250 Richmond Street West is a studio complex in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. The building now serves as the headquarters of

iHeartRadio Canada Bell Media Radio, G.P. (formerly CHUM Radio), operating as iHeartRadio Canada, is the radio broadcasting and music events subsidiary of Canadian media conglomerate Bell Media. The company has its origins in CHUM Limited, which was acquired by ...

's national radio operations of

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...

, and as the studios of the company's Toronto radio stations, CHUM-FM (CHUM 104.5),

CFRB CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West. CFRB is a ...

(Newstalk 1010) and

CKFM-FM CKFM-FM (''99.9 Virgin Radio'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting on 99.9 MHz in Toronto, Ontario. The station is owned by Bell Media. The station airs a Top 40/CHR format, and is the flagship of Canada's "Virgin Radio" stations. CKFM ...

(99.9 Virgin Radio). The building previously served as the home of the Go Gos, Whiskey Saigon and Joe nightclubs. The building is located at the corner of Richmond and Duncan Streets and is connected with

299 Queen Street West 299 Queen Street West, also known as Bell Media Queen Street or Bell Media Studios, is the headquarters of the television/radio broadcast hub of Bell Canada's media unit, Bell Media located at the intersection of Queen Street West and John Str ...

via offices at 260 Richmond Street West (former Tip Top Tailors warehouse, c 1914). The building is likely part of the 1924 addition to 260 Richmond. This complex is where Bell Media's speciality television channels such as the television operations of

CP24 CP24 is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by Bell Media, a subsidiary of BCE Inc. and operated alongside the Bell-owned CTV Television Network's owned-and-operated television stations CFTO-DT (CTV Toronto) and CKVR-DT ( ...

, as well as Much, BNN, MuchMore,

Bravo! CTV Drama Channel (formerly known as Bravo) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel was founded as the Canadian version of the U.S. channel Bravo (which is now owned by NBCUniversal) on January 1, 1995 ...

, E! and

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consi ...

are based as well as select

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

programming. CHUM and CHUM-FM's previous headquarters were located at 1331 Yonge Street until CTV announced it would sell the building to developer Aspen Ridge Homes for $21.5 million in July 2008. CTV also announced it would move the CHUM neon sign to the new complex, the sign was unveiled at its new location on June 15, 2009, and the company's Toronto radio stations officially moved into the new complex on August 19, 2009.Theresa Boyle
"CHUM site slated for luxury condos"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

'', July 29, 2008. The building also briefly served as home to rhythmic and classic hip hop station Flow 93.5 from February 2011 until after their sale to Newcap Radio on March 31, 2014. When

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in ...

acquired

Astral Media Astral Media Inc. was a Canadian media conglomerate. It was Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 84 radio stations in eight provinces. Astral was also a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, with 23 specialty channels ...

they were required by the

Competition Bureau The Competition Bureau (french: Bureau de la concurrence) is the competition regulator in Canada. It is an independent Canadian law enforcement agency that ensures that markets operate in a competitive, innovative manner. Headed by the Comm ...

to divest a number of certain assets. As a media company in Canada cannot own more than two FM and two AM English radio stations in any one market, Flow 93.5 was subsequently sold while

NewsTalk 1010 CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West. CFRB is a ...

and Virgin 99.9 were kept through the purchase of Astral. The studios for CFRB and CKFM-FM were previously located at 2 St. Clair Avenue at Yonge and St. Clair until these stations moved to the complex on May 10, 2014. Until 2010, the building was also home to

CHUM FM CHUM-FM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, broadcasting on 104.5 MHz. Owned by Bell Media, the station airs a hot adult contemporary format. CHUM-FM's studios are located at 250 Richmond Street West in the Entertainment District, ...

sister station, CHUM AM, both during its time as ''CP24 Radio 1050'' and briefly in 2010 during the first few months operating as ''TSN 1050''. Now, CHUM AM is primarily based at the 9 Channel Nine Court complex in the Agincourt neighbourhood of Scarborough, so its radio programs can be

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

on TSN's television network.

References

External links

Bell Media
{{Coord, 43.6496, -79.3894, type:landmark_region:CA-ON_source:googlemaps, display=title Buildings and structures in Toronto Bell Media Radio studios in Canada