CKBE-FM
 | |
| Broadcast area | Greater Montreal Area |
|---|---|
| Branding | 9-2-5 The Beat |
| Slogan | "The Beat of Montreal" |
| Frequency | 92.5 MHz (FM) |
| First air date | 1947 (experimental as VE9CM 1945-1947) |
| Format | Adult top 40 |
| ERP | 41,400 watts |
| Class | C1 |
| Callsign meaning | CK BEat |
| Former callsigns |
CFCF-FM (1947-1966) CFQR-FM (1966-2011) |
| Owner |
Cogeco (Metromedia CMR Broadcasting Inc.) |
| Sister stations | CHMP-FM, CKAC, CKOI-FM, CFGL-FM |
| Website | 925theBeat.ca |
CKBE-FM (9-2-5 the Beat) is an English language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec. Owned and operated by Cogeco, it broadcasts on 92.5 MHz with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 41,400 watts (class C1) using an omnidirectional antenna. Since September 2011, the station has programmed a Rhythmic adult contemporary presentation (and reports to Nielsen BDS and Mediabase's Adult CHR panels). Like the other Cogeco radio stations in Montreal, CKBE is located at Place Bonaventure in downtown Montreal.
History
CKBE first hit the airwaves in 1945 as VE9CM, a 25-watt experimental FM station owned by the Canadian Marconi Company along with CFCF radio (AM 600, later CIQC and subsequently CINW on AM 940, before its 2010 closure). It simulcast nearly all of its AM sister's programming. In 1947, Marconi gained a full licence on 106.5 FM with the calls CFCF-FM. Its 3000 watts antenna was on the roof of the Sun Life Building, its power was increased to 7700 watts in 1957. After changing frequency to 92.5 MHz in 1963, CFCF-FM was 1 of 4 FM stations using common transmitting facilities on the new Mount Royal tower. The 106.5 frequency is now used by CFEI-FM in suburban Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. The other stations were CJMS-FM on 94.3, CJFM on 95.9 and CKGM-FM on 97.7. In October 1966, the station changed call letters to CFQR-FM and adopted a beautiful music format. It kept this format for several years simply as "CFQR 92.5".
Q92 (1992-2009)
The 92.5 FM / 600 AM pair underwent an ownership change in 1991 and the following year, CFQR dropped the remaining instrumentals and became its full-time adult contemporary (AC) format. The station adopted the Q92 branding as well.
Gordon Courtenay died suddenly Saturday October 29, 2005, only an hour before he was supposed to host his Saturday night show live from D'Aversa restaurant, a show that had been running on Q92 for almost 30 years, starting at the Montreal Airport Hilton in 1981.
On July 14 and 15, 2006(?), Q92 launched its Summer Concert Series, drawing more than 300,000 for several outdoor concerts at the corner of Ste-Catherine and Peel.[1]
August 27, 2007, saw the launch of the new Live Drive Show with hosts Ken Connors, Sonia Benezra, and Judy Croon.
In September 2008, Q92 stopped playing classic hits because of sister CINW changing to oldies in July 2008. The on air lineup was also changed, Q92 midday personality David Tyler was replaced by Donna Saker. Terry DiMonte started a noon-hour show which originated from co-owned classic rocker Q107 in Calgary, Alberta. It was cancelled during the station rebanding as "92-5 The Q". Terry DiMonte, remained the morning announcer on Calgary's Q107. Montrealers had listened to him for decades on all three of Montreal's Standard Radio stations (even during Standard's sale of their terrestrial broadcasting assets to Astral in October 2007). DiMonte ended his career in Montreal on CHOM 97.7 in February 2008.
Morning-man Aaron Rand played a featured role in YTV's Prank Patrol (a nationally viewed kids show on cable) debuting that show's 3rd season.[2]
The annual 1-day Corus Montreal Radiothon for Sainte-Justine's Hospital for Children, hosted by CFQR and its sister stations, raised more than $560,000 on November 16, 2007.
92-5 The Q (2009-2011)
On April 14, 2009, the station, widely known as Q92, changed its identity to "The Q 92.5" (pronounced ninety-two five) and unveiled a new logo and website. This became the third station in Montreal in the late 2000s to change its branding. A new jingle was also introduced: "Montreal's, Montreal's Music, The Q's just right for you!". In addition, the station began phasing back-in softer adult contemporary (AC) songs (as a result, artists such as Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes were returned to the playlist); in addition, the station re-added 1960s songs such as Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison. CFQR-FM changed its playlist and schedule in the rebranding.
On August 19, 2009, an announcement was made that Tasso Patsikakis and Suzanne Desautels would no longer be part of the morning show, and that Aaron Rand would be going solo. Rand and Patsikakis had worked together for 23 years.
In November 2009, two additions were made to Rand's morning show; Murray Sheriffs as news announcer (replacing Barry Morgan) and Sarah Bartok hired from Vancouver as traffic reporter (replacing Shaun McMahon - now producer). At the end of November, Chris Reiser, long-time morning host of Krater 96 in Honolulu, Hawaii, was added to the mid-day line-up from 8:45 am to 1 pm, replacing Tammy Moyer as she took a temporary personal leave. She was expected to return to work in the new year, but it was later announced that Reiser had become the permanent host of the show. Tammy Moyer has since moved to CKWX in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In December 2009, a brand new tabloid show was introduced. Every weekend, the 2-hour show, All Access Weekend with Anne-Marie Withenshaw features the latest entertainment headlines and music news, airing Saturday mornings at 10, and reprises Sunday afternoons at 4.
Beginning in 2010, host Leta Polson stopped doing her noon to 6 shift on the weekends, but continued doing promotional remotes, commercials, and other features for the station. The main weekday hosts (like Donna Saker, Ken Connors, Sarah Bartok, Chris Reiser) alternated for the Saturday shift. CJ Christin Jerome hosted Sundays in addition to acting as Music Director.
On April 30, 2010, it was announced that Cogeco will acquire most radio stations owned by Corus Entertainment in Quebec.[3]
In the summer of 2010, more changes were made. The station's main tagline became "More Music Variety" along with new, more upbeat jingles retaining the catchphrase "The Q's just right for you!". The Q also began running 92 minutes straight of commercial-free music, during the daytime, replacing 10-songs-in-a-row introduced in April 2009.
In late July, it was announced long-time feature on Q-Mornings, "The Last Word with Maureen Holloway", would no longer be used due to the station's pending sale from Corus to Cogeco, as Holloway works for Corus. The feature was replaced with "Startalk with Bartok", with the show's traffic reporter Sarah Bartok.
On December 17, 2010, the CRTC approved the sale of most of Corus' radio stations in Quebec, including CFQR, to Cogeco. CFQR is Cogeco's first English-language radio station, as all of its other stations are francophone.[4] The deal was finalized on February 1, 2011.
On May 26, 2011 (following his announcement in February), morning-man Aaron Rand aired his final show on CFQR, leaving Montreal airwaves after 26 years. He has since signed-on to host an afternoon talk show on CJAD.
9-2-5 The Beat (2011-present)
In August 2011, the station began airing promos about "The Beat of Montreal", along with a countdown clock on its website and a message telling listeners that "You're Going To Feel It!"[5]
On September 6, 2011, at 4 pm (EDT), after playing Bon Jovi's "Never Say Goodbye", CFQR was relaunched as a Rhythmic AC, adopting the moniker "9-2-5 The Beat" (the 9-2-5 referring to "9 to 5"), with Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" as the first song.[6] It is also using the jingles that Clear Channel Communications' Rhythmic ACs uses for their stations. The playlist features upbeat Rhythmic Pop/Dance currents mixed-in with the Hot AC fare (mostly clean and heavily edited, although uncensored tracks like David Guetta's "Memories" have shown up in rotation). The softer and older mainstream AC tracks were phased out along with the more mainstream Hot AC fare it started out with since the 2009 adjustment, apparently to become more competitive (and CHR-driven) with CJFM, but at times seems to be inspired by New York City's WKTU, given Montreal's storied history of being a mecca for Disco and Dance music.[7] The station promises "10 in a row", a live on-air staff, and less commercials. They also heralded their launch with a 20-car fleet parading around the streets of Montreal, which they used as part of a contest in conjunction with Tim Hortons.[8] Shortly after the rebrand, the station changed its call letters to CKBE-FM. Since the transition, they have managed to beat Hot AC-formatted CJFM with this upbeat approach among overall listeners[9]
On November 29, 2013, the CRTC approved an application for broadcasting improvements, with the station increasing its power from 41,400 to 100,000 watts, and increasing its antenna from 297.4 to 298.9 metres EHAAT.[10]
Current Shows
Weekdays
- 5:30 AM-9 AM: Beat Breakfast with Cat Spencer & Sarah Bartok,
featuring news updates with Ken Connors & traffic updates with Natasha Hall. Produced by Shaun McMahon - 9 AM-1 PM: Beat of Your Workday with Donna Saker
- 1 AM-4 PM: Middays with CJ
- 4 PM-8 PM: Drivetime with Cousin Vinny
Monday thru Thursday Nights
- 8 PM-Midnight: The Sulli Show with Kim Sullivan
- Midnight-5:30 AM: Beat of the Night with Jeremy White
Friday Nights
- 8 PM-Midnight: Beatmix with TB1
- Midnight-3 AM: LIVE!: From the Roxbury!
- 3 AM-6 AM: Beat of the Night Weekend with Thom Drew
Saturdays
- 6 AM-9 AM: Weekend Breakfast with Ken Connors
- 9 AM-Noon: Daly Download" with Carson Daly
- Noon-4 PM: Feel Good Weekends with Nat Lauzon
- 4 PM-8 PM: Saturday Party Jam with Jeremy White
- 8 PM-Midnight: Beatmix with TB1
- Midnight-3 AM: LIVE!: From the Roxbury!
- 3 AM-6 AM: Beat of the Night with Thom Drew
Sundays
- 6 AM-10 AM: Weekend Breakfast with Ken Connors
- 10 AM-Noon: All Access Weekend with Anne-Marie Whitenshaw
- Noon-4 PM: Feel Good Weekends with Nat Lauzon
- 4 PM-6 PM: The Beat's Top 20 with Cousin Vinny
- 6 PM-10 PM: The Sulli Show with Kim Sullivan
- 10 PM-Midnight: Chill Beatz
- Midnight-5:30 AM: Beat of the Night with Jeremy White
Management (PDs)
Ted Silver was Program Director (PD) of CFQR/CKBE since September 1992, relaunching the station as "Lite Rock Q92" and establishing it as the leading English Montreal station until his departure in April 2007. Kara Yamich came on board as Assistant Program Director in 2002 and stepped down in 2010.
In May 2007, Corus announced that Chris Kennedy had been appointed as Q92's Program Director. Q92 and Kennedy parted ways prior to Christmas of 2008.[11]
Brian DePoe became Program Director of CFQR and CINW in February 2009. DePoe had been Operations Manager and Program Director at CJEZ-FM in Toronto. He left in late 2010. Since then, Leo Da Estrela has been appointed Program Director.
References
- ↑ Dewolf, Christopher (July 20, 2007). "Great Publics Spaces". Project for Public Spaces (PPS). Retrieved 2007-07-08.
- ↑ Entertainment, Corus (August 27, 2007). "press release". Corus/YTV. Archived from the original on 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
- ↑ "Canada's Corus Entertainment sells all its stations in Quebec, including Montreal". Radio-Info.com. April 30, 2010.
- ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2010-942: "Transfer of effective control of various commercial radio programming undertakings from Corus Entertainment Inc. to Cogeco inc.", issued December 17, 2010.
- ↑ The Beat Dropping Into Montreal On September 6
- ↑ 92.5 The Beat Launch from YouTube (posted September 7, 2011)
- ↑ "First Listen: CFQR (The Beat) Montreal" from Radio-Info (September 7, 2011)
- ↑ from YouTube posted September 7, 2011
- ↑ The Beat Tops Virgin Radio Again from The Montreal Gazette (June 6, 2013)
- ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2013-641, November 29, 2013.
- ↑ Press release distributed by CNW Telbec, May 10, 2007 – A man who's up on the latest music and radio trends – New Q92 FM program director, Chris Kennedy
External links
- 9-2-5 the Beat (Official Website)
- Listen Live (Flash Player)
- CFQR-FM history at Canadian Communications Foundation
- Query the REC's Canadian station database for CFQR-FM
- CKBE-FM, the French version in Fr.Wikipedia.org
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Coordinates: 45°30′20″N 73°35′30″W / 45.50556°N 73.59167°W