CFCH-FM (90.5 FM) is a Canadian radio station in North Bay,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Owned by Vista Radio, it broadcasts a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

format branded as ''Country 90.5''.

History

In September 2018, the CRTC issued a call for applications for a new commercial FM station serving North Bay. Among the applicants was Vista Radio, owner of

CFXN-FM CFNO-FM, CFXN-FM is a Canadian radio station, that airs a classic hits format at 106.3 FM broadcasting, FM in North Bay, Ontario, North Bay, Ontario. The station is branded as ''106.3 Jet FM''. The station plays a variety of current, recent and ...

, who proposed a station that would carry an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format on 90.5 FM, with an effective radiated power of 45,800 watts. On May 25, 2020, the CRTC approved the application by Vista Radio. In June 2020, Vista announced that it had acquired the heritage callsign CFCH, which once belonged to what is now Rogers-owned

CKFX-FM CKFX-FM (101.9 Hertz, MHz) is a Canadian radio station in North Bay, Ontario. The station airs a mainstream rock format under the brand name ''101.9 The Fox''. The station uses the same general format as, and shares some programming with, CJRQ-F ...

. Vista Radio's owner Sherry Brydson is a granddaughter of CFCH's original owner Roy Thomson, and she described the station as being established in Thomson's legacy. From 2005 to 2014, the CFCH callsign was previously used at an unrelated

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

Chase, British Columbia Chase is a village located in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It has a population of 2,399, and its main industries are forestry and tourism. It is located at the outlet of Little Shuswap Lake, which is the source of the South Tho ...

. On June 15, 2021, at 7:15 am ET, CFCH-FM officially launched with a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

format as ''Country 90.5''; its first song was " Outlaws & Outsiders" by North Bay native

Cory Marks Cory Gerald Joseph Marquardt (born October 11, 1989) is a Canadian country rock singer-songwriter better known by his stage name Cory Marks. He is signed to Better Noise Music. He has released three albums, '' This Man'' in 2015 under Big Star R ...

. Former CHUR-FM morning host Kevin Oschefski joined the new station as its morning host.The return of CFCH
'' North Bay Nugget, June 15, 2021'' The new station competes primarily with Rogers' 600

CKAT CKAT (600 AM broadcasting, AM) is a Canadian radio station in North Bay, Ontario. The station, owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, airs a country music, country, all-news radio, news and sports radio, sports format. Histor ...

(which had taken over the original CFCH's AM 600 frequency after it moved to 101.9 FM as CKFX in the 1990s). The launch of Vista Radio's new ''Country 90.5'' also makes

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. Operations Current television brands owned by Rogers include two television sys ...

's CKAT the second

radio station in the North Bay market with the similar branding of CKAT's ''Country 600''.

References

External links

Country 90.5

CFCH-FM
at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cfch-Fm Fch Fch Fch Radio stations established in 2021 2021 establishments in Ontario