CKFG-FM
Encyclopedia
CKFG-FM is a new radio station
which broadcasts an Urban Adult Contemporary
format on the frequency 98.7 MHz (FM
) in Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
.
The station will be targeted to the local Caribbean and African
communities and began broadcasting on October 3, 2011.
to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
's CBLA-FM
, the approval was made conditional on the new station's owner, Fitzroy Gordon, submitting a revised application for a different frequency. Milestone Radio
also filed an intervention, stating that the station's proposed format duplicated that company's Flow 93.5
.
The station did not file a revised application, however, and the initial authorization lapsed; instead, Gordon subsequently reapplied for the same 98.7 frequency. Accordingly, Industry Canada
allowed the station to broadcast a test signal for three weeks in 2010 to determine whether the frequency could be used without impacting CBLA. The test signal, a mix of reggae
, rhythm and blues
, hip hop
, gospel
and soca
music, was branded as Caribbean African Radio Network, or CARN.
The test found no significant interference, and on June 9, 2011, Gordon's Intercity Broadcasting Network received CRTC approval to use the 98.7 frequency. The CBC again noted its objection to the licensing of a second-adjacent frequency; four commercial broadcast groups — Rogers Media
, Astral Media
, Bell Media and Durham Radio — also filed comments in support of the CBC's position.
The station's call sign
CKFG is named after the founder Fitzroy Gordon.
Gordon stated that the station's goal was to have at least a temporary signal on air in time for the 2011 Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival, but did not immediately confirm a permanent launch date. RadioInsight revealed on October 1 that the station would begin airing on October 3. On that day, the station officially signed on the air and changed monikers to "G 98.7".
The station airs a mix of music from the genres of R&B
, soul music
, reggae
, soca
, hip hop
, world beat, gospel, and smooth jazz
that targets the 25-54 age demographic and targets the Caribbean and African
communities.
On November 28, 2011, at 6am, the station aired its first live broadcast with the song "I Can See Clearly Now
" by Jimmy Cliff
, then founder Fitzroy Gordon said a prayer, before handing it over to morning hosts Mark Strong and Jemeni (both formerly of Flow 93.5
). The station is also slated to air local news and sports programming, as well as talk shows relating to the Black and Caribbean communities.
The station's signal covers all of Toronto, and extends towards Hamilton
, Niagara Falls
, St. Catharines
, Brampton
, Aurora
, and Ajax
. However, in the Northeastern part of the GTA, CKFG is often interfered by CBLA-FM
's repeater in Peterborough
.
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...
which broadcasts an Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
format on the frequency 98.7 MHz (FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
) in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, 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...
.
The station will be targeted to the local Caribbean and African
Black Canadian
'Black Canadians is a designation used for people of Black African descent, who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The term specifically refers to Canadians with Sub-Saharan African ancestry. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin...
communities and began broadcasting on October 3, 2011.
History
The station was originally licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 2006, but as the proposed 98.7 frequency was second adjacentAdjacent-channel interference
Adjacent-channel interference is interference caused by extraneous power from a signal in an adjacent channel. ACI may be caused by inadequate filtering , improper tuning or poor frequency control .ACI is distinguished from crosstalk.Broadcast...
to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's CBLA-FM
CBLA-FM
CBLA-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the flagship station of the CBC Radio One network, broadcasting at 99.1 FM in Toronto, Ontario.- History :...
, the approval was made conditional on the new station's owner, Fitzroy Gordon, submitting a revised application for a different frequency. Milestone Radio
Milestone Radio
Milestone Radio Incorporated was a Canadian radio broadcasting company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. They were the only broadcasting company in Canada that was owned and operated by Black Canadians. The company's president was Denham Jolly....
also filed an intervention, stating that the station's proposed format duplicated that company's Flow 93.5
CFXJ-FM
CFXJ-FM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, which uses the on-air brand FLOW 93.5. It first aired in 2001 as Canada's first urban music station...
.
The station did not file a revised application, however, and the initial authorization lapsed; instead, Gordon subsequently reapplied for the same 98.7 frequency. Accordingly, Industry Canada
Industry Canada
Industry Canada is the department of the Government of Canada with responsibility for regional economic development, investment, and innovation/research and development. The department employs 6104 FTEs across Canada....
allowed the station to broadcast a test signal for three weeks in 2010 to determine whether the frequency could be used without impacting CBLA. The test signal, a mix of reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
and soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
music, was branded as Caribbean African Radio Network, or CARN.
The test found no significant interference, and on June 9, 2011, Gordon's Intercity Broadcasting Network received CRTC approval to use the 98.7 frequency. The CBC again noted its objection to the licensing of a second-adjacent frequency; four commercial broadcast groups — Rogers Media
Rogers Media
Rogers Media Inc is a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., which owns Canada's largest publishing company, Rogers Publishing Limited, which has more than 70 consumer and business publications. Rogers Media Inc...
, 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,...
, Bell Media and Durham Radio — also filed comments in support of the CBC's position.
The station's 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...
CKFG is named after the founder Fitzroy Gordon.
Gordon stated that the station's goal was to have at least a temporary signal on air in time for the 2011 Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival, but did not immediately confirm a permanent launch date. RadioInsight revealed on October 1 that the station would begin airing on October 3. On that day, the station officially signed on the air and changed monikers to "G 98.7".
The station airs a mix of music from the genres of R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
, hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
, world beat, gospel, and smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
that targets the 25-54 age demographic and targets the Caribbean and African
Black Canadian
'Black Canadians is a designation used for people of Black African descent, who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The term specifically refers to Canadians with Sub-Saharan African ancestry. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin...
communities.
On November 28, 2011, at 6am, the station aired its first live broadcast with the song "I Can See Clearly Now
I Can See Clearly Now
-Certifications:-Charts:-Other covers:The song also appears in various other films, such as Grosse Pointe Blank, The Break-up, Thelma & Louise, Antz, Deep Blue Sea, Envy, Hitch, Shrek 2s Far Far Away Idol, Viktor Vogel – Commercial Man and Jennifer's Body, as well in a 2009 advertisement for Lipton...
" by Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...
, then founder Fitzroy Gordon said a prayer, before handing it over to morning hosts Mark Strong and Jemeni (both formerly of Flow 93.5
CFXJ-FM
CFXJ-FM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, which uses the on-air brand FLOW 93.5. It first aired in 2001 as Canada's first urban music station...
). The station is also slated to air local news and sports programming, as well as talk shows relating to the Black and Caribbean communities.
The station's signal covers all of Toronto, and extends towards Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...
, St. Catharines
St. Catharines, Ontario
St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...
, Brampton
Brampton, Ontario
Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada and the seat of Peel Region. As of the 2006 census, Brampton's population stood at 433,806, making it the 11th largest city in Canada. It is also one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, with an average...
, Aurora
Aurora, Ontario
Aurora is an affluent town in York Region, approximately 20 km north of Toronto. It is partially situated on the Oak Ridges Moraine, and is a part of the Greater Toronto Area and Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario.Many Aurora residents commute to Toronto and surrounding communities.In the...
, and Ajax
Ajax, Ontario
Ajax is a town in the Durham Region in the Greater Toronto Area.The town is named for the HMS Ajax a Royal Navy cruiser that served in World War II. Ajax is a part of the Greater Toronto Area and the...
. However, in the Northeastern part of the GTA, CKFG is often interfered by CBLA-FM
CBLA-FM
CBLA-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the flagship station of the CBC Radio One network, broadcasting at 99.1 FM in Toronto, Ontario.- History :...
's repeater in Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
.
External links
- www.g987fm.com
- History of radio stations in Toronto 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....
- 98.7 MHz CARNTEST from Recnet.com