It was June 14, 1948, that CJOY went on the air in Guelph.
Wally Slatter acquired a license in 1947 to broadcast on a frequency of 1450 kHz at 250 watts. He and Fred Metcalf co-managed the station under CJOY Limited. It was, at the time, the first and only radio station in Guelph. It would move up the dial in 1960 to 1460 kHz at 10,000 watts during the day and 5,000 watts at night.
CJOY is marking its 75th anniversary on Wednesday and the radio station remains a fixture in the Royal City.
“My wife is a big fan of the oldies and the clock radio would be set to CJOY each morning,” said Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie. “I remember the birthday club in the morning and that was always fun.”
So many people have come through the doors at CJOY over the years. Among them: Lloyd Dafoe, Howard Manning, Cam Langford, Guus Hazelaar, Dave Hannah, Neil Clemens, and Larry Mellott. Mellott, the former program director and afternoon drive host, has been at the radio station on two different occasions since 1974 and continues to do play-by-play for the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm.
Long-time broadcaster Michael Kane recalls his time at CJOY. He says he remembers when his mom was doing print ads for a local department store and also did voice work at the radio station.
“I would follow her there and got to know some of the people,” said Kane who began his broadcasting career at CJOY in 1967. “I eventually got a job as an operator where I played the music and commercials at the station while the announcer was on location.”
Kane talked about his first break in radio where he filled in for the overnight announcer and how that lead to a 50-year career in broadcasting.
“Gord Fields, who was a program director at the time, called me and asked if I can do ‘a double’ and stay all night,” Kane said. “It was a sweet memory for me at CJOY.”
Over the last 75 years, CJOY has kept the community informed of events happening in Guelph, across Canada and around the world.
“I remember being in the library at the station the night Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated and found out before anybody else,” Kane recalled. “Jimmy Rogers was on the air that day and got a hold of (newsman) John Stubbs and they went full-court press on the news.”
Kane added that when the news broke, he wanted to be there for that.
The radio station was first located in the downtown on Wyndham Street. Then in 1972, the studio and offices were moved to its current location on Speedvale Avenue East.
The station also changed hands a few times. Slatter and Metcalf sold the station along with CIMJ-FM (known today as Magic 106) to Kawartha Broadcasting Co. Ltd in 1987. Two years later, Kawartha Broadcasting would be incorporated into a new entity based in Montreal called Power Broadcasting Inc. Corus Entertainment would acquire the assets of Power Broadcasting in 2000.
CJOY continues to broadcast on the AM dial and is one of a small handful of AM radio stations in Canada that play contemporary music.
“The music, the DJs, the people who do the news, it’s been a staple in the community and I have always enjoyed it,” said Guthrie. “There is still a very local connection and that is important.”
Corus Entertainment remains the parent company of CJOY and Magic 106 along with Global News and GlobalNews.ca.