Editing CFTR (AM) (section)

==History==
=== Early years ===
The station launched on August 8, 1962.<ref>[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-249]]</ref> Its original frequency was 1540&nbsp;kHz, using the [[call sign]] CHFI, simulcasting the [[beautiful music]] of [[sister station]] [[CHFI-FM]], one of Canada's first [[FM radio]] stations. Because 1540 is a [[clear-channel station|clear-channel]] frequency assigned to stations in the [[United States]] and the [[Bahamas]], CHFI was authorized to broadcast only during the [[daytimer|daytime]]. In 1963, it sought to pay [[CFHK-FM|CHLO]] in [[St. Thomas, Ontario]] to move from 680 to another frequency, to free up 680 for CHFI's use. No deal was finalized, but, by 1966, the stations reached an agreement to share 680, and CHFI moved to 24-hour operation at that frequency.<ref name="cftr">{{Cite web|url=http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listing_and_histories/radio/cftr-am|title=CFTR-AM &#124; History of Canadian Broadcasting|website=www.broadcasting-history.ca|access-date=2021-01-28|archive-date=2021-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118015429/http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listing_and_histories/radio/cftr-am|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:CFTR-AM broadcast towers, Grimsby, Ontario.jpg|thumb|Broadcast towers in [[Grimsby, Ontario]]]]

In 1971, so as to distinguish itself from CHFI-FM, the station changed its callsign to CFTR; the "TR" being a tribute to [[Edward S. Rogers, Sr.|Ted Rogers, Sr.]], radio pioneer and father of controlling shareholder [[Edward S. Rogers|Ted Rogers]].<ref name="CanadasFirstTedRogers">{{Cite book|last=Van Hasselt|first=Caroline|title=High Wire Act: Ted Rogers and the Empire that Debt Built|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2010|isbn=9780470739747|location=[[Mississauga, Ontario]]|pages=99}}</ref>

In 1972, CFTR abandoned the beautiful music simulcast of CHFI and adopted a [[Top 40]] format. For many years, it was the primary competition to Toronto's original Top 40 station, [[CHUM (AM)|CHUM]].<ref name="cftr"/>
[[File:Cftr logo.jpg|thumb|First CFTR logo as a top 40 station.]]
In 1973, programmer Chuck Camroux upped the ante in the Toronto radio "Rock and Roll Wars" by tweaking CFTR's notoriously bad signal, adding some [[reverb]], and hiring new morning man Jim Brady to rival CHUM's Jay Nelson. Both stations hovered near one million listeners per week. Although Brady finally topped Nelson in the ratings in 1979, over-all, CFTR didn't surpass CHUM in the Toronto BBM ratings until 1984. Once CFTR gained ratings supremacy, CHUM dropped Top 40 in favour of an [[adult contemporary music]] format in 1986.<ref>Henry Mietkiewicz, "Rock image fades as CHUM goes upmarket," ''The Toronto Star'', June 6, 1986.</ref><ref>Henry Mietkiewicz, "CHUM ends teen rock image to woo baby boomers," ''The Toronto Star'', June 7, 1986.</ref><ref>http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1986/RR-1986-06-13.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>

CFTR also hired [[John Records Landecker]] from [[WLS (AM)|WLS]] in Chicago in 1981. Landecker spent two years at the station before returning to Chicago to work at [[WCKL (FM)|WLUP]].<ref name="cftr"/> In 1983, CFTR began broadcasting in [[AM stereo]] using the [[AM stereo#Kahn-Hazeltine|Kahn-Hazeltine]] [[C-QUAM]] system, and then switched to the [[AM stereo#Motorola C-QUAM|Motorola]] system.<ref>{{cite web|title=Offenders of the Faith|url=http://users.hfx.eastlink.ca:80/~amstereo/offenders.htmwebsite=eastlink.ca|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010109103400/http://users.hfx.eastlink.ca:80/~amstereo/offenders.htm|archive-date=January 9, 2001}}</ref>

===All-news era===
[[File:680News 2015 Logo.png|thumb|150px|680 News logo until 2021.]]
Through the 1980s and 1990s, music listeners switched to FM, prompting AM stations like CFTR to find non-music formats. On June 1, 1993, at 10&nbsp;am, CFTR announced it would be discontinuing the [[Top 40]] format, and began broadcasting a countdown of "the top 500 songs of the (then) past 25 years" titled "The CFTR Story". At 6&nbsp;am on June 7, after playing [[Phil Collins]]' "[[Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)|Against All Odds]]" (which was the #1 song in the countdown) and [[Starship (band)|Starship]]'s "[[We Built This City]]" (which also ended CHUM's Top 40 era in 1986), and the station stopped broadcasting in AM stereo, CFTR adopted its present [[all-news radio]] format as "680 News". It was the first all-news radio station in Canada since the end of the former [[CKO]] network in 1989.<ref>Greg Quill, "CFTR dumps pop music to launch day-long news," ''The Toronto Star'', June 2, 1993.</ref><ref>Tony Van Alphen, "CKO forced to close due to red ink," ''The Toronto Star'', November 11, 1989.</ref><ref>Greg Quill, "Writing had been on the wall for closedown of CKO Radio," ''The Toronto Star'', November 11, 1989.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=1994-BC-YB|url=https://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1994/1994-BC-YB.pdf#page=595|magazine=[[Broadcasting Yearbook]]|date=1994|page=B-441}}</ref>

[[File:CityNews 680 logo.png|thumb|150px|CityNews branding (2021–2024).]]

The station offers listeners a "weather guarantee" jackpot, which is drawn from a pool of listeners who enter the contest.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

In June 2021, Rogers announced that it would rebrand its news radio stations under the ''[[CityNews]]'' brand to create a shared identity with local news on [[Citytv]] television stations and their corresponding smartphone app and website.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/06/04/rogers-extends-citynews-brand-to-five-more-of-its-news-radio-stations/|title=Rogers extends CityNews brand to five more of its news radio stations|agency=[[The Canadian Press]]|author=<!-- uncredited -->|work=CityNews|date=June 4, 2021|access-date=June 5, 2021|archive-date=June 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604213625/https://medicinehatnews.com/business/2021/06/04/rogers-extends-citynews-brand-to-five-more-of-its-news-radio-stations/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The rebranding took effect on October 18, 2021, with the station rebranding as ''CityNews 680''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/exciting-changes-ahead-for-citynews-this-fall/|title=CityNews|website=toronto.citynews.ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/10/13/680-news-citynews-toronto/|title=CityNews|website=toronto.citynews.ca}}</ref>

On March 25, 2024, as part of a reimaging of the ''CityNews'' brand, CFTR rebranded as ''680 NewsRadio Toronto''.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Weekly Briefing |url=https://broadcastdialogue.com/twb-rsa-032824/ |access-date=March 28, 2024 |work=Broadcast Dialogue |date=March 28, 2024}}</ref>