| City of license | Montreal, Quebec |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Montreal Area |
| Branding | Virgin Radio 96 |
| Slogan | All Hits |
| Frequency | 95.9 FM |
| First air date | 1962 |
| Format | Hot Adult Contemporary |
| ERP | 41,200 watts |
| Class | C1 |
| Callsign meaning | CJAD-FM |
| Owner | Astral Media |
| Sister stations | CHOM, CJAD |
| Website | Virgin Radio 96 |
CJFM-FM is an English language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec. Owned and operated by Astral Media, it broadcasts on 95.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 41,200 watts (class C1) using an omnidirectional antenna.
The station airs a hot adult contemporary format, and was the only hot AC station licensed in Montreal until 2008, when CKOI-FM shifted to its current hot AC format. The station competes with Cogeco's CKBE-FM, a Rhythmic-leaning Adult Contemporary station and the sister station of CKOI. It also competes with two other Top 40 outlets in the market: sister station CKMF, the market's Francophone CHR, and WYUL, an American station focused on the Greater Montreal Area market.
CJFM has always been the sister station of CJAD. It is the last FM radio station in Montreal to still be related to its original AM sister station.
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The station originally went on the air in 1948 as CJAD-FM. It was a simulcast of Montreal's AM station CJAD. CJAD-FM was short-lived and went off the air in the 1950s.
The station was revived in 1962. Although initially intending to sign as CJAD-FM, it finally signed on with the CJFM call and separate programming - an innovation at the time. CJFM on 95.9 MHz. was one of four FM stations which came on the air in the first half of the 1960s using common transmitting facilities on the new Mount Royal tower. The other stations were CFCF-FM on 92.5, CJMS-FM on 94,3 and CKGM-FM on 97.7.
"CJFM 96" or "FM 96" had an album-oriented rock, pop and variety format throughout the 1980s. By 1992, CJFM-FM changed as Mix 96 to a more top 40-leaning hot AC format (of which it remains as of today), and going head-to-head up against Q92, an adult contemporary station that signed on under that branding a year earlier.
From 1962 to 2007, CJFM was owned by Standard Broadcasting. Standard Broadcasting sold the station to Astral Media in 2007.
On December 4, 2008, Astral announced that CJFM, as with sister stations CKQB-FM in Ottawa and CKZZ-FM in Vancouver, would be rebranded as a Virgin Radio station effective January 12, 2009.[1][2] This is in addition to an existing Virgin Radio station, CKFM-FM in Toronto.
On January 12, Mix 96 went to an uninterrupted music broadcast from noon until 4 PM. Nat Lauzon was the last DJ on air for the last Mix 96 broadcast. The last song played on Mix 96 was "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by Great Big Sea. At 4 PM, the station began broadcasting as Virgin Radio 96. The first DJ on Virgin Radio 96 was Mark Bergman. The first song played on Virgin Radio 96 was Madonna's "Like a Virgin". CJFM kept the hot AC format and most of its on-air staff it held while it was Mix 96, albeit with several programming changes.
Since CIDC-FM in Toronto went exclusively top 40, CJFM-FM is the only radio station in Canada playing dance top 40 music as the station airs dance shows nightly Sundays to Thursdays from midnight to 3am, and Fridays and Saturdays from 7pm to 5am.
Even though CHUM-FM Toronto, CKZZ-FM Vancouver, CISS-FM Ottawa and CKCE-FM Calgary dropped almost all modern adult contemporary artists, CJFM-FM continued to support these artists and classic hits music. Rap music is less common at CJFM, but rap songs played from other adult contemporary stations can be played there. As of 2011, the station began resembling Sirius XM's The Pulse, dropping any other pre-1989 title from the station, but continuing to lean rhythmic; this follows the pattern of CHUM-FM Toronto, CKZZ-FM Vancouver & CISS-FM Ottawa. Only the '80s/'90s On Demand show aired @ noon was phased out.
Shave To Save was a fundraiser conceived in 2001 by the station. Every October, Virgin Radio jocks visit offices and schools, where they shave heads for a minimum $2000 donation. The proceeds go to the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.
Virgin Festival is held every summer in Montreal.
The Top 96 songs of the year are played every year, on New Years Day.
These songs hit #1 on Virgin Radio's Top 96 Songs:
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