CHOM-FM
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CHOM-FM is an
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 ...
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 ...
located 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 ...
,
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 ...
, Canada. Owned and operated 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 ...
, it broadcasts on 97.7
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
from the
Mount Royal Mount Royal (french: link=no, Mont Royal, ) is a large intrusive rock hill or small mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The best-known hypothesis for the origin of the name Montreal is the hi ...
candelabra tower A candelabra (plural candelabras) or candelabrum (plural candelabra or candelabrums) is a candle holder with multiple arms. Although electricity has relegated candleholders to decorative use, interior designers continue to model light fixtures ...
, with an
effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...
of 41,200
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s ( class C1) using an
omnidirectional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation angle), declining t ...
, while its studios are located at the Bell Media Building at 1717
René Lévesque Boulevard René Lévesque Boulevard (french: Boulevard René-Lévesque), previously named Dorchester Boulevard () is one of the main streets in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is a main east–west thoroughfare passing through the downtown core in the borou ...
East in
Downtown Montreal Downtown Montreal ( French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the borough of Vil ...
. The station has a
mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...
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 the station started using the brand name ''CHOM'', and is sometimes pronounced as if it were a
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
word, but other Bell Media Radio personalities have also pronounced it as .


History


Early years (1963-1974)

CKGM-FM, as the station was originally known, was founded by
Geoff Stirling Geoffrey William Stirling (March 22, 1921 – December 21, 2013) was a Canadian-American businessman and media magnate, best known for his work in his home city of St. John's, Newfoundland. Life Stirling was born in St. John's to Edgar Stiling ...
as a sister station to AM station
CKGM CKGM ('' TSN 690 Montreal'') is an English-language AM radio station in Montreal, Quebec, owned by Bell Media Radio. Formerly an affiliate of sports radio network " The Team," it was one of three stations to retain the sports format after the ...
, and opened on July 16, 1963. After a few weeks as a simulcast of CKGM, CKGM-FM launched a
beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...
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 ...
on September 1, 1963. On October 28, 1969, CKGM-FM changed its format to
album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-oriente ...
. On-air advertising was kept at a minimum. The first song played by Doug Pringle after the format switch was
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
' "
Also sprach Zarathustra ', Op. 30 (, ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' or ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'') is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical 1883–1885 novel ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra''.The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' "
Here Comes the Sun "Here Comes the Sun" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album ''Abbey Road''. It was written by George Harrison and is one of his best-known compositions. Harrison wrote the song in early 1969 at the country house o ...
". The station would change its
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
to CHOM-FM almost two years later, on October 19, 1971.


Going bilingual (1974-1977)

In 1974, CHOM proposed to the
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 ...
a plan in which the station would become
bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
(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 (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for th ...
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 to English full-time. On-air advertising steadily increased during the late 1970s. Furthermore, CHOM's original format of AOR and "underground" rock tunes (many of which were longer than the average 3 minutes in length) changed to include the playing of more top 40-type hits.


Rise and fall and CHUM takeover (1979-2002)

CHOM-FM became increasingly popular, and in 1979 surpassed sister station CKGM in
Bureau of Broadcast Measurement Numeris (formerly the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement, or BBM Canada) is a Canadian audience measurement organization. Established on May 11, 1944 as a division of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Numeris is the primary provider of viewers ...
ratings. Both stations were sold to
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 ...
on August 20, 1985. The station acquired the rights to the syndicated show by
Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...
which made its debut on CHOM on September 2, 1997, amid much controversy as he launched himself on his very first show heard in Montreal in an anti-
Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
/anti-French tirade. His show was cancelled a year later, on August 27, 1998, after numerous complaints to the CRTC about
politically incorrect ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
remarks interpreted by complainants as
sexist Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...
and
homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...
.


Return to their classic rock direction and Standard Radio takeover (2002-2007)

Effective in January 2002, the station was sold to
Standard Broadcasting Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Heraldic flag, Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology) ...
, which already owned
CJAD CJAD (800 AM) is a commercial radio station operating in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The station has an English language news/talk radio format and identifies itself on-air as ''CJAD 800''. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it has a daytime power ...
and CJFM-FM in Montreal, in exchange for Standard's
CFWM-FM CFWM-FM (99.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is owned by Bell Media and airs an adult hits format branded as ''Bounce 99.9''. The studios and offices are at 1445 Pembina Highway, Winnipeg, with sister stations CKMM- ...
in
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
.


Astral takeover and new direction (2007-2013)

Ownership changed hands again when on October 29, 2007,
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 ...
took control of Standard Broadcasting and its assets. On October 19, 2010, CHOM celebrated its 40th anniversary as a radio station. On June 22, 2011, it was announced that Terry DiMonte would be making a return to the station.


Bell Media

In July 2013, Astral Media was acquired and dissolved 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 ...
. With the merger, CHOM was reunited with its original AM sister station CKGM, which
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 ...
(now Bell Media) acquired from CHUM in 2007. On September 22, 2017, longtime radio personality Robert "TooTall" Wagenaar retired from his mid-day show after over 40 years at CHOM. His replacement is Randy Renaud, a 30-year veteran of the radio station. On May 28, 2021, Terry Dimonte left the station.


Location

When first launched in 1963, CHOM (then known as CKGM-FM) was originally based at 1455 Drummond Street in Montreal, along with the
CKGM CKGM ('' TSN 690 Montreal'') is an English-language AM radio station in Montreal, Quebec, owned by Bell Media Radio. Formerly an affiliate of sports radio network " The Team," it was one of three stations to retain the sports format after the ...
-AM. Like CKGM, it moved to 1310 Greene Avenue in Westmount in the late 1960s. In 1972, CHOM relocated across the street to 1355 Greene Avenue, while CKGM opted to stay at 1310 Greene. CHOM eventually returned to the CKGM building a few years later and remained located there until its acquisition by
Standard Broadcasting Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Heraldic flag, Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology) ...
in 2002. At this point, CHOM was moved to 1411 Fort Street in Montreal (the building that housed Standard's other two existing Montreal radio stations,
CJFM-FM CJFM-FM (95.9 FM) is a commercial English-language radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned and operated by Bell Media, the station broadcasts a Top 40/CHR format branded as ''95.9 Virgin Radio''. CJFM-FM broadcasts with an eff ...
and
CJAD CJAD (800 AM) is a commercial radio station operating in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The station has an English language news/talk radio format and identifies itself on-air as ''CJAD 800''. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it has a daytime power ...
). In September 2012, Astral Media relocated its local English-language radio stations (including CHOM) to its French-language radio studios at 1717
René Lévesque Boulevard René Lévesque Boulevard (french: Boulevard René-Lévesque), previously named Dorchester Boulevard () is one of the main streets in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is a main east–west thoroughfare passing through the downtown core in the borou ...
East in Montreal.


References


External links


CHOM 97.7
* *

{{Bell Media HOM HOM HOM HOM Radio stations established in 1963 1963 establishments in Quebec