′3″W / 43.15278°N 79.53417°W /43.15278; -79.53417 |
| Repeater(s) | 92.5CKIS-HD3 (Toronto) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | sportsnet.ca/590 |
CJCL (590AM,Sportsnet 590 The Fan) is a Canadiansports radiostation inToronto, Ontario. Owned and operated byRogers Radio, a division ofRogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at theRogers Building atBloor andJarvis indowntown Toronto, while its transmitters are located nearGrimsby atop theNiagara Escarpment. It is the flagship station for theToronto Blue Jays,[1] and also airs games from theToronto Raptors,Toronto Maple Leafs,Buffalo Bisons andBuffalo Bills. CJCL is a Infinity Sports Network affiliate.[2]
The station was originally owned by longtime sportscasterFoster Hewitt and began broadcasting on February 21, 1951, asCKFH 1400 before moving to 1430 AM in 1960.Telemedia acquired the station in 1981 and relaunched it as CJCL. During its early life, the station aired news and sports,Top 40,country music,adult contemporary andtalk radio formats. It adopted the current sports format on September 4, 1992, asThe Fan 1430 as Canada's first all-sports radio station before swapping frequencies withCKYC 590, acquired in 1994 by Telemedia, on February 6, 1995, adoptingThe Fan 590 branding. After Telemedia was sold toStandard Broadcasting, Rogers acquired CJCL in 2002.
Due to its location near the top of the AM dial, as well as its transmitter power and height, CJCL covers most of southern Ontario during the day. The station's signal is directional from north to south to protect various lower-powered radio stations east and west of the station. CJCL is simulcast across Canada onBell Satellite TV channel 959,[3] and onShaw Direct channel 868.[4] It is also carried on the 3rdHDdigital subchannel of CKIS-FM.
The station first aired on February 21, 1951, as CKFH; operating at 1400kHz. It was a news and sports station owned by legendary Canadian broadcasterFoster Hewitt (the "FH" of thecall sign), who was best known as the first and long-time play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Maple Leafs on what becameHockey Night in Canada.[5] The station moved to 1430 kHz in 1960, increasing power first to 5,000, then 10,000 and finally 50,000 watts. In its first years, CKFH was afull service station with news, drama, and variety programs, but specialized in sports broadcastingaway games of theToronto Maple Leafs as well as "reconstructed" play-by-play broadcasts of theBrooklyn Dodgers.[6] The station also carried a number of foreign-language programs produced by ethnic broadcasters such asSam Yuchtman'sYiddish-languageJewish Hour and Italian-language programs produced byJohnny Lombardi until Lombardi launched his own station,CHIN, in 1966. CKFH adopted aTop 40 format that same year. It then moved to acountry format in 1975.
The station was subsequently sold toTelemedia in 1981 when it adopted its currentCJCL call sign and switched to anadult contemporary format.[7] In 1983, the station briefly adoptedtalk programming, but returned to its music format within a few months, with increased emphasis onoldies.[8] CJCL was the flagship of theTelemedia network, and as such, broadcastToronto Blue Jays baseball games (withTom Cheek andJerry Howarth calling the action) followed by hours of talk after the game. The station has been flagship radio station of the Blue Jays for most of their history since their inception in 1977 (with exception of a hiatus whenCHUM was the flagship from 1998 to 2002). As the 1980s progressed, and the winning Blue Jays became more popular, the sports features became CJCL's profit centre. Encouraged by the newfound success of sports radio in theUnited States, in 1992, the year the Blue Jays won their firstWorld Series, CJCL would drop non-sports programming altogether on September 4, and becameThe Fan 1430, the first all-sports station in Canada. The station's nickname may have been inspired byWFAN in New York City, the first sports radio station in the world that led to the creation of sports radio stations everywhere.[9][10][11]
In 1994, Telemedia acquired CKYC from Rogers, and on February 6, 1995, at noon, the two stations switched frequencies, with "The Fan" moving to 590 AM (subsequently becomingThe Fan 590) and CKYC moving to 1430 AM (where it operates today asmultilingual stationCHKT).[12][13][14] Telemedia was acquired in 2002 byStandard Broadcasting, who resold CJCL to Rogers Media.
In January 2011, CJCL became known asSportsnet Radio The Fan 590, the move coming as part of a co-branding initiative with its television counterpartSportsnet,[15] amid indications that rivalTSN was preparing to launch a competing sports radio station,TSN Radio 1050.[16] The station's on-air identity was then changed toSportsnet 590 The Fan in October 2011.
The station also provides sports news updates for itssister station, all-news radioCFTR.
CJCL is theflagship station for the following teams' radio broadcasts:
♠-In case of conflicts with other sports broadcasts, one of the games will air on another station in the Toronto area. As Rogers owns the Blue Jays outright but only shares ownership (throughMaple Leaf Sports & Entertainment) of the Raptors and Maple Leafs, the Blue Jays games have first priority on CJCL.CHUM shares rights to the other two teams, including all games that are played at the same time as the Blue Jays. In contrast, because of anexclusive CFL-wide multimedia deal with TSN that ensures allToronto Argonauts games air on CHUM, any Raptors or Maple Leaf games that conflict with the Argonauts will air on CJCL. The two stations split the broadcasts of games that do not conflict with each other.
Roughly 11Buffalo Bisons games (as of 2018) air on evening dates between June and August that do not conflict with Blue Jays games. The Bisons are theTriple-A East affiliate of the Blue Jays, and broadcasts originate fromBuffalo-basedWWKB.[17][18]
The Fan 590 also features live coverage of the following:
Previous live sports events on CJCL included:
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