CHOZ-FM

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**CHOZ-FM**

Broadcast area	St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Branding	OZ FM
Slogan	The Rock of the Rock
First air date	June 15, 1977
Frequency	94.7 MHz (FM)
Format	Rock music
Callsign meaning	OZ for "OZ FM"
Owner	Newfoundland Broadcasting Company Ltd. (controlled by the Stirling family)
Website	http://www.ozfm.com/

CHOZ-FM is a Canadian radio station based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Its main St. John's transmitter broadcasts on FM at 94.7 MHz, but additional transmitters are located throughout the province. The station, known as "OZ FM", is one of the various media properties of Geoff Stirling, which also include local television station CJON-TV.

The station launched on June 15, 1977, soon after Stirling sold his interest in what is now CJYQ. Originally a full-time rock station known as "Radio OZ", it perhaps intended to be the Newfoundland equivalent of other stations then owned by Stirling such as CHOM-FM Montreal. It eventually transitioned to a combination contemporary hit radio/classic rock format under the "OZ FM" brand; nonetheless it kept the slogan "The Rock of the Rock".

During most of the 1990s it was the most popular FM radio station, both in the province and in the core St. John's market, driven largely by the strength of its eclectic morning show, The Dawn Patrol.

Yet by the early 2000s its newly strengthened competitor Newcap Broadcasting had begun to cause a significant effect, particularly in St. John's. Already the owner of the city's dominant radio station, AM station VOCM, Newcap effectively split CHOZ's market by converting VOCM-FM (and several other stations across the province) to classic rock, and soon after CKIX-FM to contemporary hits. Another strong contender, Coast Broadcasting's adult contemporary station CKSJ-FM, launched in 2004.

But since CKSJ and CKIX only operated in the St. John's area, OZ FM was now in the problematic situation of competing primarily with female-skewing FM stations in its largest market, and with a single male-skewing FM competitor in the rest of the province.

CHOZ can still boast having the largest audience of any radio station in the province, because it is the only station with a province-wide network of transmitters, whereas Newcap's K-Rock stations are almost all individual local stations, and the market's other stations are only available in the immediate St. John's area.

In addition, OZ FM is available across Canada on Bell Expressvu on channel 951.