CHUM-FM (104.5 FM) is a Canadian radio station 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 ...

, Ontario. Owned by

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...

, the station airs a

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 ...

format. CHUM-FM's studios are located at 250 Richmond Street West in the Entertainment District, while its transmitter is located atop the

CN Tower The CN Tower () is a communications and observation tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1976, it is located in downtown Toronto, built on the former Railway Lands. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway co ...

. The station is simulcast on

Shaw Direct Shaw Direct G.P. is a direct broadcast satellite television distributor in Canada and a subsidiary of the telecommunications company Rogers Communications. As of 2010, Shaw Direct had over 900,000 subscribers. It broadcasts on Ku band from two ...

channel 872, and on

Bell Satellite TV Bell Satellite TV (; formerly known as Bell ExpressVu, Dish Network Canada and ExpressVu Dish Network and not to be confused with Bell's IPTV Bell Fibe TV, Fibe TV service) is the division of BCE Inc. that provides satellite television service a ...

channel 990. CHUM-FM is consistently one of Toronto's most popular stations according to Numeris' radio ratings.

History

CHUM-FM started broadcasting on September 1, 1963, with an ERP of 18,000 watts and a

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

and studio at 1331 Yonge Street. It aired a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

format, the first station in Canada to do so. On March 21, 1966, their ERP was increased to 54,000 watts. In 1968, CHUM-FM received approval for a change in its transmitter location and increase in power to 100,000 watts. The transmitter was to be moved to the top of the Manufacturer's Life Building at 250 Bloor Street East. At midnight on July 1, CHUM-FM changed formats to

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

, a forerunner to the present-day adult album alternative format, by playing a wide range of music ranging from

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

to classical music and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

. The station also aired public affairs programming, such as ''In Toronto''. The station featured many famous Canadian radio personalities such as Larry Green, Walter Michaels, Steve Harris, Pete and Geets, Larry Wilson, David Marsden, David Pritchard and actor Rick Moranis. On December 14, 1973, the station was authorized, along with other Toronto FM and TV stations, to move their transmitter to the top of the

. The new transmitter was turned on on May 31, 1976, with a reduced ERP of 40,000 watts. In 1978, CHUM-FM created a Top 30 Album Chart to complement sister station CHUM-AM's Singles Chart. A television version of the countdown was later broadcast on

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

, featuring music videos for most of the songs in the countdown; the TV version was discontinued in January 2008, following Rogers Communications' acquisition of Citytv. In June 1984, the station started evolving towards

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 ...

, with the shift completed by that September, though the station would retain a rock lean through the remainder of the decade. Longtime morning show host Roger Ashby would join the station from CHUM-AM on September 2, 1985, and would be paired with Rick Hodge (who had been doing sports updates on the FM's morning show since 1974). Marilyn Denis would join the show in July 1986, with "Roger, Rick & Marilyn" becoming an instant success, making them some of the best known broadcasters in Toronto radio. Throughout the next two decades, CHUM-FM would usually be the highest rated station in the Toronto market, though it would occasionally alternate with CHFI, who was usually ranked a very close second, and would occasionally dip to third place behind CFRB. The station evolved to its current

format in 1990. On May 26, 1998, CHUM-FM was granted a license to broadcast in

Digital audio broadcasting Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio international standard, standard for broadcasting digital audio radio services in many countries around the world, defined, supported, marketed and promoted by the WorldDAB organisation. T ...

using the Eureka-147 system. The

was installed on the

and broadcast at 1456.304

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

with an ERP of 5,084 watts. CHUM FM Logo 2015-Present

At the 25th Anniversary Canadian Music Industry Awards, held March 8, 2007, CHUM-FM was honoured as Station of the Year, Program Director of the year for CHUM-FM PD Rob Farina, and air talent of the year for ''Roger, Rick & Marilyn''. Former CHUM President Jim Waters was inducted into the Music Industry Hall of Fame that same evening. On June 22, CTVglobemedia purchased CHUM-FM and most of the other assets 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 ...

, the station's owners since their sign-on in 1963, following approval by the CRTC, while the

stations were sold to Rogers Communications. On June 23, Rick Hodge resigned from both CHUM-AM and CHUM-FM to pursue other opportunities. Roger Ashby and Marilyn Denis continued to host mornings, which would then be titled ''Roger, Darren & Marilyn'' (when Darren B. Lamb joined the show after a stint of afternoon drive host); Lamb left the station on September 23, 2015, with mornings hosted by Ashby and Denis. After a stint at CFRB and CJEZ-FM, Hodge would later move to sister station CHRE-FM in St. Catharines, where he remained until his retirement in 2019; Lamb would join CHFI in February 2016, and remained until his departure in 2021. Also in 2008, CTVglobemedia announced they had sold 1331 Yonge Street to a

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

developer and had acquired a new property, 250 Richmond Street West, to serve as the new home of CHUM-AM and CHUM-FM. On August 18, 2009, CHUM-FM left 1331 Yonge Street, ending 46 years at its historic home. The site would become home to a condominium complex. The new building is adjacent (and connected) to

's headquarters at 299 Queen Street West (which also formerly housed the studios of

). Until late 2009, CHUM-FM continued to be the most listened to and most influential radio station in Canada with over 1,166,000 weekly listeners according to the BBM data released on December 3, 2007. In December 2009, AC rival

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 ...

became the most-listened-to radio station in Toronto. During the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

-2009 season, CHFI continued to usually beat CHUM-FM as the top-rated radio station in Toronto, although CHUM-FM had unseated CHFI in some books. On September 10, 2010, Bell Canada announced plans to re-acquire 100% of CTVglobemedia's broadcasting arm, including CHUM Radio. When the deal was finalized on April 1, 2011, CTVglobemedia became

, and likewise CHUM Radio became ''Bell Media Radio'', effectively retiring the last remaining piece of the former CHUM Limited company. CHUM Radio had been the only division of the company to retain the CHUM name following the acquisition of CHUM Limited by CTVglobemedia in 2007. On June 22, 2018, the station underwent a major rebranding as part of an effort to appeal more strongly to women, including a new logo (amending its brand to ''CHUM 104.5'', as opposed to ''104.5 CHUM FM''), a generally hotter music direction, as well as a stronger emphasis on social media and community interaction.

Programming

CHUM-FM's current host lineup includes Marilyn Denis, David Corey, Jamar "J. Niice" McNeil, Ashley Greco, Josie Dye, Ruby Carr, Taylor Kaye, Peter Kash, and Aiko Iwashita.

The Marilyn Denis Show

CHUM-FM's morning show was hosted by Roger Ashby and Marilyn Denis for 32 years. The show originally featured Rick Hodge as an additional host until he resigned in 2008; after Hodge's resignation, Darren B. Lamb became a co-host, until he too resigned in September 2015. On July 16, 2018, the show returned to three people with the addition of Jamar "J. Niice" McNeil branded as "Roger and Marilyn with Jamar". On October 25, 2018, Ashby announced that he would retire from the morning show effective December 6, after 50 years with CHUM-AM and CHUM-FM. In January 2019, the show would be rebranded as "Marilyn Denis and Jamar" (McNeil taking over Ashby's seat as co-host), and Marilyn Denis as host. In June 2024, McNeil would move to afternoons, and the morning show would be renamed "The Marilyn Denis Show." After a summer of guest hosts, David Corey, the former program director of CHUM-FM, was introduced as Denis' new co-host in September.

HD Radio

On July 4, 2017, CHUM-FM launched

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

multi-casting services. The HD1 sub-channel carried the same programming as the standard analog frequency, while the HD2 sub-channel carried a simulcast of sister station CFRB, and the HD3 sub-channel carried a simulcast of CHUM. As of Spring 2018, CHUM-FM is no longer broadcasting in HD, with the sub-channels moving to sister station CKFM-FM.

References

External links