CJCH-FM
vertical polarization: 100,000 watts horizontal polarization | |
HAAT | 160.1 meters (525 ft) |
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Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | iheartradio.ca/virginradio/halifax |
CJCH-FM (101.3
History
AM early years (1944-1978)
The station was established on November 14, 1944 by
CJCH-AM-TV were acquired in 1970 by
In 1978, CJCH got a boost to 25,000 watts around the clock, making it Halifax's second highest powered AM station after CFDR, which was at 50,000 watts.[2]
Top 40 and Classic rock
Through the 1960s and 70s, CJCH was a popular
Sports and Oldies (2001-2007)
In 2001, CHUM Limited started a sports radio network known as The Team. CJCH joined this network and became The Team 920 on May 7 of that year.[3] On August 27, 2002, The Team network was shut down and CJCH flipped to an oldies format, becoming AM 920/CJCH - Yesterday's Favourites.
In July 2006, CHNS, an oldies station since February 1992, switched to the FM band and adopted a classic rock format (now airing classic hits). As a result, CJCH became the only oldies station in Halifax. Its oldies format was unique in that it ran a mid-morning call-in program called The Hotline with host Rick Howe (now with CJNI-FM).
Moving to FM, The Bounce (2007-2016)
In 2007,
On May 30, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., the last oldies song finished playing on 920 CJCH as the station went silent on AM. The new station launched on 101.3 FM with a Top 40/CHR format, branded as 101.3 The Bounce. The first song aired was Kanye West's "Stronger". The station did not take advantage of its right to simulcast on both frequencies for three months as is customary in such cases.
The new FM station was in direct competition with CKHZ-FM, which had a musical direction leaning to Rhythmic and Dance product, targeted towards young adults. CJCH's "Bounce" logo and fonts were patterned after CHBN in Edmonton, which, until 2010, was under the same ownership as CJCH. With CKHZ adopting an Adult Top 40 direction in March 2013 (which lasted until it flipped to country in September 2015), CJCH moved towards a Rhythmic-leaning direction, but remained within the Mainstream CHR realm. The move was also in part to avoid overlapping with co-owned CIOO, though the two stations share some titles.
On April 1, 2011, Bell Canada completed its acquisition of 100% of the shares in CTVglobemedia it didn't already own and named the new division Bell Media.
Virgin Radio (2016-present)
On July 26, 2016, CJCH began promoting a "major change" to the station to take place on July 29 at 1:00 p.m. At that time, after playing "Sorry" by Justin Bieber, CJCH rebranded as 101.3 Virgin Radio, becoming the ninth station in Canada to use the "Virgin" branding (CFCA-FM in Kitchener rebranded as "Virgin" at the same time as CJCH). The first song on "Virgin" (as well as Kitchener's "Virgin") was "This Is What You Came For" by Calvin Harris and Rihanna.[5][6][7]
References
- ^ "CJCH-FM". History of Canadian Broadcasting. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2000 page D-527
- ^ Team 920 Sports Network Launch May 7th, 2001 Halifax
- ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2007-410
- ^ More Virgin Radio for Canada
- ^ Canada's #1 Hit Music Brand Comes to Halifax
- ^ 101.3 The Bounce Relaunches as Virgin Radio
External links
- 101.3 Virgin Radio
- CJCH-FM at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation
- CJCH-FM in the REC Canadian station database