CBLA-FM

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CBLA-FM

City of license	Toronto, Ontario
Broadcast area	Toronto, Ontario
Branding	CBC Radio One
First air date	1925 (AM) 1999 (FM)
Frequency	99.1 MHz (FM)
Format	public broadcasting
ERP	98,000 watts @ 304 meters above average terrain
Class	B
Former callsigns	CKGW, CRCT, CBL
Owner	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Website	CBC Radio One

CBLA-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the CBC Radio One station in Toronto, Ontario, broadcasting at 99.1 FM.

1 Local programming
2 History
3 Relay transmitters
4 External link

[edit] Local programming

The station's local programs are Metro Morning, hosted by Andy Barrie, in the morning and Here and Now, hosted by Matt Galloway, in the afternoon.

The station also produces a second morning program, Ontario Morning, which airs on most of the network's transmitters in Southern Ontario outside of the Toronto, Ottawa and Windsor metropolitan areas. Ontario Morning is currently hosted by Wei Chen.

As of October 2005, Here and Now begins at 3 p.m. on CBLA's main station in Toronto, unlike most CBC Radio One stations whose local afternoon programs begin at 4 p.m. However, the station's rebroadcast transmitters outside of Toronto air regular CBC network programming for the first hour and join Here and Now in progress at 4.

[edit] History

The station originally aired in 1925 as AM 910 CKGW, a commercial station owned by Gooderham and Worts. Due to the instability of frequency allocations in North America at the time, the station's frequency changed several times over the next number of years, to 960, 690, and finally clear channel 840. In 1932, the station was leased by the CBC's predecessor, the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission. It used the call letters CRCT until 1937, when the station was purchased outright by the CBC and adopted the callsign CBL. With NARBA in 1941, the station moved to 740 kHz; its former channel, now 860, went to CFRB. (See Canadian allocations changes under NARBA.)

In 1946, CBL-FM was launched, bringing the CBC's FM network (now known as CBC Radio Two) to Toronto. It originally broadcast on the same 99.1 frequency now used by CBLA, but moved to 94.1 in 1966. (The 99.1 frequency was vacant until 1977, when it was assigned to the CKO radio network. CKO ceased operations in 1989, and the frequency was again vacant until it was assigned to CBLA.)

The CBC's transmitter tower on Jarvis Street in downtown Toronto, built in 1952, was for many years the tallest structure in Canada. The facility was used by CBL, CBL-FM, CBLT, CBLFT, CJRT and TVOntario. In 1976, almost all broadcast signals in Toronto moved to the CN Tower; although the Jarvis St. transmitter was no longer in use, the CBC continued to use the studio facilities at that site until moving to the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in 1992.

In 1998, CBL applied to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for conversion to FM, citing radio frequency interference that made the station nearly unlistenable in some parts of downtown Toronto. In a controversial decision, the CBC was awarded the 99.1 frequency over Milestone Radio, who had applied to open an urban music station, which would have been the first station operating under that format in Canada, to serve the city's large black community. Expanding the controversy, 99.1 was believed at the time to be the last available FM frequency in the city.

On June 18, 1999, the station completed its move to FM, adopting the CBLA calls. It subsequently surrendered two relay transmitters outside the city which now overlapped with the CBLA signal. In 2000, the CRTC awarded one of the new frequencies to Milestone, who launched CFXJ in 2001, and the other to Aboriginal Voices, who launched CFIE in 2002.

The Jarvis Street transmitter site was demolished in 2002 to make way for the RadioCity condominium development.

[edit] Relay transmitters

Most of CBLA's rebroadcasters air the morning program Ontario Morning in place of CBLA's Metro Morning. That program is produced in CBLA's Toronto studios, but does not air on CBLA's main transmitter.

Bancroft - CBLV 600
Crystal Beach - CBLA-FM-1 90.5
Haliburton - CBLY-FM 92.3
Huntsville - CBLU-FM 94.3
London - CBCL-FM 93.5 ¹
Maynooth - CBOD-FM 89.3
Orillia - CBCO-FM 91.5
Owen Sound - CBCB-FM 98.7
Paris - CBLA-FM-2 89.1 – airs Metro Morning
Parry Sound - CBLR-FM 89.9
Penetanguishene - CBCM-FM 89.7
Peterborough - CBCP-FM 98.7
Shelburne - CBLA-FM-4 102.5
Wingham - CBLA-FM-3 100.9

¹ CBCL in London is licensed separately and has its own local news bureau, but presently all programming apart from regional news updates comes from CBLA.