Rock Radio Scrapbook
FROM THE ARCHIVES...
Subject:
CFTR GOES FROM TOP 40 TO NEWS
Station: CFTR Toronto
Date: June 7, 1993
Time: 8:25
CFTR had a strong news team even in its Top 40 days
CHFI-AM began broadcasting with a beautiful music format on 1540kc in 1962, five years after its combo partner CHFI-FM went on the air. It was a rare case of the FM preceding the AM, inadventently foreshadowing the important role FM would play in the latter part of the century.
CHFI-AM moved to 680kc in 1966 as CHIN took over the 1540 spot. In 1971, CHFI-AM changed its call letters to CFTR with the last two letters honouring its owner and founder, Ted Rogers. In 1972, CFTR switched to a rock music format, despite an earlier warning from Rogers that the station would only do so over his "dead body."
For 21 years, CFTR entertained Toronto with arguably one of the best Top 40 radio stations in North America. In June 1993, market forces dictated a change and CFTR became a 24-hour all-news station. CFTR released all of its announcers on June 1 and the last six days of the station's life as a Top 40 station were spent deejay-less, in a Top 500 countdown called "The CFTR Story." (It wasn't a "story" at all, just a countdown of top hit songs.)
Just before 6 a.m. on June 7, 1993, CFTR played "We Built This City" by Jefferson Starship. When the song ended, Dick Smyth came on the air with the first newscast in the all-news format. And yes, that IS dead air you hear at the end of this aircheck. It continued for a few more seconds.
Listen to the CFTR Top 40/all news changeover here.
(Scrapbook archives)