Slogan 70s, 80s, 90s First air date May 27, 2010 | Branding boom 99.7 Frequency 99.7 MHz (FM) | |
Broadcast area National Capital Region(Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, Upstate New York) | ||
CJOT-FM is a Canadian radio station based in Ottawa, Ontario, that broadcasts a classic hits format at 99.7 FM. The station uses its on-air brand name Boom 99.7, and is owned by Corus Entertainment. CJOT's studios are located on Merivale Road in Nepean, Ontario along with sister station CKQB-FM, while its transmitter is located in Greely, in the south end of Ottawa.
Contents
History
The station was authorized to its then-owner, Astral Media, by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on August 26, 2008 and launched on May 27, 2010 with an adult contemporary format branded as 99.7 EZ Rock. The first song on "EZ Rock" was "Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Bublé.
Upon the launch of CJOT, it became the new flagship station of the EZ Rock brand in Canada, about five months after the sign-off of Toronto's CJEZ-FM (now adult hits-formatted CHBM-FM, "boom 97.3"). However, on June 30, 2011, at 3 p.m., the station flipped to a classic hits format, branded as boom 99.7. The last song on "EZ Rock" was Forget You by Cee-Lo Green, while "boom's" first song was Start Me Up by Rolling Stones. The station's playlist focuses on songs from 1964-1999.
In March 2013, as part of Bell Canada's proposed acquisition of Astral Media, Corus reached a tentative deal to acquire Astral's 50% stake in the Teletoon networks, along with several radio stations (including CJOT), for $400.6 million.
On January 28, 2014, the CRTC approved Corus's acquisition of CJOT-FM and sister station CKQB-FM. The acquisition was closed on January 31, 2014.
Nearby station
An unprotected low-power tourist information radio station owned by Instant Information Services operated at 99.7 FM as CIIO; that station was authorised by the CRTC in May 2010 to move to 97.5 MHz. As well, CKQB-FM operated a repeater at 99.7 FM in Pembroke, which later moved to 99.9 FM. It's uncertain if there will be any interference between these two stations.
Controversy
On November 21, 2008, federal Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages James Moore issued a statement calling on the CRTC to review its approval of both the Astral station and Frank Torres' new CIDG-FM. Moore asked the commission to assess whether the francophone population of the Ottawa-Gatineau area was sufficiently well-served by existing French radio services, and to consider licensing one or more of the French language applications—which included a Christian music station, a community radio station and a campus radio station for the Université du Québec en Outaouais—in addition to or instead of the approved stations.
In the resulting round of hearings, Torres proposed that a new francophone station could be licensed on 94.5 FM, although such a station would be second-adjacent to Astral's CIMF-FM. Industry Canada subsequently aired a testing signal on 94.5 in May 2009 to determine whether the signal could be used without impacting CIMF. The test found that the signal could be used without causing significant interference to CIMF, and Astral consequently gave its consent to the use of the frequency as long as the company retained authorization to launch the 99.7 station.