CJBC is a Canadian Class A clear-channel station, which broadcasts at 860 AM in Toronto, Ontario. It is the city's affiliate of the Ici Radio-Canada Première network. CJBC's studios are located at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, while its transmitter is located in Hornby.
| Broadcast area | Southern Ontario |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 860 kHz (AM) |
| Branding | Ici Radio-Canada Première |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | French |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Network | Ici Radio-Canada Première |
| Affiliations | CBC Dominion (1944-1962) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |
| History | |
First air date | 1925 |
Former call signs | CKNC (1925-1933) CRCY (1933-1938) CBY (1938-1943) |
| Technical information | |
| Class | A (clear-channel) |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 43°34′30″N 79°49′03″W / 43.57500°N 79.81750°W |
| Links | |
| Website | ici |
History
The station was originally launched in 1925 as CKNC on 840 AM, owned by the Canadian National Carbon Company. In January 1927, the station moved to 690 kHz, returning to 840 kHz a month later. The station then moved to 580 in 1928, and to 1030 kHz in 1931.
The station was leased and then acquired by the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, the forerunner of the modern Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, in 1933 and became CRCY, before leaving the airwaves in 1935. The following year, it returned at 1420 kHz, as a signal booster for CRCT. The station's callsign was changed to CBY in 1938, in 1941 the station moved to 1010 kHz, and to CJBC on November 15, 1943.
In 1944, CJBC became the flagship of the CBC's Dominion Network. On September 1, 1948, CJBC moved to its current frequency, 860 kHz. its signal strength was boosted to 50,000 watts, up from its previous strength of 1,000 watts. As a Dominion Network affiliate, the station carried network programming in the evening, which included light entertainment fare and some American programming, and local programming during the day.
CJBC began carrying some French language programming in 1962, initially in the form of a nightly, half-hour newscast. With the closure of the Dominion Network on October 1, 1962, CJBC's French schedule expanded to two hours of programming each evening.[1] The station adopted a French-only schedule when it became a fully fledged Radio-Canada station on October 1, 1964.[2] Federal Member of Parliament Ralph Cowan attempted to fight the changeover, arguing that since the French language had no legal status outside of Quebec, the station's conversion to French was inappropriate and illegal;[3] however, his case was dismissed by the Ontario Supreme Court in 1965 on grounds of legal standing, as Cowan could not show material harm from the format change.[4]
The station has been carried on rebroadcasters in Belleville, Kingston and Midland-Penetanguishene since 1977, London since 1978 and Peterborough since 1980. CJBC also had rebroadcasters under the CJBC callsign that served most of northern Ontario that changed to CBON-FM programming out of Sudbury after the station signed on in 1978.
CBEF in Windsor, although officially licensed as a separate station, has also been a de facto rebroadcaster of CJBC since staffing cutbacks in 2009; the station maintained a skeleton staff of just two reporters for local news breaks, while otherwise simulcasting CJBC's programming at all times.[5] Eventually, CBEF would expand its local programming with a morning program and local news bulletins, though otherwise broadcasting a similar schedule as CJBC.[6]
Since 1993, CJBC's Toronto studios have been based at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre on Front Street. A sister station, CJBC-FM, was launched in 1992 to broadcast Radio-Canada's music network.
In 2011, following the revocation of CKLN-FM's licence, the CBC submitted an unsuccessful application to the CRTC to add a nested rebroadcaster of CJBC on 88.1 FM in Toronto with an average effective radiated power of 98 watts and a height above average terrain of 303.4 metres, in order to improve reception in areas of Toronto, due to inefficiencies of the AM signal.[7] On September 11, 2012, the 88.1 FM frequency was awarded to Central Ontario Broadcasting, which would sign on the station as CIND-FM, "Indie88".[8]
The current CJBC is unrelated to another station, owned and operated by the Jarvis Street Baptist Church from 1925 until 1933, which also used the call letters CJBC. That station went dark in 1933 after the government of Canada withdrew all religious broadcasting licenses. The CJBC call letters were subsequently acquired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's CRCY in 1943.[9]
Programming
The station's regional morning program is Y'a pas deux matins pareils, weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., and its regional afternoon program L'heure de pointe Toronto, weekdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., is also heard on CBEF in Windsor. On Saturday mornings, the station airs the provincewide morning program À échelle humaine. The provincewide programs air on CBON and CJBC, as well as CBEF. On all public holidays, Pas comme d'habitude is heard provincewide (except Ottawa) from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. On some holidays, Y'a pas deux matins pareils or Le matin du Nord from CBON airs on both stations, but on some others holidays, both stations air their local shows as usual or both stations air Matins sans frontières from CBEF Windsor.
Transmitters
| City of license | Identifier | Frequency | Power | Class | RECNet | CRTC Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belleville | CJBC-1-FM | 94.3 FM | 34950 watts | B | Query | 92-764 |
| Kingston | CJBC-2-FM | 99.5 FM | 1560 watts | A | Query | |
| London | CJBC-4-FM | 99.3 FM | 22500 watts | B | Query | |
| Penetanguishene | CJBC-3-FM | 96.5 FM | 15300 watts | B | Query | |
| Peterborough | CJBC-5-FM | 106.3 FM | 13000 watts | B | Query |
References
- ^ Langevin Cote, "Single Network to Replace Two on Oct 1". The Globe and Mail, September 15, 1962.
- ^ Dennis Braithwaite, "Ici Radio CJBC". The Globe and Mail, October 2, 1964.
- ^ "CBC to Fight Cowan On CJBC Switchover". The Globe and Mail, September 29, 1964.
- ^ "Bid to Outlaw CJBC By Cowan Dismissed". The Globe and Mail, June 24, 1965.
- ^ "CBEF backers fighting cutbacks" Archived 2012-05-15 at the Wayback Machine. Windsor Star, June 20, 2009.
- ^ "Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2013-263 and Broadcasting Orders CRTC 2013-264 and 2013-265". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, May 28, 2013.
- ^ CRTC Application 2011-1619-5.
- ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2012-485, Licensing of a new radio station to serve Toronto, CRTC, September 11, 2012
- ^ "CJBC-AM, Toronto". broadcasting-history.ca. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
External links
- Ici Radio-Canada Première (in French)
- "ICI Ontario" official website (in French)
- Template:History of Canadian Broadcasting
- CJBC in the REC Canadian station database