CJBC (AM)

CJBC

City of license	Toronto, Ontario
Broadcast area	Southern Ontario
Branding	Première Chaîne
Frequency	860 kHz (AM)
First air date	1925
Format	francophone news/talk
Power	50,000 watts
Class	A (clear channel)
Former callsigns	CKNC, CRCY, CBY
Owner	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Website	http://www.radio-canada.ca/radio/

CJBC is a Canadian clear-channel station, which broadcasts at AM 860 in Toronto, Ontario. It is the city's affiliate of Radio-Canada's Première Chaîne network.

History

The station was originally launched in 1925 as AM 840 CKNC, owned by the Canadian National Carbon Company. In January 1927, the station moved to AM 690, returning to 840 kilohertz a month later. The station then moved to 580 kilohertz in 1928, and to 1030 kilohertz in 1931.

The station was leased and then acquired by the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, the forerunner of the modern Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, in 1933 and became CRCY, before leaving the airwaves in 1935. The following year, it returned at AM 1420, as a signal booster for CRCT. The station's callsign was changed to CBY in 1938, and to CJBC in 1943.

In 1944, CJBC became the flagship of the CBC's Dominion Network. In 1948, its signal strength was boosted to 50,000 watts, up from its previous strength of 1,000 watts. As a Dominion Network affiliate, the station carried network programming in the evening, which included light entertainment fare and some American programming, and local programming during the day.

CJBC began carrying some French language programming in 1962, initially in the form of a nightly, half-hour newscast at 10 pm. With the closure of the Dominion Network on October 1, 1962, CJBC's French schedule expanded to two hours of programming each evening. The station adopted a French-only schedule when it became a fully fledged Radio-Canada station on October 1, 1964.

The station has been carried on rebroadcasters in Belleville, Kingston and Midland-Penetanguishene since 1977, London since 1978 and Peterborough since 1980. CBEF in Windsor, although officially licensed as a separate station, has also been a de facto rebroadcaster of CJBC since staffing cutbacks in 2009; the station maintains a skeleton staff of just two reporters for local news breaks, while otherwise simulcasting CJBC's programming at all times.

Since 1993, CJBC's Toronto studios have been based at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre on Front Street. A sister station, CJBC-FM, was launched in 1992 to broadcast Radio-Canada's music network.

In 2011, following the revocation of CKLN-FM's license, the CBC submitted an unsuccessful application to the CRTC to add a nested rebroadcaster of CJBC on 88.1 FM in Toronto with an average effective radiated power of 98 watts and a height above average terrain of 303.4 metres. On September 11, 2012, the 88.1 FM Toronto frequency was awarded to Rock 95 Broadcasting Ltd which will broadcast as CIND-FM.

Programming

The station's regional morning program is Y'a pas deux matins pareils, hosted by Line Boily, and its regional afternoon program is Au delà d'la 401, hosted by Marjorie Murphy. On Saturday mornings, the station airs the provincewide morning program Grands Lacs Café, which consists of two distinct segments; the first, airing from 7 to 9 a.m., features distinct regional programs hosted by Sylvie-Anne Jeanson on CJBC and Éric Robitaille on CBON-FM in Sudbury, while the second, airing from 9 to 11 a.m., features Robitaille and Jeanson cohosting provincewide.

Transmitters

Rebroadcasters of CJBC

City of license	Identifier	Frequency	Power	Class	RECNet	CRTC Decision
Belleville	CJBC-1-FM	94.3 FM	34950 watts	B	Query	92-764
Kingston	CJBC-2-FM	99.5 FM	1560 watts	A	Query
London	CJBC-4-FM	99.3 FM	22500 watts	B	Query
Penetanguishene	CJBC-3-FM	96.5 FM	15300 watts	B	Query
Peterborough	CJBC-5-FM	106.3 FM	13000 watts	B	Query

External links

• Première Chaîne
• Radio-Canada.ca/Ontario
• CJBC History at Canadian Communications Foundation
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CJBC