 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Toronto Area |
| Frequency | 99.9MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 99.9Virgin Radio |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Contemporary hit radio |
| Subchannels |
|
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Bell Media |
| History | |
First air date | 1947 (1947) |
Former call signs | CFRB-FM (1947-1963) |
Call sign meaning | Frequency Modulation (broadcast band) |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | CRTC |
| Class | C1 |
| ERP | 36,180 watts[1] |
| HAAT | 449 metres (1,473 ft)[1] |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | www |
CKFM-FM (99.9 MHz, "99.9Virgin Radio" ) is a commercial radio station inToronto, Ontario. CKFM is owned byBell Media and broadcasts acontemporary hit radio format.
CKFM's studios are located at250 Richmond Street West in theEntertainment District, while itstransmitter is located at the top of theCN Tower.
CKFM can be heard as far north asGravenhurst, as far south asEllicottville, New York, as far west asWoodstock, and as far east asTrenton.
_%2526_CKFM-FM_(99-9_Virgin_Radio).jpg)
The station was launched in 1938, by theRogers Radio Broadcasting Co. Ltd. (operated by Ted Rogers Sr., the father of the founder of Rogers Communications, as experimental FM station VE9AK.[2] The station went off the air between 1942 and 1945, due to the war. It began broadcasting at 99.9 FM in 1947, as CFRB-FM, a simulcast ofCFRB. Rogers Radio Broadcasting eventually became known as Standard Broadcasting, which was acquired byArgus Corporation in 1948.
In April 1961, the complete simulcast was dropped, in favour of some unique programming.
In April 1963, the station changed its call letters to CKFM-FM. All CFRB programming was discontinued. The station adopted aneasy listening andMOR format, which lasted for many years and was very successful in ratings (a 1974Billboard magazine article claimed the station had the most listeners in the 25-to-34-year-old age group of any Canadian radio station, AM or FM). During this time period, CKFM carried a few specialty shows, including a Sunday eveningreggae program. Towards the latter part of the 1980s, CKFM transitioned towards a more younger-targetingadult contemporary format.
The station adopted the brand nameMix 99.9, on September 2, 1991, and adopted ahot adult contemporary format to compete withCHUM-FM. The first song on "Mix" was "Changes" byDavid Bowie.[3] The brand name was changed slightly to99.9 Mix FM on August 8, 2006, and the branding was phased in throughout the day. This coincided with the return of formerKiss 92 andCHFI-FM morning show hosts Mad Dog and Billie to Toronto radio.
ACanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) decision from May 31, 2007, stated that the station's call sign was changed to CFMX-FM.[4] Within weeks, the station reverted to CKFM-FM, due to both potential confusion withCFMZ-FM as that station, licensed toCobourg but also heard in Toronto because of a rebroadcaster, was previously known as CFMX-FM; and because[5] as of November 14, 2007, according to Industry Canada databases, the Toronto rebroadcaster of CFMZ was actually still known as CFMX-FM-1 (not CFMZ-FM-1).[6]
On October 28, 2007, CKFM was purchased byAstral Media as part of its purchase of Standard Broadcasting. Since its purchase by Astral, the hot adult contemporary format went in a morerhythmic-leaning direction, patterned after sister stationsCJFM-FM inMontreal andCKZZ-FM inVancouver, which both carried rhythmic-leaning hot AC formats. It also began airing theAmerican Top 40, which usually airs onTop 40/CHR stations across theU.S. andCanada.
Astral announced a partnership with the Virgin Group to rebrand the station99.9Virgin Radio (pronounced, "nine-nine-nine Virgin Radio") on August 25, 2008, taking effect at 4 pm that day.[7] The final song on "Mix" wasGreen Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", while the first song on "Virgin" wasMadonna's "Like a Virgin". The change came just before the originalBritish Virgin station was slated to lose its licence to the "Virgin" name and rebrand asAbsolute Radio.[8]
Astral officials indicated at the time that, if the rebranding was successful, the "Virgin" brand would eventually be rolled out to other markets nationwide.[9] Barely three months later, on December 4, Astral deemed the new brand a success, and announced that stations inMontreal,Ottawa, andVancouver will be rebranded as "Virgin" stations effective early January 2009.[10] All three stations will retain essentially the same formats (rock at the Ottawa station, hot AC in Montreal and Vancouver). In addition to the aforementioned three stations, the "Virgin" branding has since been expanded toCalgary,Edmonton,London,Winnipeg,Kitchener,Halifax,Victoria,Kelowna andWindsor.
By September 2009, CKFM shifted to aTop 40/CHR format.
In June 2010, CKFM slightly changed its branding99.9 Virgin Radio (pronounced, "ninety-nine-nine Virgin Radio"). A week after the change, the station held a contest called "Say it & Win!", where the 99th caller gets 10 seconds to say their new branding, "ninety-nine-nine Virgin Radio" for as many times as they can. For each time the contestant read out their new name,$100 would be given to them.[11]
On June 27, 2013,Bell Media completed its acquisition of Astral Media, making CKFM a sister station tosports talk-formattedCHUM and hot AC-formattedCHUM-FM. Due to CRTC ownership limits, Bell and Astral's fellow FM stationsCFXJ-FM andCHBM-FM were sold to Newcap Radio (now asStingray Radio).
When the station rebranded as "Virgin", mornings were hosted by Mad Dog and Billie. In July 2011, Billie was let go from the station, with midday host Maura being moved to mornings. In March 2015, Mad Dog was let go, with Scott Tucker from sister stationCIQM succeeding him in mornings.[12] In November 2018, Tucker and Maura were let go from the station.[13] Shortly after, Bell announced that former "Virgin" host Adam Wylde and afternoon host TJ would host mornings beginning January 1. A few weeks later, Jax Irwin, formerly ofCKIS, would join as a co-host.[14]
In June 2023, Wylde and Irwin announced they would both leave the station.[15] After a temporary morning show hosted by Chris Kelly and Deepa Prashad, Bell announced thatDaryn Jones would join the station for mornings, alongside Prashad, in December.[16]
On July 4, 2017, CKFM launchedHD Radio multi-casting services. The HD1 sub-channel carries the same programming as the standard analog frequency. As of mid-2018, the HD2 sub-channel carries a simulcast of sister stationCFRB, the HD3 sub-channel carries a simulcast ofCHUM, and the HD4 channel carries acountry format branded asPure Country.
After Virgin posters featuring a kitchen radio poised at the edge of aTTC subway platform with the caption "give your radio a reason to live,"[17] had appeared in Toronto,[18] Toronto Public Space Committee criticized poster ad was "in poor taste". The city's transportation department later ordered the removal of the posters. According to TTC chairAdam Giambrone, the TTC had allowed the photo for the poster to be taken at a subway station based on a request to photograph various radios on TTC platforms. Although a supervisor was on site, there was no indication on how the photos would be used in the ad.[19]
Radio stations in theGreater Toronto Area,Ontario | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | |||
| Peel Region |
| ||
| Durham Region | |||
| York Region | |||
| Halton Region |
| ||
| Dufferin County | |||
| Specialty | |||
| DigitalHD Radio | |||
| Internet radio | |||
| |||
43°38′33″N79°23′14″W / 43.64250°N 79.38722°W /43.64250; -79.38722
