NorthEast Radio Watch 8/19/2024: CHML’s Abrupt End

In this week’s issue… Corus shutters CHML without notice – Ray relaunches Hamilton, Windsor AMs – More on WCBS’ final week – Station sales in the Mohawk Valley, Newport and Buffalo

By SCOTT FYBUSH

*It came out of nowhere on Wednesday morning: after 97 years as the solid, dependable voice of news and information in Hamilton, one of CANADA‘s oldest radio stations abruptly shut down just after the 11 AM news, leaving its own staff just as shocked as its listeners.

CHML (900) was part of a three-station Corus cluster in Hamilton along with top-40 CING (Energy 95.3) and classic rock CJXY (Y108), but as Corus struggles with its shaky finances that have led to job cuts across the company, the cost of running a full-service AM news-talk station apparently became just too high.

“The shift of advertising revenues to unregulated foreign platforms, combined with the difficult regulatory and competitive landscape, has forced us to make the difficult decision to close,” the company said in its statement after it had pulled the plug on the 50,000-watt signal.

The bit about “unregulated foreign platforms” is, of course, an allusion to the larger battle between Canadian broadcasters and regulators. Companies like Corus have pushed the CRTC to relax some of the restrictions they face on programming and station ownership, testing the agency’s commitment to preserving Canadian content in the face of everything that’s streaming across the border on digital platforms much newer and cheaper than running an 8-tower AM array.

That is, of course, no comfort whatsoever to Hamilton listeners looking for local news and talk, nor to the staff at CHML who were given no notice of their station’s sudden demise. While some of CHML’s content overlapped with (and was simulcast with) sister station CFIQ (640 Toronto), it had its own local news blocks in morning and afternoon drive along with Scott Thompson’s “Hamilton Today” in middays and Ti-Cats football. (The CFL games, at least, will stay with the cluster on Y108.)

Just as with Corus’ deep cuts to its news staffs in markets such as Kingston (where its stations at least stayed on the air but with minimal local presence), the company’s moves drew anger from local leaders and listeners, as well as lots of coverage on competitors such as local CHCH-TV and the Hamilton Spectator. But there’s not much any politician or upset listener can do about Corus’ decision, which appears to be as abrupt as it was final.

Will that big 900 spot on the dial stay empty forever? It’s too early to say – but we’ll be watching closely to see how CHML’s sudden exit plays into the issues other nearby broadcasters are facing. We know the Caine family’s CJYE (1250) and CJMR (1320) in nearby Oakville and Mississauga are looking for new homes as their tower site has been sold, and if they’re moving anyway, could a better spot on the dial help them? (For that matter, how quickly will Corus sell off CHML’s big tower site, out there in the fast-developing countryside northwest of Hamilton?)

And what of Corus’ other remaining AM signals? In nearby Guelph, CJOY (1460) has already lost all its local content, with not much remaining at London’s CFPL (980) either, in a market that’s already suffered the loss of Bell’s CJBK (1290) not that long ago.

It’s a bad, bad time for AM radio in Canada, at least for the big owners. But for the smaller ones – and for Hamilton listeners, there may be a little hope. Read on in our subscriber-only section…