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CFMB (AM)
Encyclopedia
CFMB is a multilingual Canadian
radio station
located in Montreal
, Quebec
.
It broadcasts on 1280 kHz with a power of 50,000 watt
s fulltime 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 infomercial
s 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.) CFMB was founded on December 21, 1962 by Casimir Stanczykowski and was the first licensed multilingual station in Canada. In 1975, Stanczykowski established a second station, CKJS in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
CFMB used to be on 1410 kHz from its inception on December 21, 1962 until September 1997. 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.
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.
According to the station, the CFMB call sign
refers to the fact that the station is Canada's First Multilingual Broadcaster. However it has been reported that the call sign originally meant "Canada's Finest, Montreal's Best" or "Created For Magnificent Broadcasting".
, Brazilian
, Cambodian
, Chinese
, Greek
, Haitian
, Italian
, Jewish
, Latin American
, Lithuanian
, Moroccan
, Pakistani, Polish
, Portuguese
, Romanian
, Russian
and Ukrainian
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
located in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
It broadcasts on 1280 kHz with a power of 50,000 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s fulltime as a class B station, using a directional antenna
Directional antenna
A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates greater power in one or more directions allowing for increased performance on transmit and receive and reduced interference from unwanted sources....
with different patterns day and night (the nighttime pattern being significantly tighter).
The station has a multilingual format
Radio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
targeting ethnic minorities and broadcasts programming in 23 different languages. Use of French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
or English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
is rare and is heavily limited per the station's conditions of licence, although vanity programming and infomercial
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
s 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.) CFMB was founded on December 21, 1962 by Casimir Stanczykowski and was the first licensed multilingual station in Canada. In 1975, Stanczykowski established a second station, CKJS in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
CFMB used to be on 1410 kHz from its inception on December 21, 1962 until September 1997. Its move to 1280 kHz was somewhat controversial, as that frequency was previously (until 1994) home to the now-defunct CJMS
CJMS (defunct)
CJMS 1280 was a French language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec.The station went on the air on April 25, 1954. CJMS got an FM sister station in 1964 as CJMS-FM began operations. The AM station adopted a highly popular Top 40 format in the 1960s and became the flagship of the ...
, a French-language station. Some individuals claimed that this move resulted from a conspiracy to prevent new competition to CKAC and CKVL
CINF (AM)
CINF was a French language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec.Owned and operated by Corus Quebec, it broadcasted on 690 kHz with a power of 50,000 watts as a clear channel station, using a slightly directional antenna solely for the purpose of improving reception in downtown...
, as 1280 kHz was the best AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
frequency available in the Montreal area. Others claimed that the CRTC used the opportunity to promote multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
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.
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.
According to the station, the CFMB call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
refers to the fact that the station is Canada's First Multilingual Broadcaster. However it has been reported that the call sign originally meant "Canada's Finest, Montreal's Best" or "Created For Magnificent Broadcasting".
Programming
CFMB currently broadcasts programming in the following languages: Algerian BerberBerber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
, Brazilian
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Cambodian
Khmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, Haitian
Haitian Creole language
Haitian Creole language , often called simply Creole or Kreyòl, is a language spoken in Haiti by about twelve million people, which includes all Haitians in Haiti and via emigration, by about two to three million speakers residing in the Bahamas, Cuba, Canada, France, Cayman Islands, French...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Jewish
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, Latin American
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
, Moroccan
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Pakistani, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
.
External links
- CFMB Radio Montreal 1280 AM (Official Website)
- CFMB Radio Montreal 1280 AM (Listen Live)
- CFMB history at Canadian Communications FoundationCanadian Communications FoundationThe Canadian Communications Foundation is a history of Canadian broadcasting for radio and television chronicles and documents. It also provides a history of radio and television stations, including networks, programs, broadcasters and many others....