CFMB

This article is about a Canadian Radio Station. For the defunct Turkish narrow gauge railway, see Chemin de Fer Moudania Brousse.
CFMB
City of license Montreal, Quebec
Branding CFMB Radio Montréal 1280
Slogan Montreal's only Multilingual Radio Broadcast Station
Frequency 1280 kHz (AM)
First air date December 21, 1962
Format Religion, multilingual
Power 50,000 watts
Class B (regional)
Transmitter coordinates 45°19′31.08″N 73°32′53.16″W / 45.3253000°N 73.5481000°W
Callsign meaning Canada's First Multilingual Broadcaster
Owner CFMB Ltd.
(Sale pending to Evanov Communications)
Website cfmb.ca

CFMB is a multilingual Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec. It broadcasts on 1280 kHz with a power of 50,000 watts full-time as a class B station, using a directional antenna with different patterns day and night (the nighttime pattern being significantly tighter).

The station has a multilingual format targeting ethnic minorities and broadcasts programming in 23 different languages. Use of French or English is rare and is heavily limited per the station's conditions of licence, although vanity programming and infomercials at night (between midnight and 6 a.m.) are typically in English. (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulations related to languages used on the air do not apply during that time period.)

History

CFMB was founded by Casimir Stanczykowski in 1962.[1] From its inception on December 21, 1962 until September 1997, the station broadcast on 1410 kHz. Its move to 1280 kHz was somewhat controversial, as that frequency was previously (until 1994) home to the now-defunct CJMS, a French-language station. Some individuals claimed that this move resulted from a conspiracy to prevent new competition to CKAC and CKVL, as 1280 kHz was the best AM frequency available in the Montreal area. Others claimed that the CRTC used the opportunity to promote multiculturalism at the expense of integration of immigrants to the French language. Supporters of the decision note that CFMB was due to lose its transmitter site and had already bought the old CJMS site, and that the only other application to use the 1280 kHz frequency was for a station with only 10,000 watts of power.[2]

As of Stanczykowski's death in 1981, the station was owned by CFMB Ltd., which was majority-owned by his widow Anne-Marie Stanczykowski, and her son Stefan Stanczykowski. Station president Andrew Mielewczyk also held a 20% stake in the company.[1] The 1410 kHz transmitter was briefly reactivated in 1998 when the station lent it to CJAD, which lost all four of its towers in the 1998 Ice Storm.

On November 18, 2014, it was announced that CFMB would be sold to Evanov Communications, pending CRTC approval. The acquisition will make it a sister station to Evanov's CHRF, a new French-language radio station serving Montreal's LGBT community. The sale will also unite CFMB with CKJS in Winnipeg, another multicultural station that was founded by Stanczykowski. Although Evanov plans to maintain "synergies" between the two stations and move CFMB to the studios of CHRF, the company does not plan to lay off any employees.[1]

Programming

CFMB currently broadcasts programming in Algerian Berber, Khmer, Chinese, Greek, Haitian Creole, Italian, Spanish, Lithuanian, Arabic, Urdu, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian and Ukrainian.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Faguy, Steve (November 18, 2014). "Multilingual radio station CFMB agrees to sale to Evanov Radio". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  2. ↑ Decision CRTC 97-82

External links