Editing CBLA-FM (section)

== History ==
===<span class="anchor" id="section_CKGW_and_CBL_anchor"></span> CKGW and CBL ===
CBLA's origins date back to March 5, 1928. That was the official [[sign on]] of '''CKGW''' at 910 [[AM broadcasting|AM]], a commercial station owned by [[Gooderham and Worts]], with studios at the [[King Edward Hotel]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-11-23|title=CKGW: Canada's Cheerio Station|url=https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/accountability-operations-customer-service/access-city-information-or-records/city-of-toronto-archives/whats-online/web-exhibits/ckgw-canadas-cheerio-station/|access-date=2020-08-09|website=City of Toronto|language=en-CA}}</ref> However, Gooderham & Worts had been operating the station on an experimental basis from as early as 1925.<ref>[http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listing_and_histories/radio/crct-ckgw-am History of CRCT (CKGW)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215074729/http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listing_and_histories/radio/crct-ckgw-am |date=2021-12-15 }} - [[Canadian Communications Foundation]]</ref>

Due to the instability of frequency allocations in North America at the time, the station's dial position changed several times over the next number of years, to 960, 690 and finally [[Clear-channel station|clear channel]] 840. In 1932, the station was leased by the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]'s predecessor, the [[Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission]]. It used the [[call sign]] '''CRCT''' until 1937, when the station was purchased outright by the CBC and adopted the call letters '''CBL'''. It moved to a new transmitter facility in rural [[Halton Hills|Hornby]]. The 650&nbsp;ft guyed mast that the station transmitted from was for many years the [[List of tallest structures in Canada|tallest structure]] in all of Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-08-30 |title=The Final Moments of CBL on 740. |url=http://www.nydxa.info/archive/1999/NYDXA0899.PDF |website=www.nydxa.info}}</ref>

===740 AM===
With [[North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement]] (NARBA) in 1941, the station moved to 740&nbsp;kHz.  Its former channel, now 860&nbsp;kHz, went to [[CFRB]] (which would relocate to 1010&nbsp;kHz in 1947), while the 840&nbsp;kHz clear channel was relocated to [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]], [[Kentucky]], where it was taken by [[WHAS (AM)|WHAS]]. (See [[Canadian allocations changes under NARBA]].)

Between 1938 and 1943, CBL had a rebroadcaster, [[CJBC (AM)|CBY]], to supplement coverage in Toronto. CBY broadcast on 960&nbsp;kHz, switching to 1420 in 1939 and then to 1010 in 1941. CBY is now CJBC 860, Toronto's [[Ici Radio-Canada Première]] [[French language]] station.

===99.1 FM===
In 1946, '''[[CBL-FM]]''' was launched, bringing the CBC's FM network (now known as [[CBC Music]]) to Toronto. It originally broadcast on the same 99.1&nbsp;MHz frequency now used by CBLA, but moved to 94.1 in 1966. 99.1 was vacant until 1977, when it was assigned to the [[CKO]] radio network. CKO ceased operations in 1989, and the frequency was again vacant until it was assigned to CBLA.

CBL established a large low-power relay transmitter (LPRT) network in Northern and Central Ontario during the 1950s and '60s. These transmitters, all on AM frequencies, mainly rebroadcast the CBL signal but also offered some separate regional programming directed towards the regions served by the LPRT network in place of some local Toronto programming. One example of this was the daily ''Northern Ontario Report'', which aired in the late afternoon.  Most of these LPRT network transmitters now rebroadcast [[CBCS-FM|CBCS]] in Sudbury or [[CBQT-FM|CBQT]] in Thunder Bay. Some of these transmitters have switched to FM as well, or have been shut down as FM transmitters covering areas served by multiple AM transmitters have signed on.

In 1997, CBL applied to the [[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]] for conversion to FM. 740's daytime signal easily covered [[Buffalo, New York]]; [[Erie, Pennsylvania]] and [[Youngstown, Ohio]]. It was also powerful enough to serve as the CBC outlet for the [[Waterloo Region]] as well. Its nighttime signal reached much of the eastern half of North America (including three-fourths of Canada). However, [[radio frequency interference]] made the station nearly unlistenable in some parts of downtown Toronto. In a controversial decision, the CBC was awarded the 99.1 frequency<ref>[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1997/DB97-362.HTM Decision CRTC 97-362]</ref> over [[Milestone Radio]], which had applied to open an [[Urban contemporary|urban music]] station, and which would have been the first station operating under that format in Canada, to serve the city's large [[Black Canadians|black]] community. Adding to the controversy of the CBC being awarded a station on the FM band in the country's biggest market, 99.1 was believed at the time to be the last available FM frequency in the city. On April 19, 1998, the new FM signal signed on for the first time, and began simulcasting CBL.

On June 18, 1999, the station completed its move to FM, adopting the CBLA call letters. CBL 740 remained in operation for an additional day, broadcasting a recorded loop listing alternative FM frequencies for any remaining listeners. The final announcement ran thus:
{{Blockquote|This is CBC Radio One, broadcasting from the Hornby transmitter at 740 AM. In the Toronto area, we will now move to 99.1 FM, with additional frequencies throughout southern Ontario. This transmitter has served the community well since 1937, and has been at 740 AM since 1941. This is the end of an era in Canadian broadcasting history. Now, signing off, from CBL, adieu.|Philip Savage, CBC Communications department<ref>{{cite web|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=CBL, Adieu|date=1999-06-19|url=http://www.fybushmedia.com/cbladieu.mp3|access-date=2008-05-18|format=MP3 audio news story|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008101817/http://www.fybushmedia.com/cbladieu.mp3|archive-date=2007-10-08|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

===Relay transmitters and HD Radio===
The CBC subsequently surrendered two relay transmitters outside the city which duplicated the CBLA signal. In 2000, the CRTC awarded one of the new frequencies thereby available in Toronto to Milestone, which launched [[CFXJ-FM|CFXJ]] in 2001, and the other to the [[Aboriginal Voices Radio Network]], launching CFIE-FM in 2002; that frequency later became home to [[CFPT-FM]]. The Hornby transmitter was leased to the new occupant of 740, [[CFZM|CHWO]], in 2001. That station is now known as full-service oldies station [[CFZM]].

The [[CBC Jarvis Street Tower]] site was demolished in 2002 to make way for the RadioCity [[Condominium (living space)|condominium]] development.

On October 4, 2021, CBLA added [[HD Radio]] operations, as part of upgrades in Toronto, [[Ottawa]] and [[Vancouver]].