CFCA-FM is a Canadian

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

broadcasting at 105.3 FM in Kitchener,

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 ...

. The station currently plays a Top 40/CHR

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

branded as ''105.3

Virgin Radio Virgin Radio launched in the United Kingdom in 1993. In 2008, Virgin Radio UK was sold to TIML, a subsidiary of The Times of India group, and the name was changed to Absolute Radio; the Virgin Radio name was not included in the sale. In 2001, ...

'' and is owned by

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 ...

. CFCA's studios and offices are located in Waterloo, and their

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is on Baden Hill (also known as the Baden Tower), just west of the Kitchener city limits.

History

CFCA was first launched on 106.1 FM in 1949 by local broadcaster Carl Pollock. It was the first FM radio station in Canada to operate independently, without an AM sister station. Due to the limited audience reach of FM radio at the time, however, the station left the air in 1951. Pollock subsequently launched television station

CKCO-TV CKCO-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Part of the CTV Television Network, it is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside London, Ontario, London-based CTV 2 statio ...

in 1954 and AM radio station CKKW in 1959, and then relaunched CFCA in 1967 as an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

station. Pollock's broadcast holdings became part of

Electrohome Founded in 1907, Electrohome was Canada's largest manufacturer of television sets (TVs) from 1949 to 1987. The company was also involved in television broadcasting, and was a leader in data, video, graphics displays and projectors. From 1984 to 1 ...

in 1970. CFCA and CKKW were tentatively sold in 1992 to a local consortium consisting of Jack Schoone, a former local radio announcer, and Irving Zucker, a former owner of competing stations CKGL and

CHYM-FM CHYM-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 96.7 FM in Kitchener, Ontario. The station currently airs an adult contemporary format using its on-air brand name as ''CHYM 96.7'' and is owned by Rogers Sports & Media. CHYM's studios ar ...

, but the deal fell through and the stations were instead acquired by

CHUM Radio 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 ...

in 1993. By then the station had migrated from its

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...

sound to a brighter

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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format.

Kool FM (1994-2016)

On August 12, 1994 at Noon, CFCA flipped to

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

as ''105.3 Kool FM''. During the early 2000s, the station added

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

/ rock songs into their

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sev ...

, and shifted towards

Hot AC 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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...

, but retained the rock lean and the "Kool FM" moniker. CTVglobemedia became the stations' owner when it acquired CHUM Radio in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

, and is currently owned by

since

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

. In 2012, CFCA was slightly rebranded as ''Kool 105.3'', with a new logo and a new slogan "Today's Best Variety".

Virgin Radio (2016-present)

On July 26,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, CFCA began stunting with

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ...

, while teasing a change to come that Friday (July 29) at Noon. At that time, CFCA flipped to Top 40/CHR, branded as ''105.3

'', making CFCA the 8th station in Canada to utilize the "Virgin Radio" branding. (At the same time as CFCA's flip,

CJCH-FM CJCH-FM (101.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The station broadcasts a Top 40/CHR format branded on-air as ''101.3 Virgin Radio'', and is owned by Bell Media. CJCH's studios and offices are located at the ...

in Halifax rebranded to "Virgin".) The first song on "Virgin" (as well as Halifax's "Virgin") was "

This Is What You Came For "This Is What You Came For" is a song by Scottish DJ Calvin Harris and Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on 29 April 2016, through Columbia Records and Westbury Road. American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, initially credited with the p ...

" by

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter who has released six studio albums. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'', was released in June ...

and

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to th ...

References

External links

105.3 Virgin Radio
* * {{coord, 43, 24, 15, N, 80, 38, 04, W, type:landmark_region:CA, display=title FCA FCA Fca Radio stations established in 1949 1949 establishments in Ontario Virgin Radio