CFNY-FM
Encyclopedia
CFNY-FM, promoted under the branding 102.1 The Edge, is a Canadian
radio station
, broadcasting at 102.1 FM. The station rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s due to its freestyle DJing format and unique (at that point) choice to play alternative
music. Following a number of years hallmarked by internal problems and a listener rebellion as a result of management decisions, the station eventually evolved into its current format of conventional modern rock
. The radio station is currently owned by Corus Entertainment
.
From 2004-2008, the station's Program Director was longtime on-air personality and notable Canadian radio personality Alan Cross
. During this period, Cross was named Canadian Program Director of the Year on three occasions, in 2005, 2006, and 2008. In 2008, Cross left the station for a position at Corus Entertainment's Splice Media interactive department. The station's current Program Director is Ross Winters, who took over the position when Cross departed.
. When two brothers, Leslie and Harry Allen Jr., bought the station in the 1970s, they began playing album rock music in the evenings while simulcasting the AM programming during the day. The nearby Humber College
provided a steady stream of young employees, who were encouraged to play their own selections. Noted Canadian radio and television personality Vicki Gabereau
was one of such employees. At this point in the station's existence, it operated under the call letters CHIC-FM, with a transmitter power of 857 watts ERP mono. This was just enough to just service the town of Brampton.
Until approximately 1975, the CHIC-AM control room operator spun LPs from the third turntable in AM master control. Nonstop full play of each side of the LP was the norm - with just a break by the AM operator for ID and to flip the LP over. The music was picked by the AM operator prior to their shift. Some of those on air people were Dave Gordon, Mike Lynch, Steve Martek, Rich Elwood, Ted Woloshyn, Scott Cameron; any genre of music was open to airtime.
The style of the station was well-received by listeners. Occasionally, the end of an LP was missed by the operator, prompting listeners to call in to complain of the dead air. In 1976, a new FM studio was built just up the road from the old studio in Brampton on a very limited budget. Engineers Mike Hargrave Pawson and Steve Martak built the new studio and a new transmitter site in Georgetown to increase the coverage from 857 watts to 100 kW ERP.
In July 1977, CHIC-FM officially became CFNY-FM. The phrases "Canada's First New Youth" and "Canada Fucks New York" have been cited as backronym
s for the call sign. Staff employed to that point were fired in favour of hiring a new team and David Pritchard joined the station as CFNY's first program director. He had previously been a DJ at CHUM-FM
, and under his guidance the station became more structured. It also began hosting specialty programs of reggae and blues music, and a popular, nationally syndicated Beatles show. Eventually, conflicts between Pritchard and the Allens led them to fire him from the station for refusing to, in his words, turn the station into a conduit for "shallow, hit-oriented Pablum."
David Marsden
, who had started as an announcer at the station, was selected as Pritchard's successor in 1978.
and punk rock
emerged as dominant forms of popular music. The station became known as one of the few commercial stations at the time which played alternative music.
During this period, the station began using The Spirit of Radio, inspired by the Rush
song "The Spirit of Radio
", as a promotional catchphrase. In turn, listeners of the station began to refer to CFNY as The Spirit of Radio. Appreciative of the reference, but unable to mention CFNY directly for fear of alienating airplay on other stations, the band instead ensured the catalog number for their album Permanent Waves
was 1021 - a nod to the station's 102.1 FM frequency.
While the fan base was loyal, the station struggled to grow its audience due to its small studio and low broadcasting power. With only a small broadcast range, the station used unconventional promotional strategies in an attempt to grow the brand. CFNY would send DJs to host regular new wave dance parties, both to build a community amongst its fans and to supplement the station's limited advertising revenue through admission fees.
With the Canadian economy in recession
and interest rates high, the station's owners sold the station to media conglomerate Selkirk Communications
. Selkirk moved the station's transmitter to the CN Tower
in Toronto, thereby greatly increasing the broadcasting power and range of the station. By 1985, the station had reached new heights of popularity, capturing over 5.4% of the Toronto area listeners and becoming internationally famous for its music mix. By this time, the station's dance party tradition had evolved into a large video dance party, hosted by Martin Streek
, who joined the station as a DJ and on-air personality in 1984. This event regularly toured throughout southern Ontario and expanded the station's influence well beyond its actual broadcast range. For a brief period, it was also available on satellite across North America, although this also led to the introduction of more "popular" music.
Through the early and mid-1980s, CFNY was well-respected for introducing new performers that other stations wouldn't play due to not being well-known names. Some examples of these include Canadian artists such as Martha and the Muffins
, Rough Trade
, Blue Rodeo
, Jane Siberry, Singing Fools
, 54-40
, Skinny Puppy
and Spoons
.
CFNY also created Canada's first independent music awards, the U-Knows, the name of which was a pun on Canada's mainstream Juno Award
s. In 1986, the station held a listener contest to rename the awards, which were re-dubbed the CASBY Award
s, for "Canadian Artists Selected By You". It was in this same year that Alan Cross
joined the station as an on-air personality.
In 1987, after nine years in the position, saw David Marsden step down as Program Director. He was succeeded in the role by on-air personality Don Berns.
One notable broadcast was their worldwide period of silence for John Lennon
, followed by "Remember
" for the recently slain singer. More than 500 radio stations, including one in each Canadian province and American state, plus one in Sydney, Australia played this Dream Network tribute broadcast.
This dramatic shift in format would not be without consequences. Most significantly, the change sparked a rebellion in its fan base. The station's mid-day phone-in request show was inundated with requests for alternative songs. In support of their new policies and format, station management quickly attempted to put a stop to this by ordering that DJs were to refuse all such calls and fulfill only those requests which were for Top 40 music. Not just unpopular with the station's fan base, the new format also resulted in the dismissal or resignation of much of the on-air staff. Perhaps the most notable of these was the resignation of Program Director Don Berns after only two years in the role, in protest of station management's decisions.
In response, the more devoted of the station's listeners and fans began signing petitions, even going so far as to file an intervention with the CRTC to oppose the station's 1989 licence renewal. Certain radio analyst reports suggested that as many as 100,000 new listeners had been gained by the change, but this masked the fact that the market share dropped considerably, to 4.3%.
, which was committed to returning the station to an alternative format. Instead of reviving the old free-form programming, however, Maclean-Hunter tweaked the station's programming to create a more conventional modern rock
station. In the same year, "Humble" Howard Glassman
and Fred Patterson
launched the station's new morning show, Humble & Fred
, which would go on to receive wide acclaim.
In the early 1990s, the station again became an important outlet for new Canadian music, with bands such as Barenaked Ladies
, The Lowest of the Low
, Rheostatics
, and Sloan
counting CFNY as their first major radio supporter. Unfortunately for the station's influence, alternative rock
became the decade's dominant genre and so CFNY did not sound as distinctive compared to other radio stations as once had.
Unfortunately it would also be some time before the changes were effective in resolving the staff morale problems born during the station's recent turbulent years. The most public manifestation of the station's morale issues issues came in 1992, when DJ Dani Elwell resigned from the station by reading her résumé live over the air.
But the 1990s were also a period of revival and sowing seeds of growth for the station. In addition to the growth of the Humble & Fred morning show, Jason Barr also joined the station at this time and would go on to become a significant contributor to CFNY.
On-air personality Alan Cross launched a new feature on the station in 1993, The Ongoing History of New Music
. The program, created, hosted, and personally managed by Cross, chronicled all manner of history and trivia about the roots of rock music in a quasi-documentary style. Over time the feature would come to be one of the most recognizable and long-running pieces on the station, being owned by the station until 2008 and continuing to air new segments up until May 2011.
The mid-1990s were another era of transition for CFNY as station owner Maclean-Hunter was acquired by Rogers Communications
in 1994. CFNY was sold to competing telecommunications conglomerate Shaw Communications
as a result of the acquisition. During this period, the station dropped its old branding and became 102.1 The Edge. For several years toward the end of the 1990s it was also referred to as Edge 102 before this was dropped in favour of the current usage. On May 1, 1996, the station finally moved from its old studio in Brampton to a new facility at 228 Yonge Street in downtown Toronto.
After only four years of ownership, Shaw Communications
chose to spin off its radio holdings to Corus Entertainment
in 1999. Corus remains CFNY's owner today.
Josie Dye
joined the station in 2002 as its new mid-day host, on air from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and remains a popular fixture at the station. 2002 also saw Derek Welsman join the station as a commercial producer, though he would go on to much greater significance.
Alan Cross, host and creator of The Ongoing History of New Music, as well as on-air personality since 1986, departed the station in 2001 to pursue an opportunity as program director at Burlington
-based radio station Y108
for several years. However, in 2004 he returned to the Edge as program director. His tenure as Program Director for the Edge garnered acclaim for both him and the station, as he was awarded Canadian Program Director of the Year three times - in 2005, 2006, and 2008.
For a number of years in the 2000s, it became rare that the station would announce its call letters. To most, it was simply 102.1 The Edge. Perhaps due to CRTC regulations requiring radio stations to announce their call letters, the station began in August 2005 to identify itself as both CFNY and the Edge during identification breaks. In 2006, however, the station fell afoul of the CRTC. The regulating body opted to give CFNY only a four-year license renewal, rather than the customary seven. The regulator's concerns reportedly involved the station failing once to meet its mandated Canadian content
targets.
Further staff shakeups and alterations came with the close of the 2000s. Program director Alan Cross departed the station once more in 2008 to take a position at Corus Entertainment's interactive division, Splice Media. His replacement is current program director Ross Winters. In May 2009, host Barry Taylor, as well as longtime personality and current afternoon drive host Martin Streek
were fired for undisclosed reasons. Tragedy struck the Edge staff just a few months later, when Martin Streek took his own life on July 9.
With the departure of Taylor and Streek, host Dave "Bookie" Bookman briefly took over the afternoon drive slot until the Edge hired Fearless Fred - a host at Edmonton
-based 100.3 The Bear
- to take over the position. Fred joined the Edge as afternoon drive host in August 2009, while Bookie moved to the weekday evenings timeslot.
Just a year later, in August 2010, Dean Blundell Show co-host Jason Barr was released from his contract and left the station to pursue other opportunities. Derek Welsman, former commercial producer and show guest, returned to The Dean Blundell Show after a three year stint at Astral Media as permanent co-host in November of that year.
On September 13, 2010, the Edge left its longtime home studio at 228 Yonge Street for a new studio near Corus headquarters, at 25 Dockside Drive. The new location is casually referred to by staff as Sugar Beach, and is located across the street from the Kool Haus concert venue.
throughout the Buffalo
-Niagara Falls
NY market, in addition to Toronto. CFNY pulls a share of between 0.6% and 1.1% in the Arbitron radio rating in Buffalo. CFNY is also receivable in areas east of Erie, Pennsylvania
; however, interference from classic rocker WQHZ
at 102.3 MHz prevents CFNY from being received in much of the city of Erie. In addition, the station broadcasts streaming audio over the Internet.
The Edge is also available on Bell TV as part of the music channel package. The station also appears in the music mix of a number of cable distributions systems around the country. This gives the station not only a regional coverage, but a number of listeners over all of Canada.
As a result of these factors, CFNY frequently promotes itself as one of the most listened-to radio stations in the world — the station did, in fact, rank tenth in a 2002 Arbitron
survey of the world's most listened-to Internet radio streams.
In 2001, a spin-off television channel was created and modelled after 102.1 The Edge. Edge TV
was a digital cable
specialty channel
own by The Edge's parent company Corus Entertainment. The channel was taken off the air in 2003 due to insufficient distribution.
.
The show is casual in style, being hallmarked by a great deal of freestyle banter between the show's hosts. Frequent subjects of conversation include bathroom use, recollections of stories that happened to them, as well as commenting on current events. They frequently host guests from Toronto sports teams, as well as celebrities who are in Toronto for any reason. Every day around 8 a.m., the show runs a call-in contest to win tickets to various events in and around Toronto. "Wha' Happen?" is run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while "What's Wrong With You?" is on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
A number of contests larger than the regular daily ones have also been run on The Dean Blundell Show. The station began a series of "Wheel" contests in 2003 with the Wheel of Greed. It consisted for a series of challenges or stunts - oft-repeated ones involve stunts done in front of live tapings of Breakfast Television
and getting onto other radio stations to promote the Edge and the contest - that contestants had to perform in order to earn a spot on the wheel. The contest ended with the hosts spinning the wheel, and the landed-on winner won a large prize consisting of concert tickets, cash, a trip, and a number of other prizes. Since 2003 the Wheel of Greed has been followed by others of the seven deadly sins
, including Sloth, Envy, Gluttony, and most recently, Pride.
"The Edge Moderately Paid Employee Program" was held in February 2005. Its winner was Thornhill
native Adwoa Nsiah-Yeboah, who remains the station's morning traffic reporter today.
In 2006, "The $50,000 Gong" contest - loosely inspired by The Gong Show
- was run. It saw contestants visit the Edge studios to present their "talent," something sufficiently impressive or disgusting, to the on-air personalities. The hosts hit a gong
if they didn't like it, meaning the contestant was disqualified whike the contestants who were not disqualified advanced to the final round. On October 27, the Edge announced that James McAndrew was the winner of the $50,000 grand prize, with his "fart on command" talent.
In October 2011, the show was awarded the Top Radio Program (Morning Show) by Top Choice Awards. Later that month, the show began running an 'unplugged' feature streamed from the Edge's website. As this is on the internet rather than on broadcast radio, the show is more free to engage in lewd discussions and use profanity.
is on-air from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Her show consists mostly of music, interspersed with stories that Dye either finds in the news or relates from her own personal experience. "The Nooner", an hour-long All Request
period between noon and 1:00 p.m., also takes place during Dye's show, to which she often assigns an arbitrary theme (previous themes have included gay music to correspond with Toronto's Pride Week, cover songs, and live sessions, which she has stated is her favourite theme). She also runs a small survey every day in order to pick the last song played on The Nooner, which is generally between two choices, and relate to the theme, if there is one for that day.
In early 2009, The Nooner segment changed to The 90s Nooner, in which all songs played and requested must have been released during the 1990s. Josie plays several games with the listening audience during The 90's Nooner (including 90's Trivia).
Dye runs two regular contests:
Kennedy is known for his 'geek' interests, frequently discussing superheroes, comics, science fiction, and real-world space news on-air. He attends comic conventions and is a self-proclaimed fan of Battlestar Galactica
, going so far as to get a flight suit custom-made. Fred loves tattoos, and has several of his own.
One of his daily features is the Fearless 5 @ 5. Throughout the day, people can vote for songs at the Edge website, and the top five voted are played as the Fearless 5, at 5 p.m. He is also friends with Edge on-air personality Raina, who joins him daily at the end of his show to discuss (and frequently mock) celebrity gossip. On Fridays near the end of his show, Fred is joined in the studio by Chris Schryer of the Toronto Beer Blog for beer-tasting of less well-known beers.
Dave "Bookie" Bookman currently works the evening timeslot, from 7:00 p.m until 11:00 p.m. He joined the radio station in 1991 (and is the only on-air personality from that time that is still at the radio station), as a street reporter for their no longer existent Live in Toronto show. Bookman often talks about his love of sport
s, soap opera
s and independent music, and also often has interviews with various artists, sports commentator
s and movie reviewers. In addition, he is often given new music to premiere, or concerts to announce on his show.
Bookman regularly runs his "Bookie's College of Musical Knowledge" contest, a trivia game involving three categories (generally about or related to music, but occasionally about other subject matters, most notably The Simpsons
), three answers and three contestants. The first contestant picks the category, and gets a question and three multiple choice
answers to choose from. If answered incorrectly, the question is posed to the second, and then the third, contestant. Before getting answers, Bookman always inquires as to where the contestant is calling from, and recommends a nearby place to visit, if he knows of one.
On Thursday nights, Bookman hosts the station's Thursday 30, in which the top 30 songs of the week are played. In addition to this, he hosts Dave Bookman's Nu Music Nite, currently on Tuesday nights, at the Horseshoe Tavern
, which has been running since 1993.. He also hosts the Indie Hour program, an hour dedicated to independent music programming, Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. Bookman is himself a former musician, who formed the band The Bookmen with Tim Mech
in the early 1990s.
and Psycho Mike
.
, British Columbia
. She currently hosts the weekend morning show as well as overnights. Mariani attended Fanshawe College and completed the Radio Broadcasting Program with honors as well as received the 2007 On Air Personality of the Year Award.
On October 26, 2011, Douris released the first installment of her Edge web series, Rain's World, in which she conducts informal interviews with bands in her own home.
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
, broadcasting at 102.1 FM. The station rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s due to its freestyle DJing format and unique (at that point) choice to play alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
music. Following a number of years hallmarked by internal problems and a listener rebellion as a result of management decisions, the station eventually evolved into its current format of conventional modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
. The radio station is currently owned by Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...
.
From 2004-2008, the station's Program Director was longtime on-air personality and notable Canadian radio personality Alan Cross
Alan Cross
' is a Canadian radio broadcaster and a writer on music. Alan’s obsession with music began at age six when his grandmother gave him a transistor radio—an old Lloyds—which spawned an all-consuming fascination with things that came over airwaves...
. During this period, Cross was named Canadian Program Director of the Year on three occasions, in 2005, 2006, and 2008. In 2008, Cross left the station for a position at Corus Entertainment's Splice Media interactive department. The station's current Program Director is Ross Winters, who took over the position when Cross departed.
From CHIC to CFNY
The station commenced operations on August 8, 1960, as an FM rebroadcast of an AM station, CHICCIAO (AM)
CIAO is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 530 AM in Brampton, Ontario. The station, owned by Evanov Communications, broadcasts a multilingual programming format.-History:...
. When two brothers, Leslie and Harry Allen Jr., bought the station in the 1970s, they began playing album rock music in the evenings while simulcasting the AM programming during the day. The nearby Humber College
Humber College
Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning is a polytechnic college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Humber offers more than 150 programs including: bachelor’s degree, diploma, certificate, post-graduate certificate and apprenticeship programs, across 40 fields of study. Humber serves...
provided a steady stream of young employees, who were encouraged to play their own selections. Noted Canadian radio and television personality Vicki Gabereau
Vicki Gabereau
Vicki Frances Gabereau is a Canadian radio and television personality. Most recently she hosted an eponymously titled afternoon talk show on CTV Television Network, which wrapped up production on April 8, 2005 after 8 seasons...
was one of such employees. At this point in the station's existence, it operated under the call letters CHIC-FM, with a transmitter power of 857 watts ERP mono. This was just enough to just service the town of Brampton.
Until approximately 1975, the CHIC-AM control room operator spun LPs from the third turntable in AM master control. Nonstop full play of each side of the LP was the norm - with just a break by the AM operator for ID and to flip the LP over. The music was picked by the AM operator prior to their shift. Some of those on air people were Dave Gordon, Mike Lynch, Steve Martek, Rich Elwood, Ted Woloshyn, Scott Cameron; any genre of music was open to airtime.
The style of the station was well-received by listeners. Occasionally, the end of an LP was missed by the operator, prompting listeners to call in to complain of the dead air. In 1976, a new FM studio was built just up the road from the old studio in Brampton on a very limited budget. Engineers Mike Hargrave Pawson and Steve Martak built the new studio and a new transmitter site in Georgetown to increase the coverage from 857 watts to 100 kW ERP.
In July 1977, CHIC-FM officially became CFNY-FM. The phrases "Canada's First New Youth" and "Canada Fucks New York" have been cited as backronym
Backronym
A backronym or bacronym is a phrase constructed purposely, such that an acronym can be formed to a specific desired word. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology....
s for the call sign. Staff employed to that point were fired in favour of hiring a new team and David Pritchard joined the station as CFNY's first program director. He had previously been a DJ at CHUM-FM
CHUM-FM
CHUM-FM is a Canadian radio station licensed to Toronto, Ontario and operated by Bell Media. It broadcasts at 104.5 MHz with a hot adult contemporary format that leans towards rhythmic adult contemporary...
, and under his guidance the station became more structured. It also began hosting specialty programs of reggae and blues music, and a popular, nationally syndicated Beatles show. Eventually, conflicts between Pritchard and the Allens led them to fire him from the station for refusing to, in his words, turn the station into a conduit for "shallow, hit-oriented Pablum."
David Marsden
David Marsden
David Marsden is a Canadian radio broadcaster. As the driving force behind Brampton, Ontario radio station CFNY in the 1980s, he became an influential figure in the Canadian music industry by giving many Canadian and international alternative rock artists major Canadian radio exposure...
, who had started as an announcer at the station, was selected as Pritchard's successor in 1978.
The Spirit of Radio
During Marsden's tenure as Program Director, the style of the station evolved into a sound which is perhaps best described as a more professional-sounding version of a college radio station. At the time, alternative music was new and had not yet received wide exposure, but it was also in 1978 that New WaveNew Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
and punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
emerged as dominant forms of popular music. The station became known as one of the few commercial stations at the time which played alternative music.
During this period, the station began using The Spirit of Radio, inspired by the Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
song "The Spirit of Radio
The Spirit of Radio
"The Spirit of Radio" is a song released in 1980 by Canadian rock band Rush from their album Permanent Waves. The song's name was inspired by Toronto radio station CFNY's slogan. The song was significant in the growing popularity of the band. It is also the first song of the 1980s, since Permanent...
", as a promotional catchphrase. In turn, listeners of the station began to refer to CFNY as The Spirit of Radio. Appreciative of the reference, but unable to mention CFNY directly for fear of alienating airplay on other stations, the band instead ensured the catalog number for their album Permanent Waves
Permanent Waves
Permanent Waves is the seventh studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released January 1, 1980. The album was recorded at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec, and was mixed at Trident Studios in London, UK. Permanent Waves became Rush's first US Top 5 album hitting #4 and was the band's fifth...
was 1021 - a nod to the station's 102.1 FM frequency.
While the fan base was loyal, the station struggled to grow its audience due to its small studio and low broadcasting power. With only a small broadcast range, the station used unconventional promotional strategies in an attempt to grow the brand. CFNY would send DJs to host regular new wave dance parties, both to build a community amongst its fans and to supplement the station's limited advertising revenue through admission fees.
Turbulence and expansion
In 1979, the station's original owners were involved in court action unrelated to CFNY and forced to sell the station. In spite of its problems, CFNY garnered praise from its listeners and other broadcasters alike. Referring to its free-form format, the station was called "one of the last truly alternative radio stations in North America". When the new owners went bankrupt in 1979, the station received 6200 letters and tens of thousands of names on a petition lobbying the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to "save real radio."With the Canadian economy in recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
and interest rates high, the station's owners sold the station to media conglomerate Selkirk Communications
Selkirk Communications
Selkirk Communications was a Canadian radio and television broadcasting company, which operated from 1959 to 1989. Evolving out of Taylor, Pearson & Carson, a local broadcaster in Vancouver, British Columbia, the company grew to own 14 radio stations, six television stations and cable television...
. Selkirk moved the station's transmitter to the CN Tower
CN Tower
The CN Tower is a communications and observation tower in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Standing tall, it was completed in 1976, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure and world's tallest tower at the time. It held both records for 34 years until the completion of the Burj...
in Toronto, thereby greatly increasing the broadcasting power and range of the station. By 1985, the station had reached new heights of popularity, capturing over 5.4% of the Toronto area listeners and becoming internationally famous for its music mix. By this time, the station's dance party tradition had evolved into a large video dance party, hosted by Martin Streek
Martin Streek
Martin Streek was a Canadian radio DJ known for his work on CFNY-FM in Toronto, Ontario. His on-air duties included hosting the Thursday 30, live-to-air from the Phoenix Night Club, and live-to-air from the Velvet Underground. He committed suicide on July 6, 2009.-Youth:Streek grew up in the...
, who joined the station as a DJ and on-air personality in 1984. This event regularly toured throughout southern Ontario and expanded the station's influence well beyond its actual broadcast range. For a brief period, it was also available on satellite across North America, although this also led to the introduction of more "popular" music.
Through the early and mid-1980s, CFNY was well-respected for introducing new performers that other stations wouldn't play due to not being well-known names. Some examples of these include Canadian artists such as Martha and the Muffins
Martha and the Muffins
Martha and the Muffins are a Canadian new wave band, active from 1977 to the present. Although they only had one major international hit single under their original band name, they had a number of hits in their native Canada, and the core members of the band also charted in Canada and...
, Rough Trade
Rough Trade (band)
Rough Trade was a Canadian new wave rock band in the 1970s and 1980s, centred on singer Carole Pope and multi-instrumentalist Kevan Staples. The band was noted for their provocative lyrics and stage antics; singer Pope often performed in bondage attire, and their 1981 hit "High School...
, Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo is a Canadian pop and country rock band, which was formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have been signed with Warner Music Group since their debut album Outskirts in March 1987...
, Jane Siberry, Singing Fools
Singing Fools
Singing Fools was a short-lived non-performing music group established in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in November 1982 by musicians Tim Dunlop and Kevin Murphy....
, 54-40
54-40
54•40 is a Canadian alternative rock group from Tsawwassen, British Columbia.The band takes their name from the slogan "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!", coined to express the expansionist agenda of James K...
, Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
and Spoons
Spoons (band)
Spoons are a Canadian New Wave new romantic synth pop music group, formed in 1979 in Burlington, Ontario. They recorded several Canadian chart hits between 1982 and 1989, and in 1983, they won Group of the Year at the U-Know awards...
.
CFNY also created Canada's first independent music awards, the U-Knows, the name of which was a pun on Canada's mainstream Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
s. In 1986, the station held a listener contest to rename the awards, which were re-dubbed the CASBY Award
CASBY Award
The CASBY Award is a Canadian award for independent and alternative music, presented annually by Toronto, Ontario radio station CFNY, currently branded as 102.1 The Edge. The name CASBY stands for Canadian Artists Selected By You....
s, for "Canadian Artists Selected By You". It was in this same year that Alan Cross
Alan Cross
' is a Canadian radio broadcaster and a writer on music. Alan’s obsession with music began at age six when his grandmother gave him a transistor radio—an old Lloyds—which spawned an all-consuming fascination with things that came over airwaves...
joined the station as an on-air personality.
In 1987, after nine years in the position, saw David Marsden step down as Program Director. He was succeeded in the role by on-air personality Don Berns.
One notable broadcast was their worldwide period of silence for John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, followed by "Remember
Remember (John Lennon song)
"Remember" is a 1970 song appearing on John Lennon's first official solo album release, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.The song was influenced by Lennon's primal therapy sessions with Dr Arthur Janov, and the lyrics reflect things typically remembered in therapy. The memories described are unpleasant...
" for the recently slain singer. More than 500 radio stations, including one in each Canadian province and American state, plus one in Sydney, Australia played this Dream Network tribute broadcast.
Format change and listener rebellion
Late in 1988, management at CFNY ordered a change in format. After nearly 30 years of success and popular acclaim as a freestyle rock and alternative radio station, CFNY switched to a primarily Top 40 format. Alternative, which had supported the station for most of its history to that point, was relegated to weekends and late night programming.This dramatic shift in format would not be without consequences. Most significantly, the change sparked a rebellion in its fan base. The station's mid-day phone-in request show was inundated with requests for alternative songs. In support of their new policies and format, station management quickly attempted to put a stop to this by ordering that DJs were to refuse all such calls and fulfill only those requests which were for Top 40 music. Not just unpopular with the station's fan base, the new format also resulted in the dismissal or resignation of much of the on-air staff. Perhaps the most notable of these was the resignation of Program Director Don Berns after only two years in the role, in protest of station management's decisions.
In response, the more devoted of the station's listeners and fans began signing petitions, even going so far as to file an intervention with the CRTC to oppose the station's 1989 licence renewal. Certain radio analyst reports suggested that as many as 100,000 new listeners had been gained by the change, but this masked the fact that the market share dropped considerably, to 4.3%.
Revival, evolution, and beginning of the Edge
In 1989, Selkirk was acquired by Maclean-HunterMaclean-Hunter
Maclean-Hunter was a Canadian communications company, which had diversified holdings in radio, television, magazines, newspapers and cable television distribution....
, which was committed to returning the station to an alternative format. Instead of reviving the old free-form programming, however, Maclean-Hunter tweaked the station's programming to create a more conventional modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
station. In the same year, "Humble" Howard Glassman
Howard Glassman
Howard Glassman , commonly known as Humble Howard, is a Canadian radio personality, best known as co-host with Fred Patterson of the Humble & Fred morning show, which had been heard on Edge 102, Mojo 640 and Mix 99.9 in Toronto.- Career :Howard Glassman has been a national radio host for CHAB ,...
and Fred Patterson
Fred Patterson
Fred Patterson, Toronto, Ontario, commonly known as Freddie P, is a Canadian radio personality, best known as cohost with Howard Glassman of the Humble & Fred morning show, which had been heard on Edge 102, Mojo 640 and Mix 99.9 in Toronto.- Career :...
launched the station's new morning show, Humble & Fred
Humble & Fred
The Humble & Fred show was a Toronto-based radio morning drive time show featuring co-hosts "Humble" Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson. It began in 1989 on CFNY-FM before moving to Mojo 640 in April 2001, and finally to Mix 99.9 in August 2003...
, which would go on to receive wide acclaim.
In the early 1990s, the station again became an important outlet for new Canadian music, with bands such as Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
, The Lowest of the Low
The Lowest of the Low
The Lowest of the Low is a Canadian alternative rock group formed in 1991 from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They were one of the most influential bands on the Canadian alternative music scene in the early 1990s, garnering widespread critical acclaim and radio play...
, Rheostatics
Rheostatics
Rheostatics was a Genie Award-winning Canadian indie rock band, active from 1980 to 2007.Although they had only one Top 40 hit, "Claire" in 1995, they were simultaneously one of Canada's most influential and unconventional rock bands, a band whose eclectic take on pop and rock music has been...
, and Sloan
Sloan (band)
Sloan is a Toronto-based alternative rock quartet from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Throughout their 20-year tenure Sloan has released 10 LPs , two EPs, a live album, a "best of" collection and no less than thirty singles...
counting CFNY as their first major radio supporter. Unfortunately for the station's influence, alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
became the decade's dominant genre and so CFNY did not sound as distinctive compared to other radio stations as once had.
Unfortunately it would also be some time before the changes were effective in resolving the staff morale problems born during the station's recent turbulent years. The most public manifestation of the station's morale issues issues came in 1992, when DJ Dani Elwell resigned from the station by reading her résumé live over the air.
But the 1990s were also a period of revival and sowing seeds of growth for the station. In addition to the growth of the Humble & Fred morning show, Jason Barr also joined the station at this time and would go on to become a significant contributor to CFNY.
On-air personality Alan Cross launched a new feature on the station in 1993, The Ongoing History of New Music
The Ongoing History of New Music
The Ongoing History of New Music is a Canadian radio program, produced by Corus Entertainment's ExploreMusic division in Toronto. The program, hosted by Alan Cross, is syndicated to several other radio stations, mostly but not exclusively Corus-owned, across Canada.The Ongoing History chronicles...
. The program, created, hosted, and personally managed by Cross, chronicled all manner of history and trivia about the roots of rock music in a quasi-documentary style. Over time the feature would come to be one of the most recognizable and long-running pieces on the station, being owned by the station until 2008 and continuing to air new segments up until May 2011.
The mid-1990s were another era of transition for CFNY as station owner Maclean-Hunter was acquired by Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is one of Canada's largest communications companies, particularly in the field of wireless communications, cable television, home phone and internet with additional telecommunications and mass media assets...
in 1994. CFNY was sold to competing telecommunications conglomerate Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...
as a result of the acquisition. During this period, the station dropped its old branding and became 102.1 The Edge. For several years toward the end of the 1990s it was also referred to as Edge 102 before this was dropped in favour of the current usage. On May 1, 1996, the station finally moved from its old studio in Brampton to a new facility at 228 Yonge Street in downtown Toronto.
After only four years of ownership, Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...
chose to spin off its radio holdings to Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...
in 1999. Corus remains CFNY's owner today.
A Corus Entertainment station
After 13 years as CFNY's morning show hosts, Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson departed CFNY for Mojo 640 in 2001. Taking their place were newcomers Dean Blundell and Todd Shapiro, as well as station regular and Humble & Fred contributor Jason Barr. The new morning show was launched as The Dean Blundell Show. This remains the station's morning show today, broadcasting from 6 a.m. till 10 a.m., and is a significant driving force behind many of the station's contests and events.Josie Dye
Josie Dye
Joscelyne "Josie" Dye is a Canadian radio and television personality. Dye was raised in Pickering, Ontario. She attended Ryerson University from 1998 to 2001, graduating from the Radio and Television Arts Program. Dye worked as a DJ at MIX 99.9 before joining CFNY-FM...
joined the station in 2002 as its new mid-day host, on air from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and remains a popular fixture at the station. 2002 also saw Derek Welsman join the station as a commercial producer, though he would go on to much greater significance.
Alan Cross, host and creator of The Ongoing History of New Music, as well as on-air personality since 1986, departed the station in 2001 to pursue an opportunity as program director at Burlington
Burlington, Ontario
Burlington , is a city located in Halton Region at the western end of Lake Ontario. Burlington is part of the Greater Toronto Area, and is also included in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. Physically, Burlington lies between the north shore of Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment...
-based radio station Y108
CJXY-FM
CJXY-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 107.9 FM and serving the Hamilton, Ontario market, but licensed to the nearby city of Burlington. The station broadcasts a mainstream rock format as Y108. Its signal can be heard as far north as Toronto and Vaughan and as far south as St....
for several years. However, in 2004 he returned to the Edge as program director. His tenure as Program Director for the Edge garnered acclaim for both him and the station, as he was awarded Canadian Program Director of the Year three times - in 2005, 2006, and 2008.
For a number of years in the 2000s, it became rare that the station would announce its call letters. To most, it was simply 102.1 The Edge. Perhaps due to CRTC regulations requiring radio stations to announce their call letters, the station began in August 2005 to identify itself as both CFNY and the Edge during identification breaks. In 2006, however, the station fell afoul of the CRTC. The regulating body opted to give CFNY only a four-year license renewal, rather than the customary seven. The regulator's concerns reportedly involved the station failing once to meet its mandated Canadian content
Canadian content
Canadian content refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requirements that radio and television broadcasters must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from...
targets.
Martin Streek
Martin Streek was a Canadian radio DJ known for his work on CFNY-FM in Toronto, Ontario. His on-air duties included hosting the Thursday 30, live-to-air from the Phoenix Night Club, and live-to-air from the Velvet Underground. He committed suicide on July 6, 2009.-Youth:Streek grew up in the...
were fired for undisclosed reasons. Tragedy struck the Edge staff just a few months later, when Martin Streek took his own life on July 9.
With the departure of Taylor and Streek, host Dave "Bookie" Bookman briefly took over the afternoon drive slot until the Edge hired Fearless Fred - a host at Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
-based 100.3 The Bear
CFBR-FM
CFBR-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting an active rock format at 100.3 on the FM dial in Edmonton, Alberta. The station uses the brand name 100.3 The Bear....
- to take over the position. Fred joined the Edge as afternoon drive host in August 2009, while Bookie moved to the weekday evenings timeslot.
Just a year later, in August 2010, Dean Blundell Show co-host Jason Barr was released from his contract and left the station to pursue other opportunities. Derek Welsman, former commercial producer and show guest, returned to The Dean Blundell Show after a three year stint at Astral Media as permanent co-host in November of that year.
On September 13, 2010, the Edge left its longtime home studio at 228 Yonge Street for a new studio near Corus headquarters, at 25 Dockside Drive. The new location is casually referred to by staff as Sugar Beach, and is located across the street from the Kool Haus concert venue.
Availability and International Reach
102.1 The Edge has long been an international station, as its signal is strong enough that, like many other Toronto radio stations, it is widely available in two of the top fifty media markets in North America. Its signal from Toronto beams from the CN TowerCN Tower
The CN Tower is a communications and observation tower in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Standing tall, it was completed in 1976, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure and world's tallest tower at the time. It held both records for 34 years until the completion of the Burj...
throughout the Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
-Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 50,193, down from the 55,593 recorded in the 2000 census. It is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, Ontario , both named after the famed Niagara Falls which they...
NY market, in addition to Toronto. CFNY pulls a share of between 0.6% and 1.1% in the Arbitron radio rating in Buffalo. CFNY is also receivable in areas east of Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
; however, interference from classic rocker WQHZ
WQHZ
WQHZ is classic rock formatted broadcast radio station in Erie, Pennsylvania.Notable weekday programing includes "The Bob and Tom Show" on mornings, John Mathews on mid-days, Mike Sheffield on afternoons, and Adam Reese on nights....
at 102.3 MHz prevents CFNY from being received in much of the city of Erie. In addition, the station broadcasts streaming audio over the Internet.
The Edge is also available on Bell TV as part of the music channel package. The station also appears in the music mix of a number of cable distributions systems around the country. This gives the station not only a regional coverage, but a number of listeners over all of Canada.
As a result of these factors, CFNY frequently promotes itself as one of the most listened-to radio stations in the world — the station did, in fact, rank tenth in a 2002 Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
survey of the world's most listened-to Internet radio streams.
In 2001, a spin-off television channel was created and modelled after 102.1 The Edge. Edge TV
Edge TV
Edge TV is a now defunct Canadian category 2 digital cable specialty channel dedicated to rock and alternative music owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel was inspired by Corus' own Toronto, Ontario radio station, 102.1 The Edge....
was a digital cable
Digital cable
Digital cable is a generic term for any type of cable television distribution using digital video compression or distribution. The technology was originally developed by Motorola.-Background:...
specialty channel
Specialty channel
A specialty channel can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted television market at a specific demographic....
own by The Edge's parent company Corus Entertainment. The channel was taken off the air in 2003 due to insufficient distribution.
Weekday Mornings: The Dean Blundell Show
The Dean Blundell Show is a morning radio show, running from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., hosted by Dean Blundell, Todd Shapiro, and Derek Welsman. On the show, they discuss ongoing news and events in a cynical fashion. The show regularly features Adrian the weatherman and traffic reporter Adwoa Nsiah-Yeboah. For the show's first 9 years on-air, the show was hosted by Blundell, Shapiro, and Jason Barr. Barr departed the station in August 2010, and was subsequently replaced by Derek Welsman in November 2010. Since January 2011, Barr has been co-host of the morning show at St. Catharines-based radio station Hits FMCHTZ-FM
CHTZ-FM is a radio station in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The station airs at 97.7 on the FM dial, and broadcasts an active rock format with the brand name HTZ FM...
.
The show is casual in style, being hallmarked by a great deal of freestyle banter between the show's hosts. Frequent subjects of conversation include bathroom use, recollections of stories that happened to them, as well as commenting on current events. They frequently host guests from Toronto sports teams, as well as celebrities who are in Toronto for any reason. Every day around 8 a.m., the show runs a call-in contest to win tickets to various events in and around Toronto. "Wha' Happen?" is run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while "What's Wrong With You?" is on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
A number of contests larger than the regular daily ones have also been run on The Dean Blundell Show. The station began a series of "Wheel" contests in 2003 with the Wheel of Greed. It consisted for a series of challenges or stunts - oft-repeated ones involve stunts done in front of live tapings of Breakfast Television
Breakfast Television
Breakfast Television is a Canadian morning news and entertainment program which airs on the Citytv stations . Each station produces its own local edition of Breakfast Television....
and getting onto other radio stations to promote the Edge and the contest - that contestants had to perform in order to earn a spot on the wheel. The contest ended with the hosts spinning the wheel, and the landed-on winner won a large prize consisting of concert tickets, cash, a trip, and a number of other prizes. Since 2003 the Wheel of Greed has been followed by others of the seven deadly sins
Seven deadly sins
The 7 Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of objectionable vices that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin...
, including Sloth, Envy, Gluttony, and most recently, Pride.
"The Edge Moderately Paid Employee Program" was held in February 2005. Its winner was Thornhill
Thornhill, Ontario
Thornhill is a community in the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the northern border of the city of Toronto. Once a municipal village, Thornhill is now a community and postal designation geographically split into two municipalities along Yonge Street, the city of...
native Adwoa Nsiah-Yeboah, who remains the station's morning traffic reporter today.
In 2006, "The $50,000 Gong" contest - loosely inspired by The Gong Show
The Gong Show
The Gong Show is an amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976 through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976–1980 and 1988–1989. The show was produced by Chuck Barris, who also served...
- was run. It saw contestants visit the Edge studios to present their "talent," something sufficiently impressive or disgusting, to the on-air personalities. The hosts hit a gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
if they didn't like it, meaning the contestant was disqualified whike the contestants who were not disqualified advanced to the final round. On October 27, the Edge announced that James McAndrew was the winner of the $50,000 grand prize, with his "fart on command" talent.
In October 2011, the show was awarded the Top Radio Program (Morning Show) by Top Choice Awards. Later that month, the show began running an 'unplugged' feature streamed from the Edge's website. As this is on the internet rather than on broadcast radio, the show is more free to engage in lewd discussions and use profanity.
- JackassJackass (TV series)jackass is an American reality series, originally shown on MTV from 2000 to 2002, featuring people performing various dangerous, crude, ridiculous, self-injuring stunts and pranks...
co-stars Steve-OSteve-OSteve-O is an American stunt performer and television personality. His entertainment career is mostly centered around his performance stunts on the American TV series Jackass and accompanying movies....
and Chris PontiusChris PontiusChristopher Andrew "Chris" Pontius is an American entertainer and daredevil. Pontius is a member of Jackass, and along with Steve-O, was the co-host of Wildboyz.-Life and career:...
were guests on the show on March 26, 2004, in order to promote their "Don't Try This at Home" tour, leading to the "suspension" of Blundell, Barr and Shapiro for the following day. During the interview, Pontius and Steve-O used multiple expletives on the air. Steve-O also proceeded to urinate on the floor and perform a stunt called "Unwrapping the Mummy", all in front of a live studio audience.
- Edge 102.1 was reprimanded by the Canadian Broadcast Standards CouncilCanadian Broadcast Standards CouncilThe Canadian Broadcast Standards Council is an independent, non-governmental organization created by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters to administer standards established by its members, Canada's private broadcasters....
after Dean Blundell made comments about Justin BieberJustin BieberJustin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...
fans that the council concluded "inappropriately sexualized children." http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101020/101020_cfny_bieber/20101020/?hub=CP24Entertainment
Weekday Mid-days: Josie Dye
Josie DyeJosie Dye
Joscelyne "Josie" Dye is a Canadian radio and television personality. Dye was raised in Pickering, Ontario. She attended Ryerson University from 1998 to 2001, graduating from the Radio and Television Arts Program. Dye worked as a DJ at MIX 99.9 before joining CFNY-FM...
is on-air from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Her show consists mostly of music, interspersed with stories that Dye either finds in the news or relates from her own personal experience. "The Nooner", an hour-long All Request
All Request
An all request television or radio show is a show that plays only listener or viewer requests.The introduction to The Carpenters' version of Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft features a fictional dialogue between the disc jockey of an all request program on "All Hit Radio" and a listener...
period between noon and 1:00 p.m., also takes place during Dye's show, to which she often assigns an arbitrary theme (previous themes have included gay music to correspond with Toronto's Pride Week, cover songs, and live sessions, which she has stated is her favourite theme). She also runs a small survey every day in order to pick the last song played on The Nooner, which is generally between two choices, and relate to the theme, if there is one for that day.
In early 2009, The Nooner segment changed to The 90s Nooner, in which all songs played and requested must have been released during the 1990s. Josie plays several games with the listening audience during The 90's Nooner (including 90's Trivia).
Dye runs two regular contests:
- "Guess This Edge Artist", in which she gives a series of three or four bizarre clues pointing towards a musicianMusicianA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
or group, whose music is played on the radio station. In order to win, players must call in (other forms of entry, such as email, are not accepted) with the correct answer. - "90s Trivia", a contest that takes place daily during the Nooner. A wheel is spun and lands on a particular category (some include TV, music, etc.) and the answer for that category keeps with the "1990s" theme (e.g., if it is movies, then the answer has to do with a move from the 1990s). Two callers are on the line, and one is given first crack at guessing the answer she alludes to through the clue that she provides, if unsuccessful, the other gets a chance. If neither of the two are successful, she gives successive clues at which point if someone knows the answer they must say their name to "buzz in" and give what they think is the correct answer.
Weekday Afternoon Drive: Fearless Fred
Fearless Fred, whose real name is Fred Kennedy, joined the Edge in August 2009. He took over the afternoon drive slot (2 p.m. to 7 p.m.) from Bookie, who moved to the weekday evenings timeslot. "Fearless Fred" is meant as a mock-superhero name. In an advertisement frequently played during Fred's show, a boy exclaims, "It's a bird... it's a plane... it's... FEARLESS FRED!" The boy's mother replies, "Uh, that's a plane. Fred's right there."Kennedy is known for his 'geek' interests, frequently discussing superheroes, comics, science fiction, and real-world space news on-air. He attends comic conventions and is a self-proclaimed fan of Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
, going so far as to get a flight suit custom-made. Fred loves tattoos, and has several of his own.
One of his daily features is the Fearless 5 @ 5. Throughout the day, people can vote for songs at the Edge website, and the top five voted are played as the Fearless 5, at 5 p.m. He is also friends with Edge on-air personality Raina, who joins him daily at the end of his show to discuss (and frequently mock) celebrity gossip. On Fridays near the end of his show, Fred is joined in the studio by Chris Schryer of the Toronto Beer Blog for beer-tasting of less well-known beers.
Weekday Evenings: Bookie
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s, soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s and independent music, and also often has interviews with various artists, sports commentator
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
s and movie reviewers. In addition, he is often given new music to premiere, or concerts to announce on his show.
Bookman regularly runs his "Bookie's College of Musical Knowledge" contest, a trivia game involving three categories (generally about or related to music, but occasionally about other subject matters, most notably The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
), three answers and three contestants. The first contestant picks the category, and gets a question and three multiple choice
Multiple choice
Multiple choice is a form of assessment in which respondents are asked to select the best possible answer out of the choices from a list. The multiple choice format is most frequently used in educational testing, in market research, and in elections-- when a person chooses between multiple...
answers to choose from. If answered incorrectly, the question is posed to the second, and then the third, contestant. Before getting answers, Bookman always inquires as to where the contestant is calling from, and recommends a nearby place to visit, if he knows of one.
On Thursday nights, Bookman hosts the station's Thursday 30, in which the top 30 songs of the week are played. In addition to this, he hosts Dave Bookman's Nu Music Nite, currently on Tuesday nights, at the Horseshoe Tavern
Horseshoe Tavern
The Horseshoe Tavern is a concert venue located at 370 Queen Street West in downtown Toronto, and has been in operation since 1947. Owned by "JC", Ken Sprackman, Craig Laskey and Naomi Montpetit, the venue is a significant part of Canadian musical lore...
, which has been running since 1993.. He also hosts the Indie Hour program, an hour dedicated to independent music programming, Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. Bookman is himself a former musician, who formed the band The Bookmen with Tim Mech
Tim Mech
Tim Mech is a Canadian rock guitarist. He is best known as a sometime collaborator with Rheostatics, for whom he was also a guitar tech for many years, starting around 1988...
in the early 1990s.
Weekday Nights: Loveline
Sunday through Thursday nights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., The Edge simulcasts Loveline with hosts Dr. Drew PinskyDrew Pinsky
David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...
and Psycho Mike
Michael Catherwood
Michael Dwight Catherwood , known by his radio name Psycho Mike, is an American radio personality. He is known primarily for his work at KROQ-FM on Kevin and Bean and most recently as the co-host of Loveline.-Kevin & Bean Show:...
.
Weekday Overnights & Weekend Mornings: Melani
Melani Mariani moved to The Edge from a radio station in Fort St. JohnFort St. John, British Columbia
The City of Fort St. John is a city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Peace River Regional District, the city covers an area of about 22 km² with 22,000 residents . Located at Mile 47, it is one of the largest cities along the Alaska Highway. Originally...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. She currently hosts the weekend morning show as well as overnights. Mariani attended Fanshawe College and completed the Radio Broadcasting Program with honors as well as received the 2007 On Air Personality of the Year Award.
Weekend Afternoons: Raina
Raina Douris, a child of parents whom she describes as hippies, currently hosts the weekend afternoons timeslot. In addition to her regular timeslot, Douris can also be heard daily as a guest near the end of Fearless Fred's show.On October 26, 2011, Douris released the first installment of her Edge web series, Rain's World, in which she conducts informal interviews with bands in her own home.
Adam
Adam Ricard works as a swing announcer hosting shows on the weekends and in the overnights in addition to covering shifts when other members of the air staff are on vacation.CASBY Awards
CFNY launched the annual U-Knows awards in 1981, to recognize Canadian musicians. Following a listener contest in 1986, they were renamed the CASBY Awards - an acronym for Canadian Artists Selected By You. The event is held every summer, where awards are presented to Canadian musicians who have won the most votes from listeners.Edgefest
Since 1987, Edge has been the organizer of the annual Edgefest summer concert festival.Edge Electric Christmas / Jingle Bell Rock
Since 1998, the Edge has run an annual concert series in December of each year. From 1998 to 2008, it was known as the Edge Electric Christmas. Starting in 2009, it began to be billed as Jingle Bell Rock. It is a series of several concerts which are generally in smaller concert venues, although playing in large venues is not unheard-of. A percentage of proceeds from ticket sales are donated to the Daily Bread Food BankDaily Bread Food Bank
The Daily Bread Food Bank is a non-denominational Canadian charity organisation that strives to end hunger in urban communities. The organisation is based in Toronto, Ontario, and feeds thousands of low income people a year. They also provide valuable resources to the same demographic in order to...
.
Free Money Month
Free Money Month is a call-in contest run by the station. Every day for a given month, a band is selected as the Edge Artist of the Day. The first time that this artist is played on-air, listeners may begin calling in. The 102nd caller to get through wins $1000 from the station. In 2011, Free Money Month actually spanned three months: September, October, and November.Indie Online
Indie Online is a website feature run by on-air personality Raina. It is a section of The Edge's site which takes music contributions from indie bands, which are then voted on by listeners on the page to determine the Edge Indie Band of the Month.Josie's Top 20
Beginning on August 29, 2011, Josie Dye began compiling lists of her top 20 songs on themes that she decides upon. Josie hosts a pre-recorded show for these features, which is broadcast on Saturdays at 10 a.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. The lists are archived on the Edge's website.Rain's World
Rain's World is a video series created and produced by on-air personality Raina Douris. In the segment, which is hosted on her YouTube channel, she conducts informal interviews and engages in casual conversation with bands from her own apartment. To date, there have been two installments:- Tokyo Police ClubTokyo Police ClubTokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. It consists of vocalist and bassist David Monks , keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook , and drummer Greg Alsop ....
(October 26, 2011) - The ElwinsThe ElwinsThe Elwins are a Canadian indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, consisting of singer and guitarist Matthew Sweeney, drummer Travis Stokl, guitarist/keyboardist Feurd and bassist Christopher Shannon.- Biography :...
(November 27, 2011)
Rock of Fame
The station launched its own hall of fame for notable musicians in the summer of 2011. To date, there have been two inductees:- Foo FightersFoo FightersFoo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
(inducted August 9, 2011) - ColdplayColdplayColdplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
(inducted September 21, 2011)
Sausagefest
A yearly event which has been held since the start of The Dean Blundell Show, Sausagefest is a summertime backyard barbecue-style event which is typically held at the Sound Academy venue and emceed by the hosts of the show. It features artists and bands (different each year) performing on the stage inside, while drinks and barbecued food are sold outside.Past hosts and staff
- Jason Barr - Co-host of The Dean Blundell Show, 2001-2010
- Alan CrossAlan Cross' is a Canadian radio broadcaster and a writer on music. Alan’s obsession with music began at age six when his grandmother gave him a transistor radio—an old Lloyds—which spawned an all-consuming fascination with things that came over airwaves...
- On-air personality, 1986-2001; Program Director, 2004-2008 - Lana GayLana GayLana Gay is a Canadian radio personality and music journalist. Currently heard on CBC Radio 3, she was also formerly a host on CFNY-FM in Toronto. On CFNY, she was known on-air only as "Lana", and did not use her surname....
- Howard "Humble" GlassmanHoward GlassmanHoward Glassman , commonly known as Humble Howard, is a Canadian radio personality, best known as co-host with Fred Patterson of the Humble & Fred morning show, which had been heard on Edge 102, Mojo 640 and Mix 99.9 in Toronto.- Career :Howard Glassman has been a national radio host for CHAB ,...
- Co-host of Humble & FredHumble & FredThe Humble & Fred show was a Toronto-based radio morning drive time show featuring co-hosts "Humble" Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson. It began in 1989 on CFNY-FM before moving to Mojo 640 in April 2001, and finally to Mix 99.9 in August 2003...
, 1989-1991, 1992-2001 - Kim HughesKim Hughes (radio)Kim Hughes is a Canadian radio personality and music journalist, who most recently hosted programming on XM Satellite Radio's The Verge.Hughes was most widely known for her work at 102.1 The Edge in Toronto as host of the nightly live music magazine Live in Toronto from 1992 to 1999...
- Host of Live in Toronto, 1992-1999 - Ben KowalewiczBenjamin KowalewiczBenjamin Kowalewicz is the lead singer of the Canadian rock band Billy Talent.-Biography:Kowalewicz, of Polish descent, was born December 16, 1975 in Montreal, Quebec. He was raised in Streetsville, Ontario, but now lives in downtown Toronto. He attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary...
- Vocalist of Billy TalentBilly TalentBilly Talent is a Canadian post-hardcore band from Streetsville, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with Ben Kowalewicz as the lead vocalist, Ian D'Sa on lead guitar, bassist Jon Gallant and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk ....
, worked at station to finance band's first record - David MarsdenDavid MarsdenDavid Marsden is a Canadian radio broadcaster. As the driving force behind Brampton, Ontario radio station CFNY in the 1980s, he became an influential figure in the Canadian music industry by giving many Canadian and international alternative rock artists major Canadian radio exposure...
- On-air personality, 1977-78; Program Director, 1978-1987; Director of Operations, 1987-1988 - Fred PattersonFred PattersonFred Patterson, Toronto, Ontario, commonly known as Freddie P, is a Canadian radio personality, best known as cohost with Howard Glassman of the Humble & Fred morning show, which had been heard on Edge 102, Mojo 640 and Mix 99.9 in Toronto.- Career :...
- Co-host of Humble & Fred, 1989-2001 - Darrin PfeifferDarrin PfeifferDarrin Pfeiffer is an American musician, record producer, band manager and radio personality. Born and raised in Akron, New York, he plays drums for the ska punk band Goldfinger....
- On-air personality, 2005-2011 - Ronn "Skip" ProkopSkip ProkopRonn "Skip" Prokop is a Canadian drummer and band leader who was a driving force in Canadian rock music, creating seminal bands, including The Paupers...
- AJ ReynoldsAJ ReynoldsAlfred John "AJ" Reynolds is a Canadian performer, entertainer, and radio personality, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show Canada's Top 20 Countdown...
- Chris SheppardChris Sheppard (DJ)Chris Sheppard is a Canadian, as well as a former radio DJ and musician. He was one of the leading figures in the Canadian dance music scene in the 1980s and 1990s....
- Martin StreekMartin StreekMartin Streek was a Canadian radio DJ known for his work on CFNY-FM in Toronto, Ontario. His on-air duties included hosting the Thursday 30, live-to-air from the Phoenix Night Club, and live-to-air from the Velvet Underground. He committed suicide on July 6, 2009.-Youth:Streek grew up in the...
- On-air personality, 1984-2009 - George StroumboulopoulosGeorge StroumboulopoulosGeorge Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos is a Canadian television and radio personality, best known as the host of CBC Television's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight and being a VJ for Canadian music television channel MuchMusic...
- Barry Taylor
External links
- 102.1 The Edge
- CFNY history at Canadian Communications FoundationCanadian Communications FoundationThe Canadian Communications Foundation is a history of Canadian broadcasting for radio and television chronicles and documents. It also provides a history of radio and television stations, including networks, programs, broadcasters and many others....