The Haliburton Broadcasting Group was a Canadian group of

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

stations, located primarily in smaller markets in

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 ...

. The company was purchased by

Vista Broadcast Group Vista Radio Ltd. (also formerly known as Vista Broadcast Group) is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. The company only owned stations in British Columbia until 2007, when it expanded outside the province by acquiring an existing station in Ye ...

in 2012.Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2012-577

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 ...

, October 19, 2012.

History

The company was named for the Haliburton region in

Central Ontario Central Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario that lies between Georgian Bay and the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The population of the region was 1,123,307 in 2016; however, this number does not in ...

, where majority owner and president Christopher Grossman, a longtime radio sales manager, trainer and executive, was also a hotelier before purchasing his first

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 ...

, CFBG in Bracebridge, in 1997. HBG expanded greatly into

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

in 1999 by acquiring several stations from the

Pelmorex Radio Network The Pelmorex Radio Network was a system of Canadian radio stations in Northern Ontario, owned and operated by Pelmorex. History In 1989, Pierre Morrissette founded his own communications company, Pelmorex Media Inc., and acquired several French a ...

. In 2004, they also acquired CKNR in

Elliot Lake Elliot Lake is a city in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is north of Lake Huron, midway between the cities of Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie in the Northern Ontario region. Once dubbed the "uranium capital of the world," Elliot Lake has since ...

, a station which had also once been part of Pelmorex but was sold to North Channel Broadcasting in 1996. At its peak the company owned 24

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

stations, mostly branded Moose FM. Some other stations such as CFBK-FM Huntsville use other brandings. They were generally formatted with

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 ...

hot 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, quiet ...

music; Moose FM Timmins was a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

station before moving to adult hits. The company also formerly operated two French stations, branded as CHYC (pronounced like the French word ''chic''), over a number of transmitters, but these were sold to

Le5 Communications Le5 Communications is a Canadian media company. Based in Sudbury, Ontario, the company operates radio stations and newspapers in the Northeastern Ontario region. The company operates the only francophone commercial radio stations in Ontario which ...

in 2008. Haliburton's head office was in

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 ...

, although most of its operations were based in Haliburton. Toronto-based

Slaight Communications Slaight Communications is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. The company was formed as Slaight Broadcasting in 1971, when owner J. Allan Slaight acquired CFGM in Richmond Hill. Slaight later also acquired CFOX in Montreal and CHOK in Sa ...

owned a significant minority interest in the group, which was not included in that company's 2007 sale of most of its broadcasting assets to

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 ...

. In 2006 and 2007, the company also expanded into

Southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake St. ...

for the first time, launching a new station in Kincardine as a partial owner, and acquiring an existing station in Haldimand. On May 20, 2010, Haliburton applied to the CRTC to acquire

CJJM-FM CJJM-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 99.3 FM in Espanola, Ontario. The station currently airs an adult contemporary format and is branded on-air as ''Moose FM''. The station is owned by Vista Radio. History Originally owned by J ...

Espanola, Ontario Espanola (2016 census population 4,996) is a town in Northern Ontario, Canada, in the Sudbury District. It is situated on the Spanish River, approximately 70 kilometres west of downtown Sudbury, and just south of the junction of Highway 6 and H ...

, which was owned by

Joco Communications Joco Communications was a small Canadian radio broadcasting company, which operated radio stations in Sturgeon Falls and Espanola, Ontario. The company's name derives from the name of its founder and president, Joseph Cormier. __NOTOC__ History ...

and received approval on August 12, 2010. Formerly branded as Joco Radio, the station was rebranded as Moose FM in September 2010. The company also announced subsequent deals to acquire CJJM's former sister station

CFSF-FM CFSF-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 99.3 FM in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario. The station airs an adult contemporary format branded on-air as 99.3 Moose FM. The station is owned by Vista Radio. History On February 14, 2003 Joco Comm ...

in Sturgeon Falls, as well as CJCS and

CHGK-FM CHGK-FM is a Canadian radio station in Stratford, Ontario with a Hot AC format at 107.7 FM, branded as ''107.7 2day FM''. CHGK's studios are located at 376 Romeo Street South in Stratford while its transmitter is located on Line 29 just south o ...

in Stratford; these transactions were approved by the CRTC on February 21, 2011. In late 2010, the company applied to buy two

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

radio stations,

CKEY-FM CFLZ-FM (101.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, serving the Niagara Region and the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area. It is owned by Byrnes Communications and it broadcasts an adult hits format, known ...

and

CFLZ-FM CFLZ-FM (101.1 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Fort Erie, Ontario, Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, serving the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Niagara Region and the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area. It is owne ...

. Haliburton received approval on June 8, 2011. On April 23, 2012

, which owns 38 radio stations in western Canada, announced a deal to acquire Haliburton Broadcasting, in cooperation with Westerkirk Capital, for $32.34 million. The transaction was approved by the CRTC on October 19, 2012. In 2021, Grossman began a new company, Local Radio Lab, acquiring several Ontario stations owned by

My Broadcasting Corporation My Broadcasting Corporation is a Canadian broadcasting company founded in 2004 by Jon Pole and Andrew Dickson. Based in Renfrew, Ontario, the company operates a number of radio stations in small to medium sized markets in Ontario. All of its stat ...

Strategy and competition

Haliburton's strategy has been based on the conversion of former AM radio stations to FM, adoption of generally more contemporary-oriented music formats, modest staffing levels, and economies of scale through shared

voice tracking Voice-tracking, also called cyber jocking and referred to sometimes colloquially as a robojock, is a technique employed by some radio stations in radio broadcasting to produce the illusion of a live disc jockey or announcer sitting in the radio stu ...

, production and advertising sales across the regional group. CHNO in Sudbury was an AM

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 ...

station when Haliburton acquired it from Pelmorex; a stipulation in the

CRTC 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 ...

's approval of the transaction allowed it to move to FM. In 2000, it relaunched at 103.9 as a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

station branded as Z103. After a short time, it was sold in 2001 to the larger

Newcap Broadcasting Stingray Radio (formerly Newcap Radio) is a Canadian radio broadcasting conglomerate owned by Stingray Group. It owns and operates 101 radio stations in Canada—making it the second-largest radio conglomerate in Canada behind Bell Media. It also ...

for significantly more than it had been acquired for. The CRTC, wary of potential "license trafficking," accepted the sale on the grounds that Haliburton had been losing money with CHNO, and would reinvest the proceeds into its contemporaneous purchase of CKLP in

Parry Sound Parry Sound is a sound or bay of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, in Ontario, Canada. It is highly irregularly shaped with many deep bays and islands. Killbear Provincial Park is located on the large peninsula that separates the sound from Georgian B ...

. CHMT in

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...

launched in 2001 as an adult contemporary station as Mix 93, but soon faltered under competition from CKGB, formerly an AM country station which adopted the

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 ...

adult contemporary brand and moved to FM shortly after CHMT launched. CHMT flipped to country about a year later, and eventually relented as had CHNO, abandoning its own sales staff and sharing sales with the two

Rogers Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, ...

stations in Timmins. On March 17, 2005, the CRTC published notice of an application Haliburton filed in 2004 to launch an FM country station in North Bay, which was approved on August 11, 2005. However, the North Bay station launched as an adult hits format in the summer of 2006, instead of the country music format the station originally proposed. On April 7, 2005, they published notice of an application also filed in 2004 to launch an FM "adult contemporary rock" station in Haliburton itself. This license was also subsequently granted, and the station launched in 2006. On August 4, 2010, Haliburton applied to operate a new FM radio station in Barry's Bay to operate at 106.5 MHz with an adult contemporary format. Haliburton received CRTC approval on January 12, 2011. On December 13, 2010, Haliburton applied to operate a new FM radio station in

Kemptville, Ontario Kemptville is a community located in the Municipality of North Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada in the northernmost part of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It is located approximately south of the downtown core of Ottawa and s ...

. The new station will operate on 97.5 MHz with an adult contemporary format. Haliburton received CRTC approval on April 21, 2011. On May 19, 2011, Haliburton applied to operate a new FM radio station in

Prescott, Ontario Prescott, Ontario is a small town on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Canada. In 2021, the town had a population of 4,078. The Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge, east of Prescot ...

. The new station would operate at 107.9 MHz with a hot adult contemporary music format. Haliburton received CRTC approval on November 10, 2011. On November 9, 2011, Haliburton submitted applications to the CRTC to acquire

CJFB-FM CJFB-FM is a Canadian radio station that broadcasts a Classic hits/ Variety hits format which operates at 102.7 FM in Bolton, Ontario. The station is branded as Moose FM. History Rick Sargent, the owner of the station, was given approval by t ...

Bolton, Ontario Bolton (2021 population 26,795) is an unincorporated village that is the most populous community in the town of Caledon, Ontario. It is located beside the Humber River in the Region of Peel, approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Toronto. In r ...

and

CFGM-FM CFGM-FM was a Canadian radio station, which aired at 102.7 MHz ( FM) in Caledon, Ontario. Originally licensed in 2007 to broadcast a tourist information format, it expanded into a commercial adult contemporary music station in 2009, but was disc ...

Caledon, Ontario Caledon (; Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population 76,581) is a town in the Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. From a shortened form of Caledonia, the Roman name for North Britain; Caledon is a developing u ...

. This was approved on March 14, 2012.

Sale of holdings

In May 2008, Haliburton announced a deal to sell the CHYC stations to

, a firm owned by Sudbury lawyer Paul Lefebvre, for a purchase price of $425,000. The deal was approved by the

on October 31, 2008. On July 28, 2008, HBG announced that it had sold 12 stations to

, subject to CRTC approval, for a price of $18.95 million. The Kincardine and Haldimand stations were not part of the deal, and their status was not disclosed at the time of the Newcap announcement. Newcap's formal application to acquire the stations was published for public hearings by the CRTC on November 13, 2008, but was subsequently withdrawn in January 2009. Newcap CEO Rob Steele indicated that in light of the

credit market The bond market (also debt market or credit market) is a financial market where participants can issue new debt, known as the primary market, or buy and sell debt securities, known as the secondary market. This is usually in the form of bonds, bu ...

crisis, the company did not feel that it was the right time to increase its debt load. In February 2009, Haliburton was part of a tentative deal to sell CIYN in Kincardine to

.Scott Fybush
"Analog Sunset? Not in Scranton!"
''NorthEast Radio Watch'', February 23, 2009. On October 19, 2012, the CRTC approved

's application for authority to acquire Haliburton's AM and FM radio stations located in Ontario.

Stations

At the time of Haliburton's acquisition by Vista in 2012, the company owned the following stations: * Bancroft -

CHMS-FM CHMS-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 97.7 FM in Bancroft, Ontario. The station airs a Classic Hits and music mix format using the on-air branding Moose FM, and is owned by Vista Broadcast Group. The station originally began broad ...

* Barry's Bay -

CHBY-FM CHBY-FM is a radio station which broadcasts a classic hits/adult contemporary format on the frequency of 106.5 MHz in Barry's Bay, Ontario, Canada. This is Barry's Bay's first commercial FM radio station. Owned by the Haliburton Broadcasting Gr ...

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

* Bracebridge - CFBG-FM * Caledon -

* Cochrane -

CHPB-FM CHPB-FM is an adult contemporary radio station broadcasting at 98.1 MHz on the FM dial in Cochrane, Ontario, Canada. The station began broadcasting in 2003 under the ownership of Tri-Tel Communications. On November 19, 2003, the Haliburto ...

CKNR-FM CKNR-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts an adult contemporary format at 94.1 MHz in Elliot Lake, Ontario. The station uses the on-air brand ''Moose FM''. History The station first aired in 1967 at 1340 AM radio, AM, and was owned b ...

* Espanola -

Fort Erie Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is directly across the river from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of Old Fort Erie which played a prominent role in the War of 1812. Fort Erie is one of Ni ...

* Haldimand - CKJN-FM * Haliburton -

CFZN-FM CFZN-FM is a Canadian radio station with an oldies/adult contemporary format broadcasting at 93.5 FM in Haliburton, Ontario and is owned by the Vista Broadcast Group. It was founded by the Haliburton Broadcasting Group. The station uses an on-a ...

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

CFBK-FM CFBK-FM is a Canadian radio station that airs at 105.5 FM in Huntsville, Ontario with an adult hits format branded as 105.5 Moose FM. CFBK began broadcasting in 1958 as CKAR on the AM band at 590 kHz with a repeater in Parry Sound known ...

Iroquois Falls Iroquois Falls is a town in Northern Ontario, Canada, with a population of 4,537 at the 2016 census. The town centre lies 11 km east of Hwy 11 on the banks of the Abitibi River, west of Lake Abitibi. Timmins, one of the largest cities in ...

CFIF-FM CFIF-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 101.1 FM in Iroquois Falls, Ontario. The station airs an adult contemporary format branded as Moose FM. The station was launched in 1998 by Tri-Tel Communications as CJWL 104.9, and move ...

Kapuskasing Kapuskasing is a town on the Kapuskasing River in the Cochrane District of Northern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Hearst. The town was known as MacPherson until 1917, when the name was changed so as not to conflict with another railw ...

- CKAP-FM ** Hearst -

CKHT-FM CKAP-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 100.9 FM in Kapuskasing, Ontario. The station airs an adult contemporary format branded as ''Moose FM''. CKAP also has a rebroadcaster in Hearst, CKHT-FM, at 94.5 FM. The station was l ...

Kemptville Kemptville is a community located in the Municipality of North Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada in the northernmost part of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It is located approximately south of the downtown core of Ottawa and s ...

CKVV-FM CKVV-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting an adult hits format on the frequency of 97.5 MHz ( FM) in Kemptville, Ontario. The station is branded as ''97.5 Moose FM''. History On December 13, 2010, the Haliburton Broadcasting Group appli ...

CJED-FM CJED-FM is a radio station in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada and targeting the Greater Niagara Falls area, including the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Niagara Region in Ontario and the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan ...

* North Bay -

CFXN-FM CFXN-FM is a Canadian radio station, that airs a classic hits format at 106.3 FM in North Bay, Ontario. The station is branded as ''106.3 Moose FM'' with the slogan ''North Bay's Biggest Variety''. The station plays a variety of current, recent ...

- CKLP-FM * Prescott - CKPP-FM * Stratford -

CJCS-FM CJCS-FM is a Canadian radio station in Stratford, Ontario broadcasting at 107.1 FM with a classic hits/ variety hits format branded as ''107.1 CJCS''. The station is owned by Vista Radio. CJCS also broadcasts Toronto Blue Jays games. The stati ...

* Sturgeon Falls -

CHMT-FM CHMT-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 93.1 FM in Timmins, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Vista Radio, it broadcasts a country music format branded as ''Country 93.1'', "Timmins' Best Country". The Haliburton Broadcasting Group was li ...

Former stations

The following stations were owned by Haliburton in the past, but were sold to other owners prior to the company's final acquisition: * Kincardine - CIYN-FM (sold to My Broadcasting Corporation in 2009) * Sudbury -

CHNO-FM CHNO-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 103.9 FM in Sudbury, Ontario. The station is branded on-air as ''Rewind 103.9'' with a classic hits format. History The station began broadcasting on June 24, 1947 on AM 1440. It was a bilingu ...

(sold to Newcap Broadcasting in 2001) * Sudbury -

CHYC-FM CHYC-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 98.9 FM in Sudbury, Ontario. It broadcasts a francophone hot adult contemporary format for the city's Franco-Ontarian community. It is owned by Le5 Communications, and branded as ''Le Lou ...

(sold to Le5 Communications in 2008) *

CHYK-FM CHYK-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 104.1 FM in Timmins, Ontario. It broadcasts a francophone hot adult contemporary format for the city's Franco-Ontarian community. It is owned by Le5 Communications, and branded as ''Le Lou ...

(sold to Le5 Communications in 2008) ** Hearst - CHYK-3 **

- CHYX

References

External links

Haliburton Broadcasting Group
-
archived website

Moose FM Radio Network

History of Haliburton Broadcasting Group Inc.
-

Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) is a Canadian nonprofit organization which documents the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television. Since 1995, the organization has distributed its collection via an intern ...

{{Vista Broadcast Group Radio broadcasting companies of Canada Slaight Communications Companies based in Toronto Defunct broadcasting companies of Canada