Boom FM is a branding of

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

s broadcasting in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The trademark is owned by

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...

, although only two stations using the branding are owned by that company. The name "Boom" is a reference to

baby boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. Th ...

, who are the main target of the network.

History

"Boom" was first launched on May 1, 2003 as a network of

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

stations, and originally included

CFEI-FM CFEI-FM (106.5 Hertz, MHz) is a French language, French-language Canadian radio station located in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, serving the eastern suburbs of Montréal. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it broadcasts with a ...

and

CHRD-FM CHRD-FM (105.3 MHz) is a French-language Canadian radio station located in Drummondville, Quebec. It is owned and operated by Bell Media and has a directional antenna with an average effective radiated power of 3,257 watts and a peak effectiv ...

. CFVM-FM and

CFZZ-FM CFZZ-FM is a French-language Canadian radio station located in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec and serving Greater Montreal as a rimshot signal. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it is part of the "Boom" network. As such, the station has an old ...

joined the network in 2005 after these stations were acquired by

Astral Media Astral Media Inc. was a Canadian media conglomerate. It was Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 84 radio stations in eight provinces. Astral was also a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, with 23 specialty channels ...

from

Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian mass media company. Formed in 1999 as a spin-off from Shaw Communications, it has prominent holdings in the radio, publishing, and television industries. It is headquartered at Corus Quay in Toronto, Onta ...

. All four stations previously had an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. Since Astral Media already has two FM stations in each of Quebec's larger markets, it is impossible for them under current

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(CRTC) regulations to launch Boom FM stations in these markets without dumping either the

Énergie Énergie is a Canadian radio network of French-language mainstream rock outlets broadcasting throughout the province of Quebec and portions of eastern Ontario, in Eastern Canada. They offer a personality-driven mix of francophone and anglophone c ...

or the

Rouge FM Rouge FM is a network of French-language adult contemporary radio stations broadcasting throughout Quebec, Canada. Established in 1990 as RockDétente, they are owned by Bell Media. All "Rouge FM" stations broadcast in the same markets as Bell's ...

format, both of which are very successful according to Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM) ratings. On December 26, 2009, "Boom" added its first

English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

affiliate,

CHBM-FM CHBM-FM is a radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada broadcasting at 97.3 FM. The station currently broadcasts a classic hits format branded as '' Boom 97.3''. CHBM's studios are located at Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue in Toronto's Deer ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, which flipped from its longtime

EZ Rock EZ Rock was a brand of adult contemporary radio stations heard primarily in Canada. The branding was originally created by Telemedia in the mid-1990s for its AC stations, and based on the call sign of its former Toronto flagship CJEZ-FM (now ...

'' format (as CJEZ-FM) to adult hits under the ''Boom 97.3'' name. It was the only Boom FM station not using the

format, though its logo uses the same lettering and 45 RPM plastic insert device as its Quebec counterparts. Owner Stingray Radio, however, currently markets the station's format as classic hits. On June 30, 2011, "Boom" added its second

affiliate,

CJOT-FM CJOT-FM (99.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Ottawa, Ontario. It broadcasts a classic hits format and is owned by Corus Entertainment. The station uses its on-air brand name '' Boom 99.7''. CJOT's studios and offices are lo ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

which flipped from the very same

of the former CJEZ-FM Toronto as ''EZ Rock'' to the classic hits format as ''Boom 99.7''. Following Bell Media's approval in 2013 to acquire Astral Media, a condition was placed in which that it must divest itself of several television services and radio stations, including CHBM and CJOT, which were placed in a

blind trust A blind trust is a trust in which the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust, and no right to intervene in their handling. In a blind trust, the trustees (fiduciaries, or those who have been given power of attorney) h ...

pending its eventual sales. CJOT would be sold

Corus Radio This is a list of assets owned by Corus Entertainment. Approximately 80% of the voting control in Corus is held by the family of JR Shaw. The same family also owns about 80% of the voting rights in Shaw Communications, for a list of Shaw assets ...

in March 2013, while CHBM was sold to Stingray Radio in August 2013. Corus' acquisition of CJOT-FM was approved on January 31, 2014, while Stingray's acquisition of CHBM-FM was approved on March 19, 2014. Despite differing ownership, both stations continue to use the Boom FM name and logo. On August 25, 2014, Corus'

CJSS-FM CJSS-FM (101.9 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Cornwall, Ontario, Cornwall, Ontario. The station broadcasts a classic hits format branded as ''Boom FM, Boom 101.9''. CJSS is owned by Corus Entertainment, which acquir ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

became the newest station in Ontario to be affiliated with the network. In 2017, Stingray Radio gained permission from Bell Media to begin using the Boom brand and its content in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. In July 2017, several of Stingray's rural Alberta stations took on the Boom format. In May 2018, Boom 104.1

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal. It is situated on the west bank of the Richelieu River at the northernmost naviga ...

and Boom 106.5

Saint-Hyacinthe Saint-Hyacinthe (; French: ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérég ...

has changed to an

format.

Stations

Former stations

* Amqui,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

- CFVM-FM (switched to RockDétente in 2008; now

) *

Drummondville Drummondville is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville is ...

(switched to RockDétente in 2009; now

)

Unrealised station

CKSM AM 1220 of

Shawinigan Shawinigan () is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,349 as of the 2016 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) an ...

was originally announced in April 2007 to have been a new affiliate of Boom, with plans to relocate the station to the FM band. However, the plans never materialised, and the station, which at the time was owned by Astral but rebroadcast then-Corus owned CHLN 550 AM of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

, closed down on June 30, 2007.Boom FM renonce à Shawinigan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boom Fm Bell Media Radio formats French-language radio in Canada Canadian radio networks