CFIQ (640 AM) is a commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

licensed to Richmond Hill,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, and serving Greater Toronto,

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...

and

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all so ...

with a talk format known as "640 Toronto". Owned by

Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. (often simply known as Corus) is a Canadian mass media and television production company. The company was founded in 1987 as Shaw Radio Ltd. as a subsidiary of Shaw Communications and was spun-off from Shaw in 1999. It h ...

, CFIQ's studios are located at the

Corus Quay Corus Quay, originally named First Waterfront Place, is an eight-storey commercial office tower located on a waterfront site in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building is the first major development planned for the East Bayfront district, and co ...

Building in

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 ...

; despite the station's city of licence being a suburban community north of the city, the transmitter is located in the Niagara Region town of Lincoln, southwest of Toronto.

History

Early years

On July 1, 1957, the station first signed on as CJRH. It was a 500-watt station, broadcasting on 1300 kHz. The last two letters in 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 as ...

referred to its city of licence, Richmond Hill. It moved to 1310 in 1959, and changed its call letters to CFGM in 1961. The station adopted a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

format in 1964. A few years later, it became Canada's first 24-hour country station. Don Daynard, who went on to become a longtime personality on CKFM and

CHFI-FM CHFI-FM (98.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts an Adult contemporary format. The studios are in the Rogers Building on th ...

, was a host on CFGM in the 1960s. The station moved to 1320 in 1978, and to 640 kHz on September 16, 1988.

Top 40 era

After 26 years as a country station, CFGM changed its format and call letters at 5 p.m. on June 29, 1990, broadcasting a rock-leaning Top 40/CHR format as ''AM 640 The Hog'', CHOG (which would later shift towards a more mainstream direction in September 1991). By early 1992, the station rebranded as ''AM 640 The Beat Of Toronto'', and adjusted its format to Rhythmic CHR. Several notable radio personalities were associated with the station during this era, including John Gallagher, "Tarzan Dan" Freeman, Pat Cochrane, Adrian Bell, Tony Monaco, Deanna Nason, Randy Taylor, Eric Hollo, Kenny 'The Hitman' Caughlin, Roger Kelly and the Toronto radio team of Jesse and Gene. After CFTR changed formats from contemporary hits to

all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and radio syndication, syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news sta ...

in 1993, CHOG was the last Top 40 station in the Toronto radio market until CISS-FM adopted the format in February 1999. Talk shows would later come to take up a substantial part of the station's schedule, particularly during midday periods when many of the station's hit music listeners might normally be in school.

Shift to Talk

On October 10, 1995, at 10 p.m., the station changed to a full-time talk format. As ''Talk 640'', the station aired syndicated shows such as Joy Browne, Rhona Raskin, Dr. Laura and Live Audio Wrestling, along with local programming hosted by personalities such as Gene Valaitis, Jane Hawtin, Bill Carroll, Shelley Klinck, Marsha Lederman, Karen Horsman, Michael Coren, Dave Chalk, Spaceman Gary Bell and Roger Kelly. Despite regular adjustments, including acquiring the radio broadcast rights to the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

, the station received low ratings. During this period, the station adopted the call letters CFYI. The weekend programming was a hit with "The Touch of Health" a show that started with just a half hour in 1997 to a two-hour nationally syndicated show airing 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Hosted, produced and managed by Christine McPhee, other weekend shows were the "Pet Show" with Mitch Levitsky, a "Cruise Show", a "Law Show", a "Beauty Show", and the "Small Canada Business Show".

Mojo Radio

In 2000, the station was acquired by

. On April 23, 2001, at 6:40 a.m., the station re-launched as ''Mojo Radio'', a

hot talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

radio format aimed at the male demographic. The station also changed its call letters the same day to CFMJ. The new format featured programs hosted by Humble and Fred, John Derringer, Phil Hendrie, Mike Stafford,

Andrew Krystal Andrew Krystal (died May 22, 2022) was a Canadian news reporter who worked for CityNews on CITY-DT, Citytv Toronto. He had previously been a radio talk show host, his most recent stints being on the Rogers Communications news talk network in The ...

, Spider Jones, and the syndicated '' Coast to Coast AM''. Later on, John Oakley replaced Scruff Connors, who had taken over from Humble and Fred; the latter pair left for

hot 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

station CKFM-FM in July 2003. Krystal moved to part-time work at CFRB and CKTB before moving to CJNI-FM in Halifax. Derringer's Mojo show was later discontinued as he concentrated on his marquee morning show on co-owned CILQ-FM.

AM640 Toronto Radio

In 2004, due to low ratings (MOJO was typically hovering around a 1.4 share), the station moved away from the male-oriented imaging to a more general news and talk format as ''AM640 Toronto Radio''. Oakley and Stafford continued to host the major morning and afternoon drive programs. Former police union head Craig Bromell joined the station as co-host of a new late morning program, ''The Beat'' (later rebranded as ''Bromell!'' in 2006), and in 2005, Charles Adler's nationally syndicated radio show was added to mid-afternoons. Award-winning journalist Arlene Bynon was added to the ranks in 2006 to host the Saturday afternoon ''Toronto Weekend'' program, which expanded to include a Sunday edition as well. Near the end of July 2007, the programming line-up was shuffled in response to the departure of Craig Bromell, whose show ran until the end of August 2007. Afternoon host Mike Stafford replaced ''Bromell''. ''The Bill Watters Show'' was added to the afternoon lineup. Just as the new show with co-host Jeff Marek expanded, Marek moved on to

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...

. Greg Brady replaced Marek as Bill's co-host. Brady left AM640 in late June 2010 to host a Noon - 3pm program on The FAN 590. Bill Hayes, formerly of Q107, replaced Greg Brady as Watters' co-host. Hayes was fired in January 2011. Co-hosting duties then fell to his son,

Bryan Hayes Bryan Hayes (born October 8, 1958) is a Canadian politician. He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada for the federal Conservative Party of Canada in the 2011 election, representing the Sault Ste. Marie riding.TSN Radio 1050. Charles Adler's 2pm - 4pm program was moved to the 7pm - 9pm slot at the end of August 2012. Charles Adler hosted a Toronto-based hour from 1pm - 2pm during the summer of 2010. On August 30, 2010, Arlene Bynon took over hosting duties for the 1pm - 2pm hour, with news anchor Tina Trigiani guest-hosting Friday afternoons. On July 18, 2011, ''The Bill Watters Show'' was canceled and Arlene Bynon took over the 4-7pm time slot. Tina Trigiani was the host of the 1-2p slot Monday to Friday. On July 2, 2014, Trijiani's hour was taken over by host Jeff McArthur. Jeff McArthur, former morning show host for both CFPL-FM and AM in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, joined AM640 in late August 2012 to host weekdays 2pm - 4pm. On July 2, 2014, his show was expanded to add the 1-2pm time slot. On January 7, 2013, Arlene Bynon's afternoon program was replaced by Bill Carroll. Arlene stayed on as cohost for the following three weeks. Her last day was January 29. She now hosts a show on " Canada Talks" Channel 167 on

Sirius XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merger ...

. Bill Carroll hosted the 4-7pm weekday slot in Toronto in addition to his a separate show on

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

talk radio station KFI (which is also at 640 on the AM dial) One of the station's biggest draws was that it was the radio broadcaster of the

, which it networked into other markets. Its play-by-play announcers were Joe Bowen, Dennis Beyak, Jim Ralph and Dan Dunleavy. Dennis Beyak left in the fall of 2011 to do the play-by-play for the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

on TSN regional television and on TSN Radio 1290 CFRW. AM640's 7-year contract for the rights to Toronto Maple Leafs radio broadcasts concluded before the start of the 2012-13 NHL seasonLeafs broadcasts are now split between CHUM and CJCL. CFMJ's studios were in Suite 1600 at 1 Dundas Street West in Toronto, until Corus moved all of its Toronto-based radio, television and other assets into

upon its completion in the summer of 2010. On September 8, 2015, CFMJ began simulcasting on co-owned CING-FM's HD-2 sub-channel.

Global News Radio 640 Toronto

CFMJ, along with several other Corus's news/talk radio stations across Canada were relaunched under the new national ''Global News Radio'' brand between November and December 2017. The new moniker matches the

Global News Global News is the news and Current affairs (news format), current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as ...

brand which is already used for the newscasts on Global Television's owned-and-operated stations, including CFMJ's sister station, CIII-DT, which was acquired by

as part of its acquisition of the

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. was a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian telecommunication, telecommunications company which provided telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. The company was founded in 1966 as Capital Cable Televisio ...

media unit. The official changeover to ''Global News Radio 640 Toronto'' occurred on December 1, 2017, with CFMJ maintaining its talk format and on-air roster.

640 Toronto

The "Global News Radio" branding was dropped in January 2022 to avoid confusion between news and talk programming on the station. The station continues to have a shared newsroom with Global News and the newscasts themselves are still identified as Global News. The change occurred one month after Amanda Cupido was hired as the station's program director. On May 1, 2022, the station's call sign was changed to CFIQ. The weekday talk show lineup included Greg Brady hosting ''Toronto Today'' in the morning drive slot followed by Kelly Cutrara, Alan Carter, Jeff McArthur, John Oakley, Alex Pierson and Ben O'Hara-Byrne, with Shane Hewitt in the overnight slot. Effective August 8, 2022, Carter and McArthur discontinued their shows in order to focus on their duties at Global Television. Cutrata moved to early afternoons and Pierson moved from evenings to the 9 am to noon slot, following Greg Brady. In August 2023, Amanda Cupido was replaced as program director by Mike Bendixen, who also became Corus' national director of talk programming. Bendixen had previously been program director at rival talk station CFRB for 12 years ending in 2021. As of November 2024, weekday programming includes ''Toronto Today with Greg Brady'', '' The Ben Mulroney Show'', ''Alex Pierson'', ''The John Oakley Show'', ''Global News at 6'', ''The Employment Law Show'', and ''Conversations with Ben O'Hara Byrne'', followed by repeats. Weekend programming includes ''Toronto This Weekend'', and '' The Roy Green Show'', as well as brokered programming and repeats. In March 2025 Brady took a leave of absence from the station as he pursues a

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

nomination in the

2025 Canadian federal election The 2025 Canadian federal election was held on April 28, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. Governor General Mary Simon issued the writs of election on March 23, 2025, afte ...

, with his spot as host of ''Toronto Today'' to be filled in the interim by Kevin Frankish.

Defunct programs

Toronto Maple Leafs hockey

From

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

until

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, the station aired radio broadcasts of

hockey games. Dennis Beyak was the team's play-by-play commentator when Joe Bowen called games on television, though Bowen continued to call games on radio when the Leafs aired on national TV. Beyak was replaced by Dan Dunleavy in 2011, when he left for TSN to be the

play-by-play commentator. The station has not aired Leafs games since the 2012–13 season. All games have since been split with CJCL and CHUM, owned by Rogers and Bell, respectively. Both media companies co-own the parent company of the team.

The Morning Show

On November 7, 2016, the station launched a new morning drive show, ''The Morning Show'', pairing ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'' columnist and editor Matt Gurney with

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

contributor and lawyer Supriya Dwivedi as co-hosts, replacing the John Oakley Show, which moved to afternoon drive. In February 2018, as part of the station's "revitalization" following its rebranding as Global News Radio, Gurney was moved to the 9 am to noon slot to host ''The Exchange with Matt Gurney'', and Mike Stafford was moved to ''The Morning Show'' with Dwivedi remaining as co-host. On November 27, 2020, Dwivedi announced on-air that she was leaving the show and Global, filing a complaint with the

Canadian Human Rights Commission The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) was established in 1977 by the Government of Canada. It is empowered under the '' Canadian Human Rights Act'' to investigate and to try to settle complaints of discrimination in employment and in the ...

alleging that the station had allowed its on-air talent and callers to spread "false narratives" about refugees, Muslims and other groups on air, unchallenged, and refused to enforce journalistic standards on talk radio resulting in her "receiving an increase in racist comments and violent threats". In her resignation letter, she stated “I can no longer be part of an ecosystem that tolerates and in some cases, actively sows division and discord... As a female, racialized journalist, I have been subject to rape threats against me and my 17-month old daughter and absolutely abhorrent statements from members of the public when I attempt to counter and correct the

misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...

and false narratives promoted by other hosts and guests on the station.” Mike Stafford remained as the show's host, with rotating guest co-hosts, until June 2021 when he was fired, after 20 years at the station, for using a racial slur in an internal company group chat while commenting that Ontario Premier

Doug Ford Douglas Robert Ford Jr. (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party since 2018. He represents the Toronto rid ...

was likely to slip up and use the slur during his press conference. Stafford had previously been briefly suspended in 2019 after making derogatory comments about South Asians and Muslims on social media.

''Leafs Lunch''

Jeff Marek was offered a position with

and CBC's ''

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' to host a new show. On September 7, 2007 Marek announced that he was leaving '' Leafs Lunch'' on AM 640 Toronto Radio to pursue a new route in radio broadcasting on the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 122. Brian Duff from the NHL Network was the program's host for a period of time until he was replaced by TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger. On July 5, 2010, ''Leafs Lunch'' was canceled. ''Leafs Lunch'' returned to Talk Radio AM640's Saturday and Sunday lineups, filling the noon-1p.m. timeslot until spring of 2011, when it was cancelled.

Tina Trigiani

Trigiani's show aired weekdays between 1-2p.m., this show generally covered lighter news and popular interest topics. Like the ''Stafford Show'', a main topic was introduced and then Tina took input from listeners via e-mail and phone calls. Adding occasional colour to the show was added by Trigiani's call screener, Ryan Bonnar and technical producer Patrick Malkin. AM640 Host Jeff McArthur's show absorbed the hour in the summer of 2014.

Bill Carroll

Aired weekdays from 4-7p.m. Bill Carroll hosted the afternoon drive slot along with commentary from news anchor Sandy Salerno and producer Chris Chreston until early 2016. The opening segment of each show was known as "Carroll on the News" in which Salerno, Chreston and Carroll discussed the day's major news stories. This portion of the show was taped earlier in the day due to a conflict with Carroll's show on KFI 640 in

. Carroll resigned from his position in Los Angeles, but soon after left AM640 in early 2016 for 580 CFRA in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

''The Post Game Show with Andy Frost''

Following each Toronto Maple Leafs game, radio host and Leafs PA announcer, Andy Frost discussed the ups and downs of the night's game. Much of the broadcast involves taking phone calls from the show's audience. This show was cancelled on the station, however Frost remained an evening and weekend host on AM640's sister station Q107.

''A View from Space''

For over 15 years, Gary Bell (nicknamed 'The Spaceman') hosted a show, broadcast on Saturday nights, that dealt with current events,

numerology Numerology (known before the 20th century as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, ...

and

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

. The show was cancelled, following its November 11, 2017 broadcast, when parent company Corus fired the late-night host citing complaints of anti-Semitic content. Bell also worked as a producer for various weekday shows during his time at the station and had previously worked as a technician at

CKGM CKGM (''TSN Radio, TSN 690 Montreal'') is an English language, English-language AM broadcasting, AM radio station in Montreal, Quebec, owned by Bell Media Radio. Formerly an network affiliate, affiliate of sports radio network "The Team (radio n ...

and CFTR. He died of cancer in June 2018.

Tasha Kheiriddin

Weekdays from noon–2:00p.m. Tasha Kheiriddin focused on politics and lifestyle. The show was produced by Jackie Lamport. The show featured a Political Panel every Wednesday from 1:20 - 1:40p.m. On Fridays during the same time slot a Top 3 panel took place where three women joined the show to talk about three of the top stories of the week. Notable panelists included Maddie Di Muccio, Lisa Kinsella, Anne Lagacé Dowson, and Sophie Nadaeu. The final edition of the program aired March 1, 2019 when it ended its run after three years.

''The Exchange with Matt Gurney''

Aired weekdays from 9a.m.-noon, ''The Exchange'' was a news based talk show with host Matt Gurney. Heather Purdon, Mike Stafford's former producer, produced the show. The show was launched in February 2018 and ended in February 2019.

''The Shift with Shane Hewitt''

''The Shift'', a national talk radio show broadcast from sister station CKNW 980 in Vancouver, aired on the station from 2018 until 2023. Initially hosted by Drex from 2018 to 2020, Shane Hewitt later hosted the show from a home studio in

Airdrie, Alberta Airdrie ( ) is a city in Alberta, Canada, within the Calgary Region and the Calgary Metropolitan Area, It is located north of Calgary within the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor at the intersection of Queen Elizabeth II Highway (Highway 2) and ...

Notable on-air staff and alumni

* Dennis Beyak, play-by-play commentator for Leafs broadcasts * Bill Carroll * Andy Frost * Jeff Marek

References

External links

640 Toronto

CFIQ ''(as CFMJ)''
at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation * {{Corus Entertainment FIQ FIQ FIQ Richmond Hill, Ontario FIQ Toronto Maple Leafs 1957 establishments in Ontario Radio stations established in 1957