broadcast area greater toronto area branding 102.1 the edge slogan modern music frequency 102.1 mhz fm first air date august 8 1960 format modern rock 2 erp 35.4 kw haat 421 meters 1 381 ft class c1 owner corus entertainment corus premium television ltd. sister stations radio cilq fm cfmj tv ciii dt webcast listen live website www.edge.ca cfny fm branded as 102.1 the edge is a canadian radio station broadcasting at 102.1 fm in the greater toronto area . 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 modern rock format owned by corus entertainment . the station s studios are in downtown toronto at corus quay on toronto s harbourfront . its transmitter is located atop the cn tower . contents 1 history 1.1 from chic to cfny 1.2 the spirit of radio 1.3 turbulence and expansion 1.4 format change and listener rebellion 1.5 revival evolution and beginning of the edge 1.6 corus entertainment 1.6.1 staffing troubles 2 availability and international reach 3 accolades and awards 4 contests events and features 4.1 casby music awards 4.2 edgefest 4.3 edge free money 4.4 jingle bell rock 4.5 josie s top 20 4.6 rock of fame 4.7 sausagefest 5 notable past hosts and staff 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit from chic to cfny edit the station commenced operations on august 8 1960 as an fm rebroadcast of an am station chic . on september 21 1962 two brothers leslie and harry allen jr. agreed to purchase all shares of chic radio ltd. from s.w. caldwell frank m. early f.j. shouldice john fox w.s. martin frank w. richardson garth h. ketemer g. clare burt j.r. jenkins and gordon f. keeble . the sale occurred on october 15 later that year and was subject to government approval . 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 martak rich elwood ted woloshyn scott cameron ; any genre of music was open to airtime . the style of the station was well received by listeners . 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 . chic & cfny billed side by side in 1976 3 chic fm officially became cfny fm . the phrases canada s first new youth and canada finds new youth have been cited as backronyms 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 . david marsden who had started as an announcer at the station was selected as pritchard s successor in 1978 . the spirit of radio edit 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 campus radio station . at the time alternative music was new and had not yet received wide exposure but it was also in 1978 that new wave and punk rock emerged as dominant forms of popular music and so the station became known as one of the few commercial stations at the time which played alternative music . the spirit of radio during this period the station began using the spirit of radio as a promotional catchphrase . in turn listeners of the station began to refer to cfny as the spirit of radio . canadian band rush was unable to obtain airplay on many radio stations other than cfny early in their career and in 1979 wrote the song the spirit of radio about the station . 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 . 4 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 . 5 turbulence and expansion edit 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 6 200 letters and tens of thousands of names on a petition lobbying the canadian radio television and telecommunications commission to save real radio . 6 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 . 7 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 . 5 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 included canadian artists such as ; martha and the muffins rough trade blue rodeo jane siberry 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 awards . in 1986 the station held a listener contest to rename the awards which were re dubbed the casby awards for canadian artists selected by you . in 1987 after nine years in the position david marsden stepped down as program director . he was succeeded in the role by on air personality don berns . 8 marsden moved to vancouver where he created and launched the variety series pilot one for cbc television and became program director of coast 800 . 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 . 9 format change and listener rebellion edit late in 1988 management at cfny ordered a change in format . after nearly 13 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 . 5 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 against station management s decisions . 8 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 . 10 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 % . 11 revival evolution and beginning of the edge edit in 1989 selkirk was acquired by maclean hunter 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 . transition to modern rock 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 it 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 came in 1992 when dj dani elwell resigned from the station by reading her r sum live over the air . 12 13 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 14 and would go on to become a significant