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CIDC-FM (103.5 FM, ''Z103.5'') is a radio station licensed to Orangeville,
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 ...
. Owned by Evanov Communications, the station broadcasts a
rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...
format targeting the
Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...
. Its studios are located on
Dundas Street Dundas Street is a major historic arterial road in Ontario, Canada. The road connects the city of Toronto with its western suburbs and several cities in southwestern Ontario. Three provincial highways— 2, 5, and 99—followed long sectio ...
West in the
Eatonville Eatonville may refer to: * Eatonville, Florida, United States * Eatonville, Minnesota, United States, an alternative name for the former Dakota village Ḣeyate Otuŋwe * Eatonville, Mississippi, United States * Eatonville, Ontario, a neighbourhood ...
neighbourhood in the
Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...
district of
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 ...
. CIDC has historically been known for having a
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
and electronic-leaning playlist. CIDC held a 2.0 share of the market in Numeris's Spring 2018 ratings. Due to its signal location near Orangeville, the station rimshots
Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...
, Kitchener, and Downtown Toronto. The station has often marketed itself as a Toronto station, while Evanov made repeated attempts to move or otherwise modify CIDC's signal to better serve the GTA, almost all of which were denied by the CRTC for neglecting its
city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broa ...
and contravening its competitive licensing process. The CRTC also reprimanded CIDC for not specifically devoting enough on-air community interest programming, news, sports and information specific to Orangeville or Dufferin County, as specified in its original approval.


History

The Orangeville area was struck by a massive F4 tornado as part of the
1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak The 1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak, referred to as the Barrie tornado outbreak in Canada, was a major tornado outbreak that occurred in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, on May 31, 1985. In all 44 tornadoes were counted i ...
on May 31, 1985, and the community felt it did not receive adequate warning from stations in Toronto. As such, an application was made to the CRTC for a radio station to serve Orangeville. CRTC approval was given for the station on September 10, 1986, under a guideline not to solicit advertising from Toronto,
Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...
or
Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...
. The station's frequency allocation was originally specified for
Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...
, and was moved to Orangeville to allow for the service. CIDC was launched on May 1, 1987 on 103.5 FM with an ERP of 50,000
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 from a site located northwest of Orangeville. Its transmitter's terrain, which measured height above average terrain, and tower height of meant it was higher than the top of CN Tower. CIDC's launch format as "DC 103.5" was 70's/ 80's hits. On September 28, 1994, the CRTC approved the ownership transfer of Dufferin Communications from its shareholders to CKMW Radio Ltd., operator of
Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...
multicultural station
CIAO ''Ciao'' ( , ) is an informal salutation in the Italian language that is used for both "hello" and "goodbye". Originally from the Venetian language, it has entered the vocabulary of English and of many other languages around the world. Its du ...
. The station was branded ''Hot 103.5'' in February 1995 (later calling it "Hot 103 dot 5"), playing only
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
. The station then began adding more R&B and
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...
tracks to its
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
/
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
playlist in February 1998, and was renamed ''Hits 103.5''. On July 28, 2000, approval was given to relocate the transmitter site from 6 km west of Orangeville town hall to 11 km east of Orangeville town hall and decrease the station's power from 50,000
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 to 30,700 watts. In late December 2000, the station was re-branded as ''Z103.5'' (with the decimal point heard as "dot"), with the slogan "The Hit Music Channel", though the CIDC call letters were retained. The slogan was later changed to simply "Today's Hit Music". Until the summer of 2006, CIDC was the only radio station in Canada that played
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
since
CING-FM CING-FM (''Energy 95.3'') is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 95.3 FM in Hamilton, Ontario. The station airs a hot adult contemporary format. CING's studios are located on Main Street West in Hamilton, while its transmitter is loca ...
changed formats in 2001. It was the only
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
station left in Toronto after CISS-FM became " Jack FM" in 2003. For a brief period in 2001, CKDX-FM also played dance music but poor ratings led it to switch to an
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. In the summer of 2006, Evanov launched a new station in Halifax,
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
, also on 103.5, patterned after CIDC, though with a different logo and slogan. In 2011, Evanov began to brand all it stations only by whole numbers. In January 2012, the Halifax station relaunched their Top 40/Dance format and began patterning their direction after its sister station 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 ...
, CHWE, who uses the moniker ''Energy 106''. However, while the Winnipeg station continues to do well, the Halifax outlet would see their fortunes take a downturn in ratings and format changes that resulted in their flip to Country in September 2015. Rival
CKFM-FM CKFM-FM (''99.9 Virgin Radio'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting on 99.9 MHz in Toronto, Ontario. The station is owned by Bell Media. The station airs a Top 40/CHR format, and is the flagship of Canada's "Virgin Radio" stations. CKFM's ...
switched from adult top 40 to CHR due to high airplay on top-played singles, while CIDC-FM tweaked its format by adding some adult top 40 singles, such as
Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...
's '' What Do You Got?''. Rival CKIS-FM dropped their rhythmic lean and went more mainstream in February 2011. At that same time, CIDC did the reverse: from mainstream to a rhythmic-lean, although it still plays a small percentage of dance music, which was slightly increased by 2015. Most non-top 40 dance hits remain at the station, although they are classics. It continues to report on Mediabase & Nielsen BDS 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 ...
. As of the summer of 2012, the station's slogan is "#1 For Hit Music", following the other
top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
stations in Toronto, CKIS-FM and
CKFM-FM CKFM-FM (''99.9 Virgin Radio'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting on 99.9 MHz in Toronto, Ontario. The station is owned by Bell Media. The station airs a Top 40/CHR format, and is the flagship of Canada's "Virgin Radio" stations. CKFM's ...
, which both claimed to be "Toronto's #1 Hit Music Station". As of 2016, CIDC reverted to the slogan "All The Hits." Despite the decrease in dance music, the station's highest-rated program continues to be ''The Drive @ 5 Street Mix'' with DJ Danny D. The show is mixed live with vinyl records and Compact Discs. In 2000, the show started out as a 30-minute Friday afternoon mix, but soon expanded into a 1-hour set. By 2004-2005, the set was so popular that CIDC introduced the "Drive @ 5" five times a week. Recently, as of 2008, high-profile guest DJ's have started to mix live for the Drive @ 5 on several occasions including
David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
, Tiesto, and
Armin van Buuren Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted ''A State of Trance'' (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40&nbs ...
(his show A State of Trance can be heard Sunday nights on this station). The station also had a Saturday Night edition of the "Drive @ 5 Street Mix" for a time. A similar show, ''The Power Mix'' with DJ Spence Diamonds, used to air three nights a week (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights). The show, which featured urban music, was cut in the fall of 2007. In 2011, the station introduced a mix show during the lunch hour, dedicated to hits from the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, called the ''Wayback Lunch.'' The station aired some programming hosted by Canadian DJ
Chris Sheppard Chris Sheppard (born 16 March 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and former chief executive officer of Queensland Cup club Northern Pride. Sheppard played at NRL level for the North Queensland Cowboys and the ...
in the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, including ''Pirate Radio'' and ''Groove Station''. CIDC also had a weekly show on Sundays called the ''Freestyle Frenzy'', hosted by veteran Tony Monaco. It was solely a show of freestyle music and mixes. It aired from June 4, 1995, to January 2004, and was replaced with
Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and '' ...
's ''
American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...
'' countdown. As of the summer of 2008, that show was removed from the schedule.
CKFM-FM CKFM-FM (''99.9 Virgin Radio'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting on 99.9 MHz in Toronto, Ontario. The station is owned by Bell Media. The station airs a Top 40/CHR format, and is the flagship of Canada's "Virgin Radio" stations. CKFM's ...
later picked up the show after its relaunch as Virgin Radio.
MC Mario Mario Tremblay, better known under his moniker MC Mario, is a Canadian song producer, disc jockey, and a former Virgin radio host from Montreal. Biography Born circa 1970, Mario studied in sound tracking/acoustic equipment at the UQAM. Upon gr ...
also previously held regular Sunday programming called "The Mixdown" which ran for a full hour in the afternoon until 2004 Dance music makes up approximately 20-30% of the CIDC playlist and programming. Currently, the station competes with fellow
top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
stations
CKFM-FM CKFM-FM (''99.9 Virgin Radio'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting on 99.9 MHz in Toronto, Ontario. The station is owned by Bell Media. The station airs a Top 40/CHR format, and is the flagship of Canada's "Virgin Radio" stations. CKFM's ...
and CKIS-FM, and to a lesser extent, hot AC station CHUM-FM. On September 21, 2020, CIDC-FM launched a digital signal in the
HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
format.


Attempts to relocate

On January 12, 2015, Evanov filed an application for permission to relocate CIDC's transmitter to Georgetown, using the tower of its sister station CIAO-AM, and increase its average power from 37.5 kW to 51 kW. Evanov stated that the move would help to improve reception in Downtown Toronto (especially inside buildings) to add one million potential new listeners, and deploy
HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
services simulcasting CIAO and
CIRR-FM CIRR-FM (103.9 MHz, ''103.9 Proud FM'') is a radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned by Evanov Communications, it broadcasts a Hot AC/ CHR/EDM format with a focus on the area's LGBT community. Launching on April 16, 2007, it was the first radio ...
. The application was denied by the CRTC, citing that the proposed changes would reduce coverage in Orangeville and increase its strength in an out-of-market area, thus neglecting its city of licence. The CRTC ruled that Evanov did not " emonstratea financial need justifying the proposed technical changes". On September 15, 2017, Evanov submitted an application to increase the effective radiated power of CIDC-FM, with no change in frequency. During CIDC's licence renewal process, the CRTC also noted that the station had been neglecting its city of licence in its news and information content, relating specifically to the GTA as a whole rather than Orangeville; the station's website and social presences contain no mention at all of Orangeville, or of any news and weather. As a condition of its licence renewal, the CRTC ordered the station to regularly broadcast content of direct and particular relevance to Orangeville (including news headlines and other local information), traffic and weather reports for markets within its signal contours, refrain from exclusively devoting this coverage to Toronto, and to identify as an Orangeville station. In 2018, Evanov filed an application to swap CIDC and CIRR's frequencies and change their ERP, with CIDC moving to 103.9 under reduced power to specifically serve the Orangeville market, and CIRR moving to a full-power signal on 103.5, which would inherit CIDC's existing programming. Evanov proposed moving the previous LGBT community programming on CIRR to an HD Radio subchannel, committing to produce five original hours of programming per-day. Evanov also filed another application to change CIDC-FM's frequency from 103.5 to 103.7. The application was denied by the CRTC on January 31, 2020, who ruled that it would undermine the commission's competitive licensing process, and cited technical restrictions related to use of the frequencies in both markets.


Compilations

Z103.5 has released various music compilation CDs, mixed by DJ Danny D and later The Hammer. The 3 series included Hitmix, Streetmix, and Summer Rush, named after the concert of the same name. They released from 2002 until 2018.


Concerts and live-to-air programs

The station annually hosts a number of live concert events. Past and present concerts include the Hot Rush (created in 1993 as Energy Rush, now Summer Rush), Euro-Freestyle Invasion (now Euro Invasion), and Partymania. Most of the concerts are sold-out because they are mostly filled with performances by dance artists that usually don't get much publicity. Its sister station in Halifax also started holding a similar Summer Rush concert in 2007, usually around the same time as its Toronto sibling. The Summer Rush has been held at various venues over the years, including the Molson Amphitheatre at Ontario Place,
Polson Pier Polson Pier, previously known as The Docks Waterfront Entertainment Complex (or simply The Docks), is a multi-purpose entertainment complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the largely industrial Port Lands area of the city along the w ...
(previously known as The Docks), and, more recently, the Kingswood Theatre at Canada's Wonderland. Typically, venues have changed every three to five years. There have been over a hundred artists featured from Europe, South America, USA, and Canada, including
Real McCoy "The real McCoy" is an idiom and metaphor used in much of the English-speaking world to mean "the real thing" or "the genuine article", e.g. "he's the real McCoy". The phrase has been the subject of numerous false etymologies. History The phr ...
(twice - 1997 and 2009), Culture Beat (twice - 1993 and 2004) Cascada (three times - 2004, 2006, 2008), DHT, B4-4 (a crowd favourite), Joee,
Sarina Paris Sarina Paris (born December 22, 1973) is a Canadian singer, best known for her international dance-club hits "Look at Us" (2000) and "Just About Enough" (2001). Early life Born on December 22, 1973, Paris is of Italian descent and grew up in ...
,
Len Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ *Le ...
,
The Boomtang Boys The Boomtang Boys are Canadian dance-remix musicians and music producers. They are known for both their remix work and pop-dance music, in particular their singles " Squeeze Toy" and "Movin' On", which both topped the Canadian Singles Chart. ...
, Snap!,
Waldo's People Waldo's People is a Finland, Finnish Eurodance band. The lead singer of the band is Waldo (musician), Waldo, whose real name is Marko Reijonen. They represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, with the song "Lose Control (Waldo's Peo ...
, Do (singing DJ Sammy's "Heaven"), Haiducci, DC Project, Jam & Spoon, Elissa, Stevie B, Ian Van Dahl, Sash!,
Rupee Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...
, Kevin Lyttle, Jesse McCartney,
JoJo Jojo, JoJo or Jo Jo is a given name, surname, nickname or stage name used by several people and fictional characters, including: People with the given name, nickname or stage name Musicians *JoJo (singer) (born 1990), American R&B singer, songwri ...
,
Elise Estrada Elise Estrada (born July 30, 1987) is a Filipino-Canadian pop singer-songwriter. She is known for her hit singles such as " Insatiable", "One Last Time" and "Lipstick" which were released in Canada. She is signed to Universal Music Canada's XO ...
, Basshunter and Daddy Yankee. The station also hosts live-to-airs from various Toronto-area nightclubs three to five nights per week. Wednesdays have been wayback playbacks from Club Menage since 2002 (hence the term Wayback Wednesdays), but they have recently moved to Gravity Soundbar, Bloke, and now Ristorante Buonanotte. Thursdays are live from Sugar Daddy's in Mississauga, playing the best R&B, Hip-Hop,
Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
, and
Dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...
. Fridays they broadcast out of Gravity Soundbar. Saturday nights are live from My Apartment in Mississauga. On November 11, 2015, Tony Monaco announced that after nearly 14 years, Wayback Wednesdays would end on November 25, 2015. On March 23, 2016, Wayback Wednesdays returned to Z103.5, back by popular demand, broadcasting live from Ristorante Buonanotte.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cidc-Fm IDC IDC Orangeville, Ontario IDC Etobicoke IDC Radio stations established in 1987 1987 establishments in Ontario