900 is Suddenly a Hot Frequency

[jon]

Dan Sys' Canadian Radio News is reporting that the idle 900 KHz transmitter site that had served Victoria as CKMO and CJVI, was purchased several years ago by Channel Zero of Toronto from Rogers.

Channel Zero has turned up at the current CRTC Hearings in Vancouver with an intervention against Spice Media's application to use 900 KHz for a new station in Surrey. Because, of course, it would severely reduce the value of the existing 900 Khz site. It turns out that Channel Zero plans to apply, within the next six months, for a 10KW station of their own on 900 KHz, in Victoria. They have previously applied for 600 KHz in Vancouver, as a Business News station.

[Doug]

I like Channel Zero's idea. I don't know of any "business news"-focused radio station in Canada and the fact we're starting to actually see growth in AM, that's amazing. Shall be interesting to see if we see the same growth in smaller and medium-sized markets.

Anyway...with Channel Zero operating Bloomberg TV Canada under license from Bloomberg L.P., anyone want to bet they're looking to replicate the Bloomberg Radio as "Bloomberg Radio Canada," simulcasting the U.S.-based Bloomberg Radio programming over-the-air, with several hours per day of Canadian-based programming from a central studio in Toronto?

Cheers,
Doug

[Dan Sys]

I am guessing this potential station will be some type of a News-Talk format. Victoria is not large enough to support an All Business format.

[gwp]

I was walking along the Oak Bay waterfront yesterday. It seems that the two sticks for the 900 khz transmitter site have been taken down. Many of the tower hazard lights had burned out some time ago.

[gwp]

I was walking along the Oak Bay waterfront yesterday. It seems that the two sticks for the 900 khz transmitter site have been taken down. Many of the tower hazard lights had burned out some time ago.

Towers are indeed still there. It was late and they obscured by fog. So ignore my last post.

[Doug]

I am guessing this potential station will be some type of a News-Talk format. Victoria is not large enough to support an All Business format.

Yeah, you're probably right. I guess it was more "wishful thinking" - I'm surprised no one's really attempted an "all business" news/talk radio format like Bloomberg Radio in the U.S. Certainly, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal could support it, especially if they shared programming throughout the idea (i.e., a host anchors a program in one hour from Vancouver across the three cities and another host anchors a program from Toronto in the next hour, again across all three cities).

Cheers,
Doug