 | |
| Broadcast area | Greater Toronto Area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 680kHz |
| Branding | 680 NewsRadio Toronto |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | All-news radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | August 8, 1962 (62 years ago) (1962-08-08) |
Former call signs | CHFI (1962–71) |
Former names | 680 News, CityNews 680 |
Former frequencies | 1540 kHz (1962–66) |
Call sign meaning | Canada's First,Ted Rogers[1] |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | CRTC |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 43°12′51″N79°36′31″W / 43.21417°N 79.60861°W /43.21417; -79.60861 (CFTR) |
| Repeater(s) | 92.5 CKIS-FM HD2 (Toronto) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | toronto |
CFTR (680AM; “680 NewsRadio Toronto”) is a commercialall-news radio station licensed toToronto,Ontario, serving theGreater Toronto Area. Owned byRogers Radio, a division of theRogers Sports & Media subsidiary ofRogers Communications, the station became Canada's first solo station to broadcast an all-news radio format, following in the footsteps of theCKO national all-news radio network, a format that has since been replicated in major markets across the country. The CFTR studios are located at theRogers Building atBloor andJarvis Streets indowntown Toronto, while the station transmitter is located on the southern edge ofLake Ontario at Oakes and Winston Road (near theQEW and Casablanca Blvd) in nearbyGrimsby.[2]
While CFTR broadcasts at the maximum power for Canadian AM stations, 50,000watts, it must use a complicateddirectional antenna system to avoid interfering with other stations on680 AM. In addition to a standardanalog transmission, CFTR issimulcast on the secondHDdigital subchannel ofCKIS-FM, and is available online. Its audio simulcasts onBell Satellite TV channel 958.[3]
The station's studios and offices are located in theRogers Building at 1Ted Rogers Way (also known as 1 Mount Pleasant Road) in Toronto.[4]
The station launched on August 8, 1962.[5] Its original frequency was 1540 kHz, using thecall sign CHFI, simulcasting thebeautiful music ofsister stationCHFI-FM, one of Canada's firstFM radio stations. Because 1540 is aclear-channel frequency assigned to stations in theUnited States and theBahamas, CHFI was authorized to broadcast only during thedaytime. In 1963, it sought to payCHLO inSt. Thomas, Ontario to move from 680 to another frequency, to free up 680 for CHFI's use. No deal was finalized, but, by 1966, the stations reached an agreement to share 680, and CHFI moved to 24-hour operation at that frequency.[6]
In 1971, so as to distinguish itself from CHFI-FM, the station changed its callsign to CFTR; the "TR" being a tribute toTed Rogers, Sr., radio pioneer and father of controlling shareholderTed Rogers.[1]
In 1972, CFTR abandoned the beautiful music simulcast of CHFI and adopted aTop 40 format. For many years, it was the primary competition to Toronto's original Top 40 station,CHUM.[6]
In 1973, programmer Chuck Camroux upped the ante in the Toronto radio "Rock and Roll Wars" by tweaking CFTR's notoriously bad signal, adding somereverb, and hiring new morning man Jim Brady to rival CHUM's Jay Nelson. Both stations hovered near one million listeners per week. Although Brady finally topped Nelson in the ratings in 1979, over-all, CFTR didn't surpass CHUM in the Toronto BBM ratings until 1984. Once CFTR gained ratings supremacy, CHUM dropped Top 40 in favour of anadult contemporary music format in 1986.[7][8][9]
CFTR also hiredJohn Records Landecker fromWLS in Chicago in 1981. Landecker spent two years at the station before returning to Chicago to work atWLUP.[6] In 1983, CFTR began broadcasting inAM stereo using theKahn-HazeltineC-QUAM system, and then switched to theMotorola system.[10]
Through the 1980s and 1990s, music listeners switched to FM, prompting AM stations like CFTR to find non-music formats. On June 1, 1993, at 10 am, CFTR announced it would be discontinuing theTop 40 format, and began broadcasting a countdown of "the top 500 songs of the (then) past 25 years" titled "The CFTR Story". At 6 am on June 7, after playingPhil Collins' "Against All Odds" (which was the #1 song in the countdown) andStarship's "We Built This City" (which also ended CHUM's Top 40 era in 1986), and the station stopped broadcasting in AM stereo, CFTR adopted its presentall-news radio format as "680 News". It was the first all-news radio station in Canada since the end of the formerCKO network in 1989.[11][12][13][14]
The station offers listeners a "weather guarantee" jackpot, which is drawn from a pool of listeners who enter the contest.[citation needed]
In June 2021, Rogers announced that it would rebrand its news radio stations under theCityNews brand to create a shared identity with local news onCitytv television stations and their corresponding smartphone app and website.[15] The rebranding took effect on October 18, 2021, with the station rebranding asCityNews 680.[16][17]
On March 25, 2024, as part of a reimaging of theCityNews brand, CFTR rebranded as680 NewsRadio Toronto.[18]
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