Allan Waters (August 11, 1921 – December 3, 2005) was a Canadian businessman and media icon. Waters was one of the founders of

CHUM Limited CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM (AM), CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in ...

, a Canadian media corporation. Waters worked as a salesman in a

patent medicine A patent medicine (sometimes called a proprietary medicine) is a non-prescription medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name, and claimed to be effective against minor disorders a ...

company owned by John H.Q. "Jack" Part. In 1954 he and

Jerry Grafstein Jerahmiel Samson "Jerry" Grafstein (born January 2, 1935) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and retied politician who served as a Canadian senator from Ontario from 1984 to 2010. Grafstein was the longest-serving member of the Standing Senat ...

purchased one of Part's other businesses, then money-losing station 1050 CHUM. From this small humble station, Waters built his media empire. Getting ideas from a visit to Florida, Waters returned to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and introduced the

CHUM Chart The CHUM Chart is a long-running Canadian hit parade countdown radio show, originally aired on Toronto radio station CHUM AM then later revived on its sister station CHUM-FM. It consisted of 50 top tunes from May 1957 to July 1968, but in Augus ...

, CHUM Chicks and CHUM bugs to attract teenage listeners. Waters expanded from radio into the television market by buying Barrie CBC affiliate CKVR in 1969, four television stations in the Maritimes in 1972 which formed the CTV-affiliated Atlantic Television System ( ATV), and then Toronto's fledgling

CITY A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in 1978. Today CHUM consists of 33 radio stations, 12 television stations and 21 specialty channels, including MuchMusic, Bravo and Space. Waters stepped down from the board of directors on October 29, 2005. Waters' sons

James Waters James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince James ...

and Ron Waters serve on CHUM Limited's board of directors. His son James (Jim) took over as head of CHUM from the elder Waters. Waters died on December 3, 2005, at the age of 84.

References

External links

Allan Waters

CHUM Ltd. founder Allan Waters dies

Founder of CHUM Ltd. Allan Waters, broadcast pioneer, dies in Toronto at 84

Allan Waters, 84: CHUM founder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Allan 1921 births 2005 deaths Canadian radio company founders Canadian television company founders Canadian television executives Ottawa Rough Riders owners Businesspeople from Toronto