CFTR (AM)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- CFTR is also an abbreviation for cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator.
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| City of license | Toronto, Ontario |
|---|---|
| Branding | 680 News |
| Slogan | All News Radio |
| First air date | 1962 |
| Frequency | 680 kHz (AM) |
| Format | News |
| Power | 50 kW |
| Callsign meaning | C F Ted Rogers |
| Former callsigns | CHFI (AM) |
| Owner | Rogers Communications |
| Website | 680 News |
CFTR, broadcasting under the brand 680 News, is an all-news radio station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which broadcasts live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 680 kHz on the AM dial. According to a recent survey by the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM), 680 News has more cumulative listeners than any other radio station in Canada. The station is a division of Rogers Communications.
[edit] History of CFTR
The station launched in 1962 on 1540 kHz as CHFI-AM, simulcasting the beautiful music of CHFI-FM, one of Canada's first FM radio stations. Since 1540 was a clear channel frequency assigned to stations in the United States, CHFI-AM was authorized to broadcast only during the daytime. In 1963, it sought to pay CHLO in St. Thomas, Ontario to move from 680 to another frequency to free up 680 for CHFI-AM's use. No deal was finalized, but, by 1966, the stations reached an agreement to share 680, and CHFI-AM moved to twenty-four hour operation at that frequency. In 1971, it changed its call letters to CFTR, a tribute to Ted Rogers, Sr., radio pioneer and father of controlling shareholder Ted Rogers.
In 1972, it abandoned the simulcast of CHFI and adopted a Top 40 format for which it became legendary. For many years, it was the primary competition to Toronto's original Top 40 station, 1050 CHUM. Among the station's claims to fame is hiring the legendary John Records Landecker away from Chicago's powerhouse WLS in 1981. CFTR surpassed CHUM in the Toronto BBM ratings for the first time in 1984, two years before CHUM dropped Top 40 in favor of an Adult Contemporary format.
It adopted its present all-news format in 1993, becoming the first all-news radio station in Canada since the end of the former CKO network.
[edit] External links
- Official Site
- Canadian Communications Foundation station history
- CFTR: The Legend 1978-1982 tribute page
- Historic and recent transmitter photos
| AM radio stations in the Greater Toronto Area | |
| Toronto |
530 | 590 | 640 | 680 | 740 | 860 | 1010 | 1050 | 1250 | 1320 | 1430 | 1540 | 1610 |
| Hamilton | |
| Oshawa/Ajax: | |
| By callsign (Toronto) |
CFMJ | CFRB | CFTR | CHIN | CHKT | CHSL | CHUM | CHWO | CIAO | CJBC | CJCL | CJMR | CJYE |
| By callsign (Hamilton) | |
| By callsign (Oshawa/Ajax) | |
| Past stations | |
| Other | |
