CING-FM
Encyclopedia
CING-FM is a Canadian
radio station
, which broadcasts at 95.3 FM in Hamilton, Ontario
. The station airs a classic hits
format branded as Vinyl 95.3.
CING was launched in 1976 by Burlington Broadcasting, at 107.9 FM in Burlington, Ontario
. Initially an easy listening
and then an oldies
station, the station switched to a dance music
format in 1991, which garnered a huge audience, after several months of adding new-age music to its mixture of classical and middle-of-the-road music. The station applied to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) a number of times in the 1980s for frequency changes in the hopes of better reaching the more lucrative Toronto
market, but was denied each time.
CING is one of the most powerful radio stations in Southeastern Ontario. Its signal can be heard in Hamilton, the Greater Toronto Area
, the Niagara Region, and even Buffalo, New York
. The station is marketed towards both Hamilton and Toronto.
format featuring mostly instrumental versions of pop favorites. The first song heard on the 107.9 FM frequency was "Sing" by The Carpenters
. The station began experimenting with playing oldies during the overnight period in 1978, and response was so positive that by 1980 oldies shows constituted the majority of the program schedule. During the 1980s, FM 108 dayparted its programming between oldies and middle of the road music.
In its heyday, 'FM 108' was known for its personable oldies announcers. Each brought a unique character, special talent and inimitable style to the broadcast that held the audience captive in a bygone era of broadcasting. Some of the most memorable personalities include Glen Darling, Norman B., Steve Richards/Mortenson, Wes Atkinson, Burt Thombs, Clint Trueman, Jay Brown, Dale Patterson, webmaster for Rock Radio Scrapbook, as well the Shadow, Dave Terryberry, Larry Smith and of course the infamous Rockin Robin.
FM 108 began to phase out its oldies programming in the fall of 1989 with the addition of dance music
programming ("Rhythm Radio") evenings and overnights; the station continued with its soft AC/MOR format during the rest of the day on weekdays, as "Daytime Lite and Rhythm at Nite." Oldies programming was relegated to Saturdays. The last oldies show on FM 108, hosted by Dale Patterson, aired on September 29, 1990. "Daytime Lite" ended in August 1991 and the dance format expanded to full-time (as Dance 108, and then to Energy 108 in the mid-90's).
. Following the change in ownership, Energy's format shifted from dance music to mainstream CHR
. Dance, rap, hip-hop, rock, and pop all received equal airplay. A minor name change also took place, with Energy 108 changing to Energy Radio. Under Shaw's ownership, several other stations in Ontario, including CKDK
in Woodstock
, CHAY
in Barrie
and CKGE
in Oshawa
, also adopted the Energy Radio format, rebroadcasting CING much of the day. Shaw's radio operations were, in turn, spun off to Corus Entertainment
in 1999.
swapped frequencies. CING moved to its current 95.3, and CJXY took over the 107.9 signal. The frequency switch brought with it a change in the network's sound, with the mainstream CHR format making way for a hot adult contemporary format. With CING now available over a wider geographic area, the other stations dropped their CING simulcasts in 2002. The new format mirrored the format of Toronto's market leader, 104.5 CHUM FM
, which sealed Energy's fate. In August 2002, the station dropped its troubled Hot AC format and adopted a country format, and called itself Country 95.3. On November 13, 2009, at 3pm EST, CING switched formats from country to classic hits. The last song played on the country format was The Dance by Garth Brooks
, while the first song played on the new format was Start Me Up
by The Rolling Stones
. CING is now calling itself Vinyl 95.3.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
, which broadcasts at 95.3 FM in Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
. The station airs a classic hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
format branded as Vinyl 95.3.
CING was launched in 1976 by Burlington Broadcasting, at 107.9 FM in Burlington, Ontario
Burlington, Ontario
Burlington , is a city located in Halton Region at the western end of Lake Ontario. Burlington is part of the Greater Toronto Area, and is also included in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. Physically, Burlington lies between the north shore of Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment...
. Initially an easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
and then an oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
station, the station switched to a dance music
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...
format in 1991, which garnered a huge audience, after several months of adding new-age music to its mixture of classical and middle-of-the-road music. The station applied to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) a number of times in the 1980s for frequency changes in the hopes of better reaching the more lucrative Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
market, but was denied each time.
CING is one of the most powerful radio stations in Southeastern Ontario. Its signal can be heard in Hamilton, the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
, the Niagara Region, and even Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. The station is marketed towards both Hamilton and Toronto.
FM 108 era
CING-FM began on September 23, 1976, as a beautiful musicBeautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
format featuring mostly instrumental versions of pop favorites. The first song heard on the 107.9 FM frequency was "Sing" by The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
. The station began experimenting with playing oldies during the overnight period in 1978, and response was so positive that by 1980 oldies shows constituted the majority of the program schedule. During the 1980s, FM 108 dayparted its programming between oldies and middle of the road music.
In its heyday, 'FM 108' was known for its personable oldies announcers. Each brought a unique character, special talent and inimitable style to the broadcast that held the audience captive in a bygone era of broadcasting. Some of the most memorable personalities include Glen Darling, Norman B., Steve Richards/Mortenson, Wes Atkinson, Burt Thombs, Clint Trueman, Jay Brown, Dale Patterson, webmaster for Rock Radio Scrapbook, as well the Shadow, Dave Terryberry, Larry Smith and of course the infamous Rockin Robin.
FM 108 began to phase out its oldies programming in the fall of 1989 with the addition of dance music
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...
programming ("Rhythm Radio") evenings and overnights; the station continued with its soft AC/MOR format during the rest of the day on weekdays, as "Daytime Lite and Rhythm at Nite." Oldies programming was relegated to Saturdays. The last oldies show on FM 108, hosted by Dale Patterson, aired on September 29, 1990. "Daytime Lite" ended in August 1991 and the dance format expanded to full-time (as Dance 108, and then to Energy 108 in the mid-90's).
Energy 108 era
In 1997, the station was acquired by Shaw CommunicationsShaw Communications
Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...
. Following the change in ownership, Energy's format shifted from dance music to mainstream CHR
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
. Dance, rap, hip-hop, rock, and pop all received equal airplay. A minor name change also took place, with Energy 108 changing to Energy Radio. Under Shaw's ownership, several other stations in Ontario, including CKDK
CKDK-FM
CKDK-FM is a radio station owned by Corus Entertainment and based in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada that transmits at 50,000 watts at 103.9 MHz on the FM dial...
in Woodstock
Woodstock, Ontario
Woodstock is a city and the county seat of Oxford County in Southern Ontario, Canada. Woodstock is located 128 km southwest of Toronto, north of Highway 401 along the historic Thames River...
, CHAY
CHAY-FM
CHAY-FM is a Canadian radio station based in Barrie, Ontario broadcasting with 100,000 watts at 93.1 on the FM dial. It provides an upbeat adult hits format to Simcoe County, including the communities of Orillia, Midland, Collingwood, and dozens of others....
in Barrie
Barrie, Ontario
Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe, approximately 90 km north of Toronto. Although located in Simcoe County, the city is politically independent...
and CKGE
CKGE-FM
CKGE-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 94.9 FM in Oshawa, Ontario. The station broadcasts an active rock format under the brand name 94.9 The Rock....
in Oshawa
Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...
, also adopted the Energy Radio format, rebroadcasting CING much of the day. Shaw's radio operations were, in turn, spun off to Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...
in 1999.
Move to 95.3 FM
In 2001, CING and Hamilton's CJXYCJXY-FM
CJXY-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 107.9 FM and serving the Hamilton, Ontario market, but licensed to the nearby city of Burlington. The station broadcasts a mainstream rock format as Y108. Its signal can be heard as far north as Toronto and Vaughan and as far south as St....
swapped frequencies. CING moved to its current 95.3, and CJXY took over the 107.9 signal. The frequency switch brought with it a change in the network's sound, with the mainstream CHR format making way for a hot adult contemporary format. With CING now available over a wider geographic area, the other stations dropped their CING simulcasts in 2002. The new format mirrored the format of Toronto's market leader, 104.5 CHUM FM
CHUM-FM
CHUM-FM is a Canadian radio station licensed to Toronto, Ontario and operated by Bell Media. It broadcasts at 104.5 MHz with a hot adult contemporary format that leans towards rhythmic adult contemporary...
, which sealed Energy's fate. In August 2002, the station dropped its troubled Hot AC format and adopted a country format, and called itself Country 95.3. On November 13, 2009, at 3pm EST, CING switched formats from country to classic hits. The last song played on the country format was The Dance by Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
, while the first song played on the new format was Start Me Up
Start Me Up
"Start Me Up" is a song by The Rolling Stones featured on the 1981 album Tattoo You. Released as the album's lead single, it reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the UK Singles Chart.-Writing and recording:...
by The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
. CING is now calling itself Vinyl 95.3.
Current Air Personalities
- John Novak (formerly of CKOC) - mid-days
- Gord James (formerly of CHUM-AM, CHUM-FMCHUM-FMCHUM-FM is a Canadian radio station licensed to Toronto, Ontario and operated by Bell Media. It broadcasts at 104.5 MHz with a hot adult contemporary format that leans towards rhythmic adult contemporary...
and CKOC) - afternoons - Derek Rivers (formerly of CJXY-FMCJXY-FMCJXY-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 107.9 FM and serving the Hamilton, Ontario market, but licensed to the nearby city of Burlington. The station broadcasts a mainstream rock format as Y108. Its signal can be heard as far north as Toronto and Vaughan and as far south as St....
) - evenings - Bob Saint (formerly of CFTRCFTR (AM)CFTR, broadcasting under the brand 680News, is an all-news radio station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which broadcasts live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 680 kHz on the AM dial...
)
External links
- Vinyl 95.3
- History of CING-FM from the Canadian Communications FoundationCanadian Communications FoundationThe Canadian Communications Foundation is a history of Canadian broadcasting for radio and television chronicles and documents. It also provides a history of radio and television stations, including networks, programs, broadcasters and many others....
- Project Dance: Remembering CING-FM
- FM 108 Remembered