The Team (corporately styled as The TEAM) was a Canadian

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

network, which broadcast from 2001 to 2002. It was owned and operated by

CHUM Limited CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in 1954. CHU ...

, based on the existing format of their

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 ...

station

The Team 1200 CFGO is a commercial AM radio station in Ottawa, Ontario, broadcasting on 1200 kHz. It is owned by Bell Media and broadcasts a sports radio format, using the brand name '' TSN 1200 Ottawa''. The radio studios and offices are in the Bell Media ...

, and incorporated virtually all of the company's

AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transm ...

stations across Canada. It was dissolved as a national network in 2002 amid poor ratings, although a few of its former stations retained the sports format and Team branding as standalone entities.

History

The network was launched on May 7, 2001, but struggled to build an audience in many cities. 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 ...

, for example, the network had to compete against

Telemedia Telemedia was a Canadian media company, which had holdings in radio, television and magazine publishing. The company was launched in 1968 by Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien, when he purchased CKAC in Montreal from Power Corporation of Canada. CK ...

The Fan 590 CJCL (590 AM broadcasting, AM, ''Sportsnet Radio, Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio radio station, station in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the ...

, and found that much of its potential audience had already built a strong sense of loyalty to the more established station. The switch of 1050 CHUM, the network's flagship station, away from its popular former

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 ...

format was also controversial. The network aired both original programming — its marquee Canadian sportscaster was

Jim Van Horne David Melnyk (born December 15, 1950), known professionally as Jim Van Horne, is a Canadian former sports anchor. Broadcasting career Radio Melnyk began his broadcasting career on CKMP in Midland, Ontario, in 1971. From 1972 to 1980, Van Horne w ...

, while other programs were hosted by

Paul Romanuk Paul Romanuk (born October 31, 1961) is a Toronto sportscaster and writer. He was born in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Romanuk did television play-by-play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the ''NHL on Sportsnet''. Early life Raised in Oshawa, Roman ...

Mike Richards Michael Richards (born 1949) is an American actor best known for playing Cosmo Kramer in ''Seinfeld''. Michael Richards or Mike Richards may also refer to the following people: Arts and entertainment *Mike Richards (television personality) (born ...

and Gene Valaitis"CHUM admits mistake, pulls plug on The Team". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'', August 28, 2002. — and syndicated sports programming from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, such as ''

The Jim Rome Show ''The Jim Rome Show'' is a sports radio talk show hosted by Jim Rome. It airs live for three hours each weekday from 9 a.m. to noon Pacific Time. The show is produced in Los Angeles, syndicated by CBS Sports Radio, and can be heard on affil ...

''. In August 2002, after just over a year on the air, CHUM pulled the plug and most of the network's stations reverted to their old pre-Team formats. However, the sports format and the Team branding were retained in Ottawa, where it had already been the station's established format before the network was launched, and in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, where it was also successful in the ratings. Most of these stations, and one in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

which had licensed the brand name but which at the time was owned by a different company, continued to use the Team branding as of early 2011, but were no longer considered a network. All of the stations, save the former Calgary affiliate, are now owned by CHUM's successor

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 ...

. In 2011, some of these stations were rebranded and integrated into a new

TSN Radio TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media.CHUM on April 13, 2011;"TSN Radio a reality"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', January 21, 2011. the Winnipeg and Montreal stations were added shortly thereafter, with Ottawa and Edmonton stations added in 2013. The two Bell Media-owned sports radio stations in Vancouver, while sharing some programming with the TSN Radio stations, retained the Team branding until September 8, 2014, when they were both re-branded as TSN Radio.

The Team stations

CHUM-owned

Affiliates

CFAC :''CFAC also stands for Commander Fleet Activities Chinhae'' CFAC is an AM radio station serving Calgary, Alberta. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts a sports format branded as ''Sportsnet 960 The Fan'', co-branded with t ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

and CFRN in

were also affiliates of the Team, although the stations were not CHUM-owned — CFAC was owned by

Rogers Rogers may refer to: Places Canada *Rogers Pass (British Columbia) * Rogers Island (Nunavut) United States * Rogers, Arkansas, a city * Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement * Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...

and CFRN by

Standard Broadcasting Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...

. After the Team network folded, both stations retained the sports format, although CFAC adopted the name ''The Fan 960'', as Rogers had by this time acquired Toronto's

Fan 590 CJCL (590 AM, ''Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor and Jarvis in downtown Toron ...

. CFRN, now also owned by Bell Media Radio, continued to use the Team branding until joining TSN Radio in 2013.

Later

Vancouver's

CFTE :''CFTE may also refer to: Certified Financial Technician'' CFTE (1410 AM, ''BNN Bloomberg Radio 1410'') is a radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia. Owned by Bell Media, it broadcasts a business news format. The station's programming co ...

, a sister station to CKST, also converted to the Team branding in 2009, airing a similar but distinct schedule of sports programming from its sister. Meanwhile, CHUM's Winnipeg AM station

CFRW CFRW (1290 AM) is a radio station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Owned by Bell Media, it is co-located with its sister stations CKMM-FM and CFWM-FM on 1445 Pembina Highway. Its transmitter is located near Oak Bluff along Road 54 off McGillivra ...

returned to an all-sports format on September 27, 2010, at the time, the station was known as "Sports Radio 1290" (without any Team branding). The station was subsequently relaunched as ''TSN Radio 1290'' on October 5, 2011. Following the 2007 acquisition of CHUM by

CTVglobemedia 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 ...

, majority owner of TSN, there had been occasional reports about CTV potentially using the remaining Team stations and/or the 1050 frequency in Toronto to launch a new sports radio station in Toronto or full radio network using TSN content and personalities. Plans on launching a new

TSN Radio TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media.CHUM (1050 AM) became the first station under the new TSN Radio network as ''TSN Radio 1050'' on April 13, 2011.TSN RADIO 1050 Hits the Airwaves April 13
CTVglobemedia was purchased by

Bell Canada Enterprises BCE Inc., formerly Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., is a publicly traded Canadian holding company for Bell Canada, which includes telecommunications providers and various mass media assets under its subsidiary Bell Media Inc. Founded through a cor ...

in early 2011 and became

; the company completed its purchase of

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 ...

, owner of The Team's former Edmonton affiliate CFRN, in July 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Team (radio network), The Defunct Canadian radio networks Radio stations established in 2001 Radio stations disestablished in 2002 Sports radio networks in Canada