|
|
 |
|
|
|
(5/7/2001) After 44 Years CHUM-AM in Canada Switches From Music to Sports.
Back in 1957 radio entrepreneur Allan Waters took what at that time was considered to be a major gamble and switched his Toronto AM radio station CHUM to a 24-hour Top 40 music format, the first of its kind in Canada. Arguably Canada's best-known pop music station, 1050 CHUM will switch to an all-sports format known as The Team.
CHUM plans to go out with a blast, with former CHUM DJs-turned-corporate
suits Bob Laine and Duff Roman co-hosting Monday's final show from 10 a.m.
to 3 p.m. ET. Laine was CHUM's all-night man from 1958 to 1968. Roman did
weekend shifts and later the early afternoon shift in the 1960s.
The final show will include old CHUM airchecks (tapes of archived shows),
jingles and guests from the station's past and, of course, music. It will
cap a month-long celebration of CHUM's past and Top 40 radio in general that
has included airchecks and roundtable discussions by former CHUM
personalities.
Among the many popular announcers to grace the CHUM airwaves over the years
were Al Boliska, (Jungle) Jay Nelson, Dave Johnson, Brian (The Prez)
Skinner, Bob MacAdorey, Jack Armstrong, (Shotgun) Tom Rivers, Scott
Carpenter, Terry Steele, Roger Ashby, Bob Magee and newsman Dick Smythe.
The all-time CHUM roster also includes writer and commentator Pierre Berton
and two well-known TV anchors, Harvey Kirk and J.D. (now John) Roberts, who
these days is being touted as a possible successor to Dan Rather at CBS
News.
CHUM's Top 40 days actually came to an end in June 1986 when the station
switched to a soft rock format called Favourites of Yesterday and Today. In
September '89, CHUM switched to an all-oldies format so that ironically, the
station once again was playing the very music that helped make it famous.<
Comment on this story
E-mail this story to a friend
Sign up for Radio Headlines
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
From the Publisher
|
|
|
