CFMZ-FM (''The New Classical 96.3 FM'') is an FM

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 ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

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. Broadcasting on 96.3 MHz, the station is owned by

ZoomerMedia ZoomerMedia Limited is a Canadian media company controlled by Moses Znaimer, the founder of the Citytv network. Originally focusing on properties targeting what the company calls "zoomers", or the 45+ demographic, in 2022, the company began expan ...

and airs a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. CFMZ's studios are located on Jefferson Avenue in

Liberty Village Liberty Village is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered to the north by King Street West, to the west by Dufferin Street, to the south by the Gardiner Expressway, to the east by Strachan Avenue, and to the northeast by the ...

, while its

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 located atop

First Canadian Place First Canadian Place (originally First Bank Building) is a skyscraper in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontario, at the northwest corner of King and Bay streets, and serves as the global operational headquarters of the Bank of Montreal. A ...

downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Str ...

. CFMZ-FM, along with its

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

CFMX-FM CFMX-FM (103.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Cobourg, Ontario, and serving the Peterborough area. It is owned by ZoomerMedia and airs a classical music format branded as ''Classical 103.1''. It is a semi-satellite of Toronto's 96.3 CFMZ- ...

Cobourg Cobourg ( ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto and east of Oshawa. It is the largest town in and seat of Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It ...

and CFMO-FM in Collingwood, are among only five commercial broadcasters in Canada with a purely classical music format. CFMZ-FM and its sister stations are the only one that broadcasts in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

. CJPX-FM

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

and

CJSQ-FM CJSQ-FM is a French-language Canadian radio station located in Quebec City, Quebec, broadcasting on 92.7 MHz using an omnidirectional antenna with an effective radiated power of 2,840 watts ( class B). The station broadcasts a French language cla ...

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

broadcast in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. As of 2018, CFMZ-FM was the third most listened-to private station in Toronto, behind

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 ...

CHFI-FM CHFI-FM (98.1 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts an adult contemporary format, switching to Christmas music for part of November and December. The studi ...

and

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 198 ...

CHBM-FM CHBM-FM is a radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada broadcasting at 97.3 FM. The station currently broadcasts a classic hits format branded as '' Boom 97.3''. CHBM's studios are located at Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue in Toronto's Deer ...

History

Cobourg radio station CFMX-FM has been broadcasting since 1982, although it had gone on the air and off again, several times, between 1976 and 1982. CFMZ first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

in 1988 as a rebroadcaster of CFMX, with the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

CFMX-FM-1. The station was, at first, licensed to

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...

, the original transmitter location. The transmitter was moved to Toronto in 1993. CFMX's operations were gradually centralized in Toronto by 1997, and for all intents and purposes the Toronto rebroadcaster was now the primary signal. In September 2006, Canadian broadcaster

Moses Znaimer Moses Znaimer (; born 1942) is a Tajik-born Canadian media executive of jewish descent. He is the co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia ...

purchased the station. The CFMZ call sign was originally assigned to the Cobourg transmitter. However, according to

Industry Canada Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED; french: Innovation, Sciences et Développement économique Canada; french: ISDE, label=none)''Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal ...

databases, the Toronto rebroadcaster kept its original CFMX-FM-1 call sign.Call sign search
an
Broadcasting database (ZIP file)
(using the file ''fmstatio.dbf'') from Industry Canada. Retrieved on November 14, 2007. In September 2007, Znaimer also announced a deal to acquire CHWO, a

pop standards Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standard ...

station in Oakville. In 2008, the CRTC approved a change that upgraded the Toronto rebroadcaster to a full-fledged station under the call sign CFMZ, while the Cobourg station reclaimed the original CFMX calls. All music programming originates from Toronto, although the Cobourg station has some local programming. CFMZ was originally owned by Znaimer's privately held MZ Media Inc. As part of a reorganization of Znaimer's media assets, the station was transferred to the publicly traded

in 2010.Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2010-193
/ref>

References

External links

Classical 96.3 FM
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cfmz-Fm Fmz Fmz Fmz Radio stations established in 1988 1988 establishments in Ontario