TORONTO — The owner of 14 radio stations, including a trio of FMs serving Winnipeg and the GTA from towers to the far north of Canada’s largest media market has announced that it will voluntary cease operations on September 20 for an FM serving the Nation’s Capital from a downtown tower, as well as an FM to the east of Ottawa and a third FM serving a small city between Gatineau and Montréal, Québec.
Evanov Communications explained that the pending closure of CHRC-FM in Clarence-Rockland, Ont. and CKHK-FM in Hawkesbury, Ont., as well as that of CJWL-FM in Ottawa, is the result of various factors that have eroded traditional radio revenue.
“The media landscape has evolved significantly since CJWL-FM, and subsequently the other two stations, went on the air in 2006,” the company said in a statement. “The past 18 years have not only seen new outlets and platforms emerge that have eroded traditional radio revenues, but the long COVID-19 Global Pandemic was also extremely consequential in contributing to traditional radio listeners forming new habits including parking the car, the No. 1 source of radio listening, for a few years.”
As such, Evanov continued, “The situation has proven a drain on cash and personnel resources. All broadcasters are now contending with the challenges of increased competition, a difficult media climate, and the residual effects of the pandemic.”
And, like peers such as Corus Entertainment and Bell Media, Evanov “is continuing to assess the ongoing impact of these factors on our business, and is readjusting, realigning and reinventing itself as necessary.”
This led to the pending closure of three stations that happen to be on the FM dial, and not on the AM dial, which has seen high-profile shutdowns including that of CHML-AM 900 in Hamilton in recent weeks.
Paul Evanov, President/CEO of Evanov Communications, commented, “I, together with the consensus of my leadership team, have determined that, under the circumstances, our resources and some key employees with these stations would better serve the company if deployed to our other stations. I regret that the media industry, still regulated and a trusted source of news and information in a quagmire of fake news, misinformation and open social media borders, has not received the necessary support and relief sought during the crises or as a pre-emptive and insurance measure that would have us and our fellow broadcasters at a different place at this point. Nevertheless, we will persevere and are confident in the integrity and capability of our company to remain competitive in the markets we continue to serve along with actively pursuing new strategic opportunities. “
Evanov confirmed that some employees associated with the trio of FMs that will be winding down in the next several days will be staying with the company. Ted Silver will aid the programming of the company’s Québec stations; Danielle Cyr will aid these stations with sales needs. Brian Sylvester also retains duties and responsibilities in the company’s news division.
“This was a difficult but necessary decision,” Evanov concluded in its statement.
Privately held Evanov’s stations serving Toronto are comprised of CIDC “Z103.5,” which as a dance-fueled Contemporary Hit Radio format incorporating many of the elements of now-defunct CIRR “Pride 103.9;” CKDX “Hot Country 88.5,” and multicultural CHLO-AM 530.
The CIDC tower is to the northwest of Toronto; the CKDX tower is in Newmarket, to the north.
