CILQ-FM

CILQ-FM
City Toronto, OntarioThe
Broadcast area Greater Toronto Area
Branding Q107
Slogan Great Hits & Real Classics
Frequency 107.1 MHz FM
First air date May 22, 1977
Format Classic Hits[1]
ERP 40 KWs
HAAT 420.5 meters (1,380 ft)
Class C1
Callsign meaning Derived from the word "silk"
Owner Corus Entertainment
(Corus Premium Television Ltd.)
Sister stations Radio: CFMJ, CFNY-FM
TV: CIII-DT
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.q107.com

CILQ-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 107.1 FM in Toronto, Ontario. The station broadcasts a classic hits format branded as Q107 and is also available through streaming audio and on Bell TV channel 954. The station is owned by Corus Entertainment. CILQ's studios are located at the Corus Quay building on Dockside Drive at Toronto's Harbourfront neighbourhood, while its transmitter is located atop the CN Tower, with backup facilities located atop First Canadian Place.

History

Q107 signed on the air at 9 a.m. on May 22, 1977. The first song played on the station was "Hard Rock Town" by Murray McLauchlan, although the station officially signed on with Deodato's "Also sprach Zarathustra".[2]

Q107 debuted with an album rock format, part of the numerous "Superstars" formatted stations developed by Lee Abrams in the US, one in each major radio market. Roughly 1,000 songs revolved in a playlist in a revolving card category system based on media sales data. Platinum albums were category B1 or B2. Golden oldies were D1 or D2. Canadian content was another. Most of the music library was locked in the back and not accessible to anyone except the music director and his assistant. Announcers would pull albums from a shelf in the control room limited to about 1,000.

Q107 Classic rock logo

The original lineup for announcers was John Rode in mornings, Murray Smith in late mornings, Program Director Dave Charles in early afternoons, John Donabie in afternoon drive, Mary-Ann Carpentier in evenings and Scott Marwood in nights. At 2 am, Marwood featured "Odds & Ends" a full album played in its entirety from his personal collection.

CILQ's original owner was CFGM Broadcasting, a division of J. Allan Slaight's Slaight Communications. The station was acquired by Western International Communications in 1985 when Slaight bought Standard Broadcasting, and became part of Corus Entertainment in 2000 when WIC's assets were divided between Corus and Canwest Global.

Although ostensibly in a mainstream rock format as of 1996, Q107 reconverted to a classic rock format on September 1, 2000. On April 7, 2014, CILQ-FM switched back to a mainstream rock format and adopted a new slogan: "Toronto's Rock Station".[3] Since 2015, Q107 has been adding more pop music to their playlist, and although classic rock still makes up a good portion of their playlist, the station has more of a classic hits feel to it. As of 2016, Q107 had dropped the "rock" reference from their slogan and began billing itself as "Great Hits & Real Classics".

Programming

Notable personalities associated with the station have included: Byrd, John Donabie, the duo of Jesse Dylan and Gene Valaitis, Scruff Connors, Joey Vendetta, Brother Jake Edwards, Jane Hawtin, Earl McCrae, John Derringer, Bill Carroll, Maureen Holloway, Andy Frost, Bob "Iceman" Segarini, Lee "Beef" Eckley, Rory O'Shea, Jonny "Gonzo" Mark, Joanne Wilder, Howard "The Hungryman" Cogan, Steve Anthony, Dusty Shannon, Alice Cooper, legendary Canadian rocker Kim Mitchell, with Al Joynes and Jennifer Valentyne. In September 1997, Q107 (along with CHOM in Montreal) became the first Canadian radio stations to air The Howard Stern Show, syndicated from New York City. Stern was taken off Q107 in November 2001.

Each weekend there used to be a theme (such as a band or a top 107 hits as voted by the listeners). They play songs that fall within the theme at least once each hour. This begins each weekend at 3:00 p.m. EST on Friday night and goes through to Sunday at 9:00 p.m. EST.

Each Sunday from 9am to 9pm Q107 airs the popular Psychedelic Psunday, in which the DJs play classic rock songs from the psychedelic era of 1965 through 1975. The program is hosted by Andy Frost, who anchors the bulk of the show between 12 noon and 6pm. A variety of other station jocks have hosted the first three and last three hours of the show over the years.

Sundays at 9pm, Jeff Woods hosts a show called Legends of Classic Rock to give listeners the background stories to some of their favorite music.

On August 10, 2005, the station sparked controversy when it aired a recording of a Rolling Stones concert from 2002. The Stones were appearing in concert in Toronto the same evening, and many listeners had interpreted advance promotion for the broadcast as implying that Q107 would in fact be airing live from that evening's concert. Although he denied that the station intended to give that impression, station manager JJ Johnston apologized to listeners two days later.[4]

In early 2009, the station introduced Nights with Alice Cooper, airing from 9pm to 2am on Saturday nights.

On-air feud with CHUM-FM

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the on-air personalities maintained a feud with CHUM-FM, referring to it as "SCUM FM", a holorime wordplay on its rival station's oft-pronounced call letters. The station itself was referred to as "SCREW 107" in retaliation.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.corusent.com/home/Radio/RadioBrands/tabid/1695/Default.aspx?BrandID=57
  2. ↑ Q107 Signs On
  3. ↑ "Q107 Goes from Classic Rock to Toronto's Rock Station". Toronto Mike. April 7, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  4. ↑

Coordinates: 43°38′33″N 79°23′14″W / 43.64250°N 79.38722°W / 43.64250; -79.38722

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