CHOM-FM
Encyclopedia
CHOM-FM is an English language
radio station
located in Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
. Owned and operated by Astral Media
, it broadcasts on 97.7 MHz from the Mount Royal
candelabra tower, with an effective radiated power
of 41,200 watt
s (class C1) using an omnidirectional antenna
.
The station has a mainstream rock
format
since 2009
, when the station segued from classic rock
, which the station had from 2002
-2009
. It uses the brand name CHOM, and is sometimes pronounced ˈʃoʊm "shoam" as if it were a French
word, but other Astral Media Radio personalities have also pronounced it as /ˈtʃɒm/ "chom".
station CKGM, and opened on July 16, 1963. After a few weeks as a simulcast of CKGM, CKGM-FM launched a beautiful music
format
on September 1, 1963
.
On October 28, 1969
, CKGM-FM changed its format to album-oriented rock
. The first song played after the format switch was Richard Strauss
' "Also Sprach Zarathustra", followed by The Beatles
' "Here Comes the Sun
". The station would change its call sign
to CHOM-FM almost two years later, on October 19, 1971.
In 1974, CHOM-FM proposed to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission a plan in which the station would become bilingual (English/French). The CRTC accepted this plan but only on an experimental basis that would last three years; it also blocked a plan to implement quadraphonic
broadcasting. In 1977, the station was forced by the CRTC to opt between the two languages, and after considering becoming a French-language station, it finally reverted back to English full-time.
CHOM-FM became increasingly popular, and in 1979 surpassed sister station CKGM in Bureau of Broadcast Measurement
ratings. Both stations were sold to CHUM Limited
on August 20, 1985.
The 1993 loss of popular morning man Terry DiMonte to Mix 96
, combined with new competition from American modern rock
station 99.9 The Buzz
in 1996, resulted in a decline in ratings which the station tried to stop by acquiring rights to the syndicated show of shock jock
Howard Stern
. Stern made his debut on CHOM-FM on September 2, 1997 amid much controversy as he launched himself on his very first show heard in Montreal in an anti-Francophone
/anti-French tirade. His show was dumped a year later, on August 27, 1998, after numerous complaints to the CRTC about politically incorrect
remarks interpreted by complainants as sexist
and homophobic
, despite the fact that the show ran on a tape delay
with more controversial comments being censored, which sometimes resulted in minutes of dead air. While the CRTC did not take any actions against CHOM-FM, it is generally believed that owner CHUM Limited feared other projects could be hampered by them having such a controversial host on one of their stations.
The station was sold to Standard Broadcasting
, which already owned CJAD and CJFM-FM in Montreal, effective in January 2002 in exchange for Standard's CFWM-FM
in Winnipeg
. As a result, CHOM-FM moved from Westmount to downtown Montreal
. This ownership change was promptly followed in February by a format change to classic rock
and the return of DiMonte as morning man, which resulted in ratings improvements.
Ownership changed hands again when on October 29, 2007, Astral Media
took control of Standard Broadcasting and its assets.
Most recently, the station added more 1990s
and 2000s
(mostly from 2000
-2004
) rock songs by September 2009
, bringing them back to a mainstream rock
station. Post-2005
songs on the station are mostly Canadian content
.
On February 1, 2010
, the station changed its logo and newer alternative rock artists to the playlist; however, classic rock staples from the 1960s and 1970s will still be played.
On October 19, 2010, CHOM-FM celebrated its 40th anniversary as a radio station.
On June 22, 2011, it was announced that Terry DiMonte will be making a return to the station, however it is unlikely that he and Ted Bird will reunite on air.
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...
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....
, Canada
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...
. Owned and operated by Astral Media
Astral Media
Astral Media Inc. is a Canadian media corporation. It is Canada's largest radio broadcaster with 83 radio stations in eight provinces, and is a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, including The Movie Network, Super Écran, Family, Teletoon, Canal D, Canal Vie, VRAK.TV,...
, it broadcasts on 97.7 MHz from the Mount Royal
Mount Royal
Mount Royal is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the city to which it gave its name.The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentians and the Appalachians...
candelabra tower, with an effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
of 41,200 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 (class C1) using an omnidirectional antenna
Omnidirectional antenna
In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is an antenna which radiates radio wave power uniformly in all directions in one plane, with the radiated power decreasing with elevation angle above or below the plane, dropping to zero on the antenna's axis. This radiation pattern is often...
.
The station has a mainstream rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
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...
since 2009
2009 in radio
The following events occurred in radio in 2009.- Events :* January 1: Kurdish TV starts broadcasting in Turkey.* January: Michael Smerconish, morning host at talk radio WPHT Philadelphia, begins syndication of his morning show to WHFS in Washington and WOR in New York City.* January 17: Two well...
, when the station segued from classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
, which the station had from 2002
2002 in radio
The year 2002 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*January 21 - A train derailment in Minot, North Dakota kills one person and knocks out power throughout the region, spilling 250,000 gallons of toxic anhydrous ammonia for fertilizer purposes. The designated primary station for the...
-2009
2009 in radio
The following events occurred in radio in 2009.- Events :* January 1: Kurdish TV starts broadcasting in Turkey.* January: Michael Smerconish, morning host at talk radio WPHT Philadelphia, begins syndication of his morning show to WHFS in Washington and WOR in New York City.* January 17: Two well...
. It uses the brand name CHOM, and is sometimes pronounced ˈʃoʊm "shoam" as if it were a 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...
word, but other Astral Media Radio personalities have also pronounced it as /ˈtʃɒm/ "chom".
History
CKGM-FM, as the station was originally known, was founded by Geoff Sterling as a sister station to AMAM 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...
station CKGM, and opened on July 16, 1963. After a few weeks as a simulcast of CKGM, CKGM-FM launched a beautiful music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
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...
on September 1, 1963
1963 in radio
The year 1963 in radio involved some significant events, including the addition of FM-compatible radios in cars made by major American automobile companies, and the birth of future radio personality Doctor Dré-Events:...
.
On October 28, 1969
1969 in radio
Significant events in radio broadcasting in the year 1969 included the debuts of two documentaries on rock and roll.-Events:*21–23 February: The History of Rock and Roll, a comprehensive 48-part documentary, debuts on KHJ in Los Angeles...
, CKGM-FM changed its format to album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...
. The first song played after the format switch was Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
' "Also Sprach Zarathustra", followed by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Here Comes the Sun
Here Comes the Sun
"Here Comes the Sun" is a song by George Harrison from The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road. It is regarded as one of the most popular Beatles songs. The song was written while Harrison was away from all of these troubles...
". The station would change its 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...
to CHOM-FM almost two years later, on October 19, 1971.
In 1974, CHOM-FM proposed to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission a plan in which the station would become bilingual (English/French). The CRTC accepted this plan but only on an experimental basis that would last three years; it also blocked a plan to implement quadraphonic
Quadraphonic
Quadraphonic sound – the most widely used early term for what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of one another...
broadcasting. In 1977, the station was forced by the CRTC to opt between the two languages, and after considering becoming a French-language station, it finally reverted back to English full-time.
CHOM-FM became increasingly popular, and in 1979 surpassed sister station CKGM in Bureau of Broadcast Measurement
Bureau of Broadcast Measurement
BBM Canada, also known as BBM, is an audience measurement organization for Canadian television and radio broadcasting.BBM was established on May 11, 1944 as a division of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. The organization was originally known as the "Bureau of Broadcast Measurement", and...
ratings. Both stations were sold to CHUM Limited
CHUM Limited
CHUM Limited was a media company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 1945 to 2007. Immediately prior to its acquisition, it held full or joint control of two Canadian television systems — Citytv and A-Channel — comprising 11 local stations, and one CBC Television affiliate, one...
on August 20, 1985.
CJFM-FM
CJFM-FM is an English language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec. Owned and operated by Astral Media, it broadcasts on 95.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 41,200 watts using an omnidirectional antenna....
, combined with new competition from American modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
station 99.9 The Buzz
WBTZ
WBTZ is a commercial radio station in Plattsburgh, New York, broadcasting to the Burlington, Vermont / Plattsburgh, New York / Montreal, Quebec area on 99.9 FM....
in 1996, resulted in a decline in ratings which the station tried to stop by acquiring rights to the syndicated show of shock jock
Shock jock
Shock jock is a slang term used to describe a type of any radio broadcaster who attracts attention using humor that a significant portion of the listening audience may find offensive. The term is usually used pejoratively to describe provocative or irreverent broadcasters whose mannerisms,...
Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
. Stern made his debut on CHOM-FM on September 2, 1997 amid much controversy as he launched himself on his very first show heard in Montreal in an anti-Francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
/anti-French tirade. His show was dumped a year later, on August 27, 1998, after numerous complaints to the CRTC about politically incorrect
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
remarks interpreted by complainants as sexist
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
and homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
, despite the fact that the show ran on a tape delay
Broadcast delay
In radio and television, broadcast delay refers to the practice of intentionally delaying broadcast of live material. A short delay is often used to prevent profanity, bloopers, violence, or other undesirable material from making it to air, including more mundane problems such as technical...
with more controversial comments being censored, which sometimes resulted in minutes of dead air. While the CRTC did not take any actions against CHOM-FM, it is generally believed that owner CHUM Limited feared other projects could be hampered by them having such a controversial host on one of their stations.
Standard Broadcasting
Slaight Communications is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. The company was first formed as Slaight Broadcasting in 1971, when owner J. Allan Slaight acquired CFGM in Richmond Hill...
, which already owned CJAD and CJFM-FM in Montreal, effective in January 2002 in exchange for Standard's CFWM-FM
CFWM-FM
CFWM-FM is a radio station based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The station, broadcasting at 99.9 FM, uses the on-air brand and format Bob FM. Its studios are located at 1445 Pembina Highway, along with sister stations, FAB 94.3 and TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg....
in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
. As a result, CHOM-FM moved from Westmount to downtown Montreal
Downtown Montreal
Downtown Montreal is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is nearly enitirely located at the southern most slope of Mount Royal and is approximately bounded by Sherbrooke Street to the north, Papineau Avenue to the east, Guy Street or until Shaughnessy Village to the west,...
. This ownership change was promptly followed in February by a format change to classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
and the return of DiMonte as morning man, which resulted in ratings improvements.
Ownership changed hands again when on October 29, 2007, Astral Media
Astral Media
Astral Media Inc. is a Canadian media corporation. It is Canada's largest radio broadcaster with 83 radio stations in eight provinces, and is a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, including The Movie Network, Super Écran, Family, Teletoon, Canal D, Canal Vie, VRAK.TV,...
took control of Standard Broadcasting and its assets.
Most recently, the station added more 1990s
1990s in music
For music from a year in the 1990s, go to 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99This article includes trends in popular music in the 1990s....
and 2000s
2000s in music
For music from a year in the 2000s, go to 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09This article includes an overview of the major events and trends in popular music in the 2000s....
(mostly from 2000
2000 in music
See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
-2004
2004 in music
See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....
) rock songs by September 2009
2009 in radio
The following events occurred in radio in 2009.- Events :* January 1: Kurdish TV starts broadcasting in Turkey.* January: Michael Smerconish, morning host at talk radio WPHT Philadelphia, begins syndication of his morning show to WHFS in Washington and WOR in New York City.* January 17: Two well...
, bringing them back to a mainstream rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
station. Post-2005
2005 in music
-Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:...
songs on the station are mostly Canadian content
Canadian content
Canadian content refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requirements that radio and television broadcasters must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from...
.
On February 1, 2010
2010 in radio
The following events occurred in radio in 2010.-Events:*Date Unknown: CHOI/Quebec City flips from Alternative Rock to News/Talk.*January 4: KJCS/Lufkin, Texas goes silent....
, the station changed its logo and newer alternative rock artists to the playlist; however, classic rock staples from the 1960s and 1970s will still be played.
On October 19, 2010, CHOM-FM celebrated its 40th anniversary as a radio station.
On June 22, 2011, it was announced that Terry DiMonte will be making a return to the station, however it is unlikely that he and Ted Bird will reunite on air.
External links
- CHOM 97.7
- CHOM-FM 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....
- CHOM 97.7 on FindRadio