CHEZ-FM (106.1 MHz, ''CHEZ 106'') is a Canadian radio station broadcasting a

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active ro ...

format in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

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 is owned by

Rogers Sports & Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, ...

. CHEZ's studios are located at the intersection of Thurston Drive and Conroy Road in Ottawa, 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 in Camp Fortune, Quebec, within

Gatineau Park Gatineau Park (french: Parc de la Gatineau) is a federal park located in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Administered by the National Capital Commission as part of the National Capital Region, Gatineau Park is a wedge of land extendin ...

History

CHEZ was launched at 6 p.m. on March 25, 1977 by CHEZ-FM Inc., a company owned and operated by Harvey Glatt."Music Mogul; How Harvey Glatt transformed Ottawa's 'wasteland'". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The news ...

'', July 31, 2017. Glatt owned Treble Clef music stores, a chain of retail record stores, and was also a major local concert promoter. The initial signal strength was 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s, and the first song was "

Isn't She Lovely "Isn't She Lovely" is a song by Stevie Wonder from his 1976 album, '' Songs in the Key of Life''. The lyrics celebrate the birth of his daughter, Aisha Morris. Wonder collaborated on the song with Harlem songwriter and studio owner Burnetta "Bunn ...

" by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

. The original morning show host was Mike O'Reilly, better known at the time as frontman in the rock group Bolt Upright and the Erections. Other early DJs included Geoff Winter, Steve Colwill, Sheryl Nicholson, Brian Murphy, Pierre Bourque, Paul Hunks, and Kathy Donovan. Ken Rockburn provided news and Randy Burgess did sports. The station focused on the 18-34-year-old demographic by playing

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 ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

music. CHEZ also ran children's programming, talk programming and even some

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 ...

programming when it first launched on air. Shows like ''CHEZ Ottawa'', ''The Source'', ''Jazz 106'', '' Medium Rare'' and ''In the City'' distinguished the station from others in the Ottawa market. During the first few years on air, CHEZ competed with AM station

CFRA CFRA is a news/ talk formatted radio station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. The station broadcasts on the assigned frequency of 580 kHz. CFRA's studios are located in the Bell Media Building on George Street in Downtown Ott ...

, then a

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'' ( ...

-leaning music station. In 1987, just a few weeks before celebrating its tenth anniversary on the air, CHEZ attained the number one position in the Ottawa market for the first time, with nearly 300,000 weekly listeners."CFRA loses top spot to CHEZ". ''

'', March 12, 1987. CHEZ had two sister stations, CHEQ and CJET, under the umbrella of Rideau Broadcasting, located in

Smiths Falls Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada, southwest of Ottawa. As of the 2021 census it has a population of 9,254. It is in the Census division for Lanark County, but is separated from the county. The Rideau Canal waterway passes thr ...

. In 1994, CHEZ shifted 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 ...

, partly due competing station CJSB moving its

format to FM. The station and its holdings (Rideau Broadcasting), Canada's last major independent radio station, was sold to

Rogers Radio Rogers Radio is a division of Rogers Sports & Media (a subsidiary of Rogers Communications) that specializes in the radio broadcasting industry. Rogers Radio is Canada's third-largest radio broadcaster (after Bell Media Radio and Stingray Group) ...

in 1999, joining CKBY and CIWW as Rogers-owned stations in the Ottawa market. In 2011, CHEZ changed their slogan to "World Class Rock", and began adding more current rock music to its playlist, shifting towards a

format. In March 2014, the station added more currents, and their slogan was changed again to "Ottawa's Rock Station" reflecting their competitor CKQB switching from

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

to a Top 40/CHR format. On June 6, 2016, CHEZ was rebranded to ''106.1 CHEZ'' with a new logo and the station's new website was launched reflecting the change. In June 2019, CHEZ announced a new morning show, ''The Biggs and Barr Show'', which formerly aired on CHTZ in

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of , 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontari ...

. In May 2020, the station reverted to its old branding of ''CHEZ 106'', but kept the same logo and format.

References

External links

CHEZ 106
* * {{Rogers Communications HEZ HEZ HEZ Radio stations established in 1977 1977 establishments in Ontario