CFCO (630

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

) is a

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

, and

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 ...

AM radio station located in

Chatham-Kent, Ontario Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 103,988) is a single-tier municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is mostly rural, and its population centres are Chatham, Wallaceburg, Tilbury, Blenheim, Ridgetown, Wheatley and Dresden. The current ...

. The station, owned by

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Ontario-based

Blackburn Radio Blackburn Radio, Inc. is a Canadian radio broadcasting group, which owns several radio stations in Southwestern Ontario. Headquartered in London, Ontario, the company is owned by 2061302 Ontario Limited, which is majority owned by Cogent Investmen ...

, features a heavy local news commitment. CFCO is one of the few dedicated

stations on the AM dial in North America, as well as one of the few to do so in

C-QUAM C-QUAM (Compatible QUadrature Amplitude Modulation) is the method of AM stereo broadcasting used in Canada, the United States and most other countries. It was invented in 1977 by Norman Parker, Francis Hilbert, and Yoshio Sakaie, and published in ...

AM stereo AM stereo is a term given to a series of mutually incompatible techniques for radio broadcasting stereo audio in the AM band in a manner that is compatible with standard AM receivers. There are two main classes of systems: independent sideban ...

History

Classic Gold 630

The AM radio station has been on the air since 1926. CFCO, which stands for "Coming From Chatham Ontario", featured middle of the road and

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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

formats through much of its history, moving to 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 around 1992, as ''Classic Gold 630''. The station made several upgrades during this period under the ownership of Bea-Ver Broadcasting, including an increase in nighttime power from 1,000 to 6,000 watts (the station broadcasts with 10,000 watts by day). The high quality of the

audio of CFCO was for a time even featured on a tuner manufacturer's website.

CFCO-1-FM

In 2000, the station added its FM signal on 92.9 (CFCO-1-FM) to improve reception of the station's programming in office buildings in Chatham. The FM simulcasts the AM 100% and initially broadcast with only 50 watts of power (later quintupled to 250 watts).

Country 92.9 & AM 630

On March 3, 2008, at 9 a.m., after sixteen years as an oldies station, ''Classic Gold 630'' came to an end with the song " The Beat Goes On" by

Sonny and Cher Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of spouses Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector. The pair first ac ...

, after which CFCO signed on the new

format with "

Play Something Country "Play Something Country" is a song recorded by American country music duo Brooks & Dunn, co-written by Ronnie Dunn and Terry McBride. It was released in June 2005, as the first single from the duo's album '' Hillbilly Deluxe''. In September of t ...

" by

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1988 through the suggestion of songwriter and record producer, Tim DuBois. Before thei ...

. Opening the station was 32-year CFCO vet George Brooks. This is the first time Chatham-Kent has had its own

station, although now-sister station

CHYR-FM CHYR-FM (96.7 MHz, ''Mix 96.7'') is a commercial radio station in Leamington, Ontario, Canada, serving the Southwestern Ontario market. It is owned by Blackburn Radio and airs a hot adult contemporary format branded as ''Mix 96.7''. The station ...

in nearby Leamington was a country station for most of the 1990s and sister station

CJSP-FM CJSP-FM (92.7 FM, ''Windsor's Country 95.9 & 92.7'') is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 92.7 MHz in Leamington, Ontario. CJSP is owned and operated by Blackburn Radio. The station features a country format and simulcasts its morni ...

, also in Leamington, debuted its own country format prior to CFCO's change. Besides CFCO and CJSP, other country stations owned by Blackburn Radio are

CHOK CHOK (1070 kHz, "CHOK 103.9 FM & 1070 AM") is a Canadian commercial radio station, licensed to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, and owned by Blackburn Radio. The station broadcasts a country music format with local all-news radio, talk radio and s ...

in Sarnia-Lambton,

CJWF-FM CJWF-FM, branded as ''Windsor's Country 95.9 & 92.7'', is a Windsor, Ontario radio station owned and operated by Blackburn Radio. CJWF broadcasts a country format at 95.9 FM, with limited simulcasting in Leamington, Ontario at 92.7FM. Histo ...

in Windsor, and CKNX in Wingham. In March 2011, CFCO began referring the station as ''Country 92-9 FM CFCO'' with no mention of 630 AM. By 2015, it would include 630 AM once more. On July 2, 2024, Blackburn Radio submitted an application to migrate CFCO to the FM band on a full-time basis as CFCO-FM, shutting down AM 630 and FM 92.9 in favour of a 1,250-watt transmitter on 91.3 MHz. This was after the CRTC and FCC agreed that 91.3 MHz was a usable frequency in Chatham, on May 13, 2024. The application was approved on April 14, 2025. Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2025-88
CFCO Chatham – Conversion to the FM band, ''CRTC'', April 14, 2025

References

External links

*
CFCO-AM
at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the

Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) was a Canadian nonprofit organization which documented the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television networks, programs and broadcasters. The organization was established in ...

Radio Locator information for CFCO
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cfco 1926 establishments in Ontario FCO FCO Radio stations established in 1926 FCO