CFMB

This article is about a Canadian Radio Station. For the defunct Turkish narrow gauge railway, see Chemin de Fer Moudania Brousse.
CFMB
City Montreal, Quebec
Branding CFMB Radio Montréal 1280
Slogan Montreal's #1 Multilingual Radio Station
Frequency 1280 kHz (AM)
First air date December 21, 1962
Format multilingual
Power 50,000 watts
Class B (regional)
Transmitter coordinates 45°19′31.08″N 73°32′53.16″W / 45.3253000°N 73.5481000°W / 45.3253000; -73.5481000
Callsign meaning Canada's First, Montreal's Best (Multilingual Broadcaster)
Owner Evanov Communications
Sister stations CHRF, CHSV-FM
Website cfmb.ca

CFMB is a multilingual Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, owned by Evanov Communications. It broadcasts on 1280 kHz with a power of 50,000 watts full-time as a class B station, using a directional antenna with different patterns day and night (the nighttime pattern being significantly tighter). Its transmitter is located near Saint-Mathieu, while its studios are located on Avenue Papineau, Montreal.

The station has a multilingual format targeting ethnic minorities and broadcasts programming in 16 different languages.

History

CFMB was founded by Casimir Stanczykowski in 1962.[1] From its inception on December 21, 1962 until September 29, 1997, the station broadcast on 1410 kHz. Its move to 1280 kHz was somewhat controversial, as that frequency was previously (until 1994) home to the now-defunct CJMS, a French-language station. Some individuals claimed that this move resulted from a conspiracy to prevent new competition to CKAC and CKVL, as 1280 kHz was the best AM frequency available in the Montreal area. Others claimed that the CRTC used the opportunity to promote multiculturalism at the expense of integration of immigrants to the French language. Supporters of the decision note that CFMB was due to lose its transmitter site and had already bought the old CJMS site, and that the only other application to use the 1280 kHz frequency was for a station with only 10,000 watts of power.[2]

As of Stanczykowski's death in 1981, the station was owned by CFMB Ltd., which was majority-owned by his widow Anne-Marie Stanczykowski, and her son Stefan Stanczykowski. Station president Andrew Mielewczyk also held a 19.2% stake in the company.[1] The 1410 kHz transmitter was briefly reactivated in 1998 when the station lent it to CJAD, which lost all four of its towers in the 1998 Ice Storm.

On November 18, 2014, it was announced that CFMB would be sold to Evanov Communications, pending CRTC approval. The acquisition made CFMB a sister station to Evanov's CHRF, a new French-language radio station whose original intent was to serve Montreal's LGBT community (the format was dropped in December 2015). The sale also united CFMB with CKJS in Winnipeg, another multicultural station that was founded by Stanczykowski. Evanov plans to maintain "synergies" between the two stations and has moved CFMB and CHRF to new studios on Avenue Papineau.[1]

Programming

CFMB currently broadcasts ethnic programming in Algerian Berber, Khmer, Chinese, Greek, Haitian Creole, Italian, Spanish, Lithuanian, Arabic, Urdu, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian and Ukrainian.

After being laid off from the station on November 19, 2015, former CKGM morning host Elliott Price announced that he would host a new weekly sports talk show on CFMB, Price is Right, beginning February 14, 2016. The program aired at 10:00 p.m. on Sunday nights, and was also distributed as a podcast.[3]{[4][5] On June 13, 2016, the program expanded to weeknights. In July 2016, Price announced a partnership with Sportsnet to distribute the program; it was renamed Sportsnet Tonight with Elliott Price, began to be available via the Sportsnet website, and Price became available as a Montreal-based contributor for the two Sportsnet Radio stations in Calgary and Toronto. Price retains his production duties and editorial control over the program.[3][6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Faguy, Steve (November 18, 2014). "Multilingual radio station CFMB agrees to sale to Evanov Radio". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  2. ↑ Decision CRTC 97-82
  3. 1 2 Faguy, Steve. "Elliott Price joins Sportsnet, kinda". Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Faguy, Steve. "Elliott Price returns to radio with Sunday night show on CFMB". Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "TSN 690's Elliott Price, Abe Hefter among Bell Media cuts in Montreal". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Faguy, Steve. "Elliott Price back in the radio loop with help from CFMB and Sportsnet". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 10 August 2016.

External links

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