CHRF
| Defunct | |
|---|---|
| File:CHRF AM980 logo.png | |
| Frequency | 980 kHz (AM) |
| Branding | AM 980 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult standards (French) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Evanov Radio Group |
| CFMB, CHSV-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | February 2, 2015 |
Last air date | May 31, 2020 |
Call sign meaning | CH Radio Fierté (format) |
| Technical information | |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000 watts day 10,000 watts night[1] |
CHRF (980 kHz) was a French language commercial AM radio station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[2] Owned by Evanov Radio Group, the station broadcast an adult standards radio format, along with some multicultural programming.[2] CHRF's studios were located on Papineau Avenue in the Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie borough of Montreal, while its transmitter is located near Mercier.
History
Preparing to broadcast
Between its sign-on in 1959 until 1990, 980 in Montreal was the home of CKGM, for many of those years, Montreal's leading English-language CHR/Top 40 station. Then from 1990 until 2012, CKGM was heard at 990, so it could broadcast at 50,000 watts fulltime, the maximum power permitted for Canadian AM stations. In 2012, CKGM moved to an even better frequency, clear channel Class A 690, leaving 980 or 990 available for another Montreal AM station to use. Several applicants sought permission to put a new station on the air using CKGM's old frequency. On July 25, 2013, Evanov filed a request with the CRTC to relocate CHRF to 980, due to potential coverage problems using the directional antenna. There are no clear channel stations using 980, nor are there any close by that broadcast there currently. The closest ones are CFPL in London, Ontario; WCAP in Lowell, Massachusetts; WOFX in Troy, New York; and WTEM in Washington, D.C. In addition, the closest 980 allocations to Montreal had since been vacated, following the moves of CBV in Quebec City (1997) and CKRU in Peterborough (2009) to FM. The frequency change was approved on December 4, 2013.[3] CKGM, the former occupant of 990, relocated there from 980 in 1990.[4] On September 18, 2014, Evanov announced that the station planned to commence broadcasting in November 2014.[5] Testing of the 980 signal, consisting of pop music, promotional material, and invitations to the public to report reception issues, began in late October 2014.[6]
Radio Fierté
Switch to adult standards
On December 28, 2015, CHRF adopted an adult standards format, still as AM 980 (but with branding modelled upon Evanov's "Jewel" soft adult contemporary stations). The original plan was to play adult standards during daytime hours, while the station would air programming targeting the Haitian community during evening hours. Under the standards format and during the holidays, when the station switches to Christmas songs (which returned in 2016), all music broadcast on CHRF was automated, without using disc jockeys or live personalities.[7] In the Numeris ratings for the period during December 2015 through February 2016 (when CHRF's Christmas stunt and standards/Haitian formats were in effect), the station finished in last place among both Anglophone and Francophone stations surveyed, with an average of 100 Francophone and zero Anglophone listeners each day, and a market share of 0.1% and 0.0%, respectively.[8][9]
Closure
Challenged by cutbacks and the advent of COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal, Evanov made the decision to close CHRF and return its license to the CRTC.[10][11] The station officially signed off at 11:59 p.m. on May 31, 2020. In a farewell message posted on the station's website, program director Serge Plaisance announced that his show and those of Johanne Verdon and Mario Lipari would be moving to sister station CFMB.[12]
References
- ↑ Faguy, Steve. "Radio Fierté requests frequency change, one-year extension to launch". Fagstein.com. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Making waves: Montreal broadcasters in flux"[permanent dead link]. The Gazette, August 11, 2012.
- ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2013-648, December 4, 2013
- ↑ "Radio Fierté requests frequency change, one-year extension to launch". Fagstein, July 25, 2013.
- ↑ "Two new radio stations to launch in Montreal region by end of 2014". Fagstein, September 18, 2014.
- ↑ Fagstein: "Radio Fierté begins testing on 980 AM", October 27, 2014.
- ↑ Fagstein: "Unanswered Questions going into 2016", January 9, 2016.
- ↑ Numeris: "PPM Top-line Radio Statistics Montreal CTRL Anglo and Franco", for survey period November 30, 2015 - February 28, 2016
- ↑ Fagstein, "Radio ratings: Virgin and The Beat are tied (so both declare victory)", March 12, 2016.
- ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2020-177, CHRF Montréal – Revocation of licence, CRTC, June 1, 2020
- ↑ Fagstein: "Evanov Radio shuts down CHRF 980 AM". Fagstein, June 1, 2020.
- ↑ "Fermeture du Am980-CHRF | Am 980". Archived from the original on 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
External links
- CHRF at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation
- CHRF in the REC Canadian station database
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