Milestone Radio, Inc. was a radio broadcasting company headquartered 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 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 ...

, Canada. They were the first broadcasting company in Canada that was owned and operated by

Black Canadians Black Canadians () are Canadians of full or partial Afro-Caribbean or sub-Saharan African descent. Black Canadian settlement and immigration patterns can be categorized into two distinct groups. The majority of Black Canadians are descendants ...

. The company's president was Denham Jolly.

Company history

The company was founded in 1988 by five prominent individuals in Toronto's black community. After two attempts to obtain a license, which saw the group controversially passed over in favour of existing radio services, the group finally received a license from the CRTC in 2000 to launch the country's first R&B/

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

outlet, CFXJ-FM - branded as "Flow 93.5", which signed on the air in 2001. Slaight Communications was a minority investor in the company; this ownership stake was not part of the company's 2007 sale of its broadcasting assets to

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 ...

. In 2003, the company teamed up with

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 ...

to obtain a license for a Rhythmic Top 40 station in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. That station, CHBN-FM, made its debut on February 17, 2005. CHBN-FM has since moved to mainstream top 40 since December 2005, and CHUM's stake in the station was transferred to

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 ...

when that company acquired CHUM Limited in 2007. CHUM Radio, a division of CTVglobemedia (now

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 ...

) had acquired CFXJ which was approved by the CRTC on December 23, 2010. and was finalized in February 2011, ending Milestone's foray into radio ownership."CTV takes over Flow 93.5 FM"
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Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', February 2, 2011. That same year, CKFG-FM - on-air as "G98.7", founded by Fitzroy Gordon, was launched that October. Two years later, CFXJ was resold to Newcap Radio as Bell Media acquired the assets of Astral Media. The station, now owned by Stingray Radio, was rebranded to "93.5 Today Radio" in February 2022, whilist CKFG was relaunched as "Flow 98.7" by new owners CINA Radio Group, who acquired the station in 2021.

References

{{Reflist Slaight Communications Black Canadian culture in Toronto Defunct radio broadcasting companies of Canada Mass media companies established in 1988 Mass media companies disestablished in 2011 1988 establishments in Ontario 2011 disestablishments in Ontario Black Canadian organizations Black Canadian mass media