CKGM ('' TSN 690 Montreal'') is an

English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

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 ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, owned by

Bell Media Radio Bell Media Radio, G.P. (formerly CHUM Radio), operating as iHeartRadio Canada, is the radio broadcasting and music events subsidiary of Canadian media conglomerate Bell Media, a division of BCE Inc.. The company owns stations across the countr ...

. Formerly an

affiliate Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

network " The Team," it was one of three stations to retain the sports format after the network folded in 2002 until it switched to the

TSN Radio TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media.René Lévesque Boulevard East in

Downtown Montreal Downtown Montreal (French language, French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the ...

. On September 4, 2012, CKGM officially began broadcasting on 690

kHz 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 uni ...

, as a non-directional

clear-channel A clear-channel station is a North American AM broadcasting, AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from Interference (communication), interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classifi ...

Class A station. It runs the maximum power permitted for Canadian AM stations, 50,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. By day, CKGM can be heard from

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 ...

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

and across the border into

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. At night, its signal covers much of Eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Its

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 ...

is located near Mercier. CKGM is also heard on the HD3 subchannel of

CITE-FM CITE-FM (107.3 MHz) is a French-language radio station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it airs an adult contemporary format. It is also the flagship station of the " Rouge FM" network, which operates across Quebec a ...

. CKGM is carried nationally 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 ...

satellite channel 985. While it was still broadcasting at 980 kHz, CKGM was known for being a legendary and influential Top 40/CHR radio station from 1970 to 1986. From 1941 until 1999, AM 690 in Montreal was the home of CBF, the

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...

of the

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 ** ...

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in ...

radio network, now known as

Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) is a Canadian French-language radio network, the news and information service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known as Société Radio-Canada in French), the public broadcaster of ...

Current programming

CKGM airs local shows on weekdays, with TSN Radio programming heard evenings and weekends, and

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

programming late nights. Local shows include ''Melnick in the Afternoon'' with Mitch Melnick, ''Campbell vs Gallo with Sean Campbell and Mitch Gallo from 10am-2pm. The Morning Show'' with Conor McKenna and Shaun Starr, and ''The Starters'' with Simon Tsalikis & Joey Alfieri. These shows mainly focus on Montreal Canadiens analysis, especially during hockey season, but also address all the major sports in North America. CKGM is the English-language flagship station for the Canadiens, with lengthy pre and post-game coverage for each game. TSN Radio 690 also carries network national feeds of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

and the World Junior Hockey Championships. CKGM, as part of the TSN Radio Network, also has rights for The British Open golf, U.S. Open Tennis, major world soccer championships, and

NBC Sunday Night Football ''NBC Sunday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''SNF'') is an American weekly television broadcast of National Football League (NFL) games on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock in the United States. It began airing on August 6, 2006, w ...

. On June 22, 2011,

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 ...

announced it had signed a deal with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

for CKGM to become the Canadiens' official English-language radio broadcaster for the next 7 seasons.Bell Media Site – Bell Media Radio

Live sports

TSN Radio 690 is the flagship station for the following teams' radio broadcasts: *

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

(

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

) *

(

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

) *

CF Montréal Club de Foot Montréal () is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Montreal. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Founded in 1992 as the Mo ...

(

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

)

Notable staff

* Elliott Price * Mitch Melnick *

Chris Nilan Christopher John Nilan (born February 9, 1958) is an American former professional ice hockey player and former radio host. Nilan played 688 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season games as a right-wing for the Montreal Canadiens, New York R ...

("Knuckles" Nilan) *

Sergio Momesso Sergio Francesco Momesso (born September 4, 1965) is an Italian-Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spent 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1983 and 1997. Playing career Momesso played his junior hockey for t ...

History

Early days

CKGM was founded by

Geoff Stirling Geoffrey William Stirling (March 22, 1921 – December 21, 2013) was a Canadian-American businessman and media magnate, best known for his work in his home city of St. John's, Newfoundland. Life Stirling was born in St. John's to Edgar Stilin ...

and opened on December 7, 1959. The station was then on 980

with a power of 10,000

s full-time as a class B station, using a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with different patterns day and night (the nighttime pattern being somewhat tighter). The 980 frequency had been previously occupied by CKVL, before it moved to 850. While most of the station's programming was devoted to music (playing

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

hits), the station also had a number of open-line talk shows. CKGM 980 was very well listened to in its heyday of Top 40 hits in the Northern Vermont and Northern New York areas due to their proximity to Montreal. On July 16, 1963, an FM

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 ...

, CKGM-FM, later known as

CHOM-FM CHOM-FM (97.7 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial FM radio, FM radio station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it broadcasts a mainstream rock radio format. The studios are in the Bell Media Building at 1717 ...

starting in 1970. After a few weeks of

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

ing CKGM, the FM station adopted a beautiful music format on September 1. In 1963, a

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see '') is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a Fuse (explosives), fuse (typically a glass bottle filled wit ...

was thrown through a window, but was faulty and did not ignite inside the studios. Only three people were in the studios at the late night hour, including Jim Turner, on the air in the control room just a few metres away. In 1965, CKGM hired open-line host

Pat Burns Patrick John Joseph Burns (April 4, 1952 – November 19, 2010) was a National Hockey League head coach. Over 14 seasons between 1988 and 2004, he coached in 1,019 games with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New Je ...

, famous for his controversial opinions, especially on language issues. Known in particular for featuring prominently on his show

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

s who were proud of being

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

or of being assimilated to the

Anglophone The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...

community (again, depending on the point of view), Burns would remain on the air until early 1969, resigning after a

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

campaign targeting the station's advertisers was launched. Burns was sufficiently controversial to be publicly denounced by Quebec

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Daniel Johnson Sr., and the station received several

bomb threat A bomb threat or bomb scare is a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to cause property damage, death, injuries, and/or incite fear, whether or not such a device actually exists. History Bomb threats ...

s during the late 1960s. In 1968, CKGM moved from 1455 Drummond in

downtown Montreal Downtown Montreal (French language, French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the ...

to 1310 Greene in

Westmount Westmount () is a city on the Island of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is an enclave of the city of Montreal, with a population of 19,658 as of the 2021 Canadian census. Westmount is home to schools, an arena, a pool, a public li ...

. CKGM became the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

' flagship for the baseball team's first season in Montreal in 1969. (Baseball would move to CFCF the following year.)

Top 40 era

On January 1, 1970, CKGM changed its format to become a full-time Top 40 station. The ratings quickly climbed, with CKGM beating direct competitor CFOX, also a full-time Top 40 station, in the Fall 1970 BBM ratings. CKGM would quickly become one of

's legendary AM Top 40 stations. Legendary morning

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

host Ralph Lockwood, formerly of CFOX, made his debut on CKGM on October 2, 1972. He would remain with the station until late 1981. In 1975, CKGM introduced "La Connection Française", referring to a trio of bilingual personalities (Rob Christie,

Marc Denis Joseph Marc Denis (born August 1, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender, who last played with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). For the 2009–10 season, he was hired as the goaltenders' coach of ...

and Scott Carpentier) which used both English and French on the air and played songs of both languages. As CKGM remained an English-language station, this resulted in French-language stations complaining to the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

(CRTC) and even refusing to observe quotas of Francophone music. On-air bilingualism would remain a distinctive CKGM feature until stringent CRTC regulation forbidding it (and also enforcing quotas on the Francophone side) went into effect on January 1, 1980. CKGM got a record-high number of listeners among English-language stations in Montreal according to the Fall 1976 BBM ratings that were released on December 13 of that year, thanks in part to the large numbers of Francophones who listened to the station. (Almost 40% of CKGM listeners were French-speaking.) During its Top 40 era, CKGM was one of a handful of Canadian radio stations to carry the syndicated countdown show ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...

'' with

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40'', as well as the weekly syndicated televi ...

Sale to CHUM Limited

On August 20, 1985, CKGM and sister station CHOM-FM were sold to

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 ...

. CKGM switched its format to gold-based

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 ...

under the "Lite Rock, Less Talk", and "Favourites of Yesterday and Today" monikers a few months later, on January 15, 1986. The station returned to a Top 40 format at 5 p.m. on February 10, 1989, changing its

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 ...

to CHTX in an attempt to distance itself as far as possible from its earlier days as a Top 40 station that even included adopting a new phone number. CHTX identified itself on-air as ''980 Hits'', and also referred to itself as "the station that plays the most music allowed by law" (in reference here to CRTC regulations that limited hit music on FM stations). Anecdotal evidence suggests that at least some listeners wondered if there was, in fact, a legal limitation on the number of songs radio stations can play. On September 14, 1990, at 5 p.m., CHTX moved to 990 kHz, increasing its power to 50,000 watts full-time from a new transmitter site located in Ville Mercier, and converting itself to

AM stereo AM stereo is a term given to a series of mutually incompatible techniques for radio broadcasting stereo audio in the AM band in a manner that is compatible with standard AM receivers. There are two main classes of systems: independent sideban ...

. However, 990 was a class B frequency, requiring the station to use a

which is slightly directional during the day and extremely directional at night to protect clear channel (class A) stations CBW in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

and CBY in

Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador Corner Brook (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 19,316 Census Agglomeration, CA 29,762) is a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Corner Bro ...

. The switch occurred one week later than initially scheduled, on orders from the federal Department of Communications, due to the "tense security situation" (the

Oka Crisis The Oka Crisis (), also known as the Mohawk Crisis or Kanehsatà:ke Resistance (), was a land rights, land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, over plans to build a golf course on land known as "The Pin ...

) in the neighbouring Indian reserve of

Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawà:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, across from Montreal. Establi ...

. Another format change occurred at 6 a.m. on May 24, 1991, with the new format being

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

, although the station would also air

Dr. Laura Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

's syndicated advice show. The station changed its call sign to CKIS and identified itself as ''Oldies 990''. On January 15, 1996, the station returned to its original CKGM call sign, as the station moved to a

talk radio 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 ...

format known as "Talk Radio With Attitude." The station aired mostly syndicated talk shows. For that reason, the station got low ratings, with fewer than 100,000 listeners. The CKIS call letters moved to a

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

radio station formerly owned by Rawlco, and as of

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, are now used on a Toronto radio station. When the

1998 Ice Storm The North American Ice Storm of 1998 (also known as the Great Ice Storm of 1998 or the January Ice Storm) was a massive combination of five smaller successive ice storms in January 1998 that struck a relatively narrow swath of land from eastern ...

took place, CKGM continued to rely on

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

, making few efforts to broadcast adapted emergency information. On January 9 of that year, competitor

CJAD CJAD (800 AM) is a commercial radio station operating in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The station has an English language news/talk radio format and identifies itself on-air as ''CJAD 800''. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it has a daytime power ...

lost its broadcast towers due to the accumulation of ice. After that station moved temporarily to 1410 kHz using the former facilities of CFMB, CKGM leased its signal to CJAD on a temporary basis, starting on January 25, 1998. (Technically, CKGM left the airwaves and was replaced on 990 kHz by CJAD.) CJAD returned to 800 kHz on May 29, 1998, and after two weeks of simulcast, CKGM returned on June 12, 1998, at noon. The station took the opportunity to re-launch itself as a largely automated oldies station, again using the "Oldies 990" as its moniker (but keeping the CKGM call sign).

The Team 990

In September 2000, shortly after the CRTC made changes to radio ownership regulations allowing a single company to own up to four stations in a market, CHUM announced it would trade CKGM and sister station

Standard Broadcasting Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

(which already owned two stations in Montreal) in exchange for CFWM-FM in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

(a market where CHUM already had two stations). This move allowed Standard to acquire

CKMM-FM CKMM-FM (103.1 MHz) is a Top 40/CHR radio station owned by Bell Media, branded as ''103.1 Virgin Radio''. The station broadcasts from 1445 Pembina Highway, Winnipeg, Manitoba, with sister station CFWM-FM, while its transmitter is located at D ...

and CFQX-FM. However, a few months later, the CKGM portion of the deal was cancelled. The company immediately announced that CKGM would be added to the list of CHUM-owned AM stations switching to an all-sports format on May 7, 2001, joining the new " The Team" network and identifying itself as "Team 990". CKGM became the radio flagship of the

a few days later, marking a return of baseball on English-language airwaves. The station would broadcast the last Expos' games as a Montreal franchise in 2004. Even in the very last days before the switch to the new format, the largely automated CKGM continued to air a promo criticizing "those talk stations" (in addition to always playing the same songs in the very same order). While most Team stations returned to music programming (generally oldies) on August 27, 2002, CKGM was one of the few stations where the all-sports format survived, and locally produced programming was increased. The Team 990 was anchored by the afternoon drive show hosted by Mitch Melnick. Its morning show featured veteran broadcaster Elliot Price and Shaun Starr (Denis Casavant left in November 2011 to pursue his career at RDS). Former NHLer PJ Stock hosted his own program daily from 1-3pm. Stock, from 2010–2011, was part of the morning show at CHOM. Other popular programs included the Delmar Cargo Habs Post Game show, which came on after each Montreal Canadiens game. In the summer of 2007, Matthew Ross, host of Game Points, set a station record by hosting a 10.5-hour marathon program.

Sale to CTVglobemedia

On June 22, 2007,

CTVglobemedia Bell Media Inc. ( 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 national television ...

purchased CKGM and most of the other assets of CHUM Limited following approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, while the

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 ...

stations were sold to

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...

CKGM files for frequency swap

On September 7, 2011, the CRTC announced the applicants for the 690 kHz frequency previously occupied by

CINF CINF was a French language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec. Owned and operated by Corus Quebec, it broadcast on 690 kHz with a power of 50,000 watts as a clear channel (class A) station, using a slightly directional antenna ...

—and before then, had been the longtime home of CBF. Among these included Bell Media, who planned on using 690 as a new frequency for CKGM. The reasoning for the swap was to take advantage of 690's around-the-clock

frequency, especially during nighttime hours when most sporting events, especially hockey, takes place; at 990, the station was forced to broadcast at a lower power at night, broadcasting directionally towards the north to protect CBW and CBY, significantly decreasing its coverage area in the suburban areas and on the South Shore. Other frequencies CKGM considered moving to was 940, though doing so would have taken six months to make the move, as opposed to three months if CKGM was awarded 690; and 600 (formerly used by

CINW CINW was the final call sign used by an English language AM radio station in Montreal, Canada, which, along with French-language sister station CINF, ceased operations at 7:00 p.m. ET on January 29, 2010. Owned and operated by Corus Qu ...

's predecessor, CIQC, before moving to 940 in 1999), but it would have required building new towers, and the only suitable site for broadcast was in

, on land owned by competing broadcaster,

Cogeco Cogeco Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications and media company. Its corporate offices are located at 1 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec. The company is structured into three strategic business units (SBU); Cogeco Connexion, Breezeline (p ...

. On November 21, 2011, CKGM's relocation to 690 was approved by the CRTC."Making waves: Montreal broadcasters in flux"
'' The Gazette'', August 11, 2012. The changeover took place on September 4, 2012, and its on-air branding was renamed ''TSN Radio 690''. Following the switchover, CKGM began a 90-day simulcast period, as requested and approved by the CRTC. On the week of November 27, 2012, CKGM began running an announcement on a loop on 990, reminding listeners to tune to 690; the announcement also mentioned that CKGM would cease operations on 990 entirely on December 1, 2012. Sometime after this simulcast period had ended, the 990 frequency was transferred to

Evanov Communications Evanov Communications is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. It is also the sole owner of Dufferin Communications Inc., 80% owner of Halifax Broadcasting Ltd. and Ottawa Media Inc. The group of Evanov companies owns and operates a number of ra ...

, who planned to launch its new

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

-oriented station, CHRF ("Radio Fierté"), at 990 in early 2013. However, due to technical considerations, Evanov applied for, and was awarded, the 980 AM frequency instead (the frequency previously used by CKGM), with a launch date of 2014. Evanov originally applied for the new station to broadcast on 690. Tsn radio 990 logo colour web small

TSN Radio

On October 3, 2011, Bell Media announced that the Team 990 would be relaunched (along with CFRW in Winnipeg) under the new

TSN Radio TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media.Astral Media Astral Media Inc. was a Canadian media conglomerate. It was Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 84 radio stations in eight provinces. Astral was also a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, with 23 specialty channel ...

.Astral Shareholders Approve Acquisition by BCE
, ''Broadcaster Magazine'', May 24, 2012. Since Astral Media already owned the maximum of three English-language stations it could legally own in the Montreal market (as it had less than 8 English-language commercial stations), Bell was required to either divest stations, convert a station to a non-English language, or seek an exemption. In July 2012, Bell proposed the conversion of CKGM to a French-language sports talk format co-branded with TSN's French-language sister network

Réseau des Sports Réseau des sports (RDS) is a Television in Canada, Canadian French language Discretionary service, discretionary specialty channel oriented towards sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Special ...

(RDS). Bell also stated that the proposed format would supplant

CKAC CKAC is a Canadian French, French-language radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned by Cogeco, the station operates as a commercial travelers' information station, traffic information service branded as ''Radio Circulation 730''. ...

's recent switch from sports talk to traffic radio in 2011. On October 18, 2012, the CRTC rejected Bell's proposal to acquire Astral Media. Since the application to convert CKGM into a French station was contingent on the approval of the Astral merger, it too was rejected by the CRTC. Prior to hearings in May 2013 regarding a modified proposal to acquire Astral Media, 15,000 listeners signed a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

issued by Bell in support of allowing the company to keep the station. Bell asserted that the CRTC could force CKGM to be sold or shut down if the company was not granted an exemption to the ownership cap. Bell proposed an exemption promising to keep CKGM as a sports radio station and invest $245,000 in local amateur sports and sports journalism scholarships for seven years. At the hearings however, the CRTC's commissioner noted that most of the comments on Bell's petition only supported CKGM maintaining a sports radio format and not Bell's purchase of Astral as a whole, and that the company could elect to sell a different station instead.

Rogers 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. Operations Current television brands owned by Rogers include two television sys ...

showed interest in making a "reasonable offer" to purchase CKGM if Bell were forced to divest the station; Rogers planned to put the station in its

Sportsnet Radio Sportsnet Radio is the branding used by three sports talk radio stations in Canada owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a division of Rogers Communications. Overview The Toronto and Calgary stations (which maintain their former The Fan moniker in thei ...

chain, maintaining a sports format and complementing the recently acquired

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 ...

station

CJNT-DT CJNT-DT (channel 62) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the Citytv network. Owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media, the station maintains studios inside the Rogers Building at the corner of McGil ...

to increase its presence in Montreal. However, if this were to have occurred, CKGM would have lost its Canadiens radio rights because they are owned by Bell directly. The CRTC ultimately approved Bell's deal and its exemptions for CKGM. After 45 years in the same building, CKGM relocated in September 2013 its studios to 1717 René-Lévesque Boulevard East to join the rest of the Bell Media cluster in Montreal.

References

External links

TSN 690 Montreal

CKGM-AM
at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the

Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) was a Canadian nonprofit organization which documented the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television networks, programs and broadcasters. The organization was established in ...

* {{CTVglobemedia KGM KGM Radio stations established in 1959 KGM Sport in Montreal KGM 1959 establishments in Quebec Clear-channel radio stations Quebec Anglophone culture in Montreal