CFPL (AM)

CFPL
London, Ontario;
Broadcast area	Southwestern Ontario
Frequency	980 kHz (AM)
Branding	980 CFPL
Programming
Format	News/Talk
Affiliations	Global News; London Knights; Toronto Blue Jays Radio Network
Ownership
Owner	Corus Entertainment; (Corus Premium Television Ltd.);
Sister stations	CFPL-FM, CFHK-FM, CKDK-FM
History
First air date	September 30, 1922
Former frequencies	430 metres (1922–1925); 910 kHz (1925–1933); 730 kHz (1933–1941); 1570 kHz (1941–1949)
Call sign meaning	Canada Free Press London (founding owner and local newspaper)
Technical information
Licensing authority	CRTC
Class	B
Power	10,000 watts day; 5,000 watts night
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	globalnews.ca/radio/am980

CFPL is a radio station owned by Corus Entertainment and based in London, Ontario, Canada. Transmitter power is 10,000 watts daytime, 5,000 watts nighttime. Broadcast frequency is 980 AM. CFPL uses a four-tower directional antenna with differing patterns during the day and night. The station primarily airs news, and talk programming, as well as London Knights hockey and Toronto Blue Jays games. The studios are located in downtown London, while its transmitter is located south of London at Wellington Road and Scotland Drive. After the closure of rival station Newstalk 1290 CJBK, which also once served London, CFPL is the only all-news radio station left in the city.

History

Originally CJGC, the station first went on the air on approximately 698 kHz, at a time when wavelength was usually used rather than frequency. It later changed to 910 kHz, then, to avoid interference from a Mexican station on 909, moved to 595 kHz, which it maintained until it merged with CKOK Windsor to become CKLW in April 1933. During the 1920s and early 1930s, CJGC airtime was used from time to time by CNRL, a phantom station of the Canadian National Railways.^[2]

In September 1933, the merger was dissolved and a new transmitter on 730 kHz went on the air with the call sign CFPL. The station was an affiliate of the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission from 1933 to 1936 when it became an affiliate of the new Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was an affiliate of the CBC's Dominion Network from 1944 to 1962 before that network was integrated into CBC Radio and then remained a CBC Radio affiliate for several years. The station changed frequency in 1941 to 1570 kHz, and in February 1949 it changed to 980 kHz. Like many other stations, it had to reduce transmitter power during the night.

The CBC affiliation continued until 1978, when CBC established CBCL-FM on 93.5 MHz, a rebroadcast transmitter of CBL in Toronto. The station played MOR and adult contemporary into the late 1990s (and featured Top 40 music in some dayparts during the 1960s), but has since transitioned to 100% news/talk/sports.

CFPL had the distinction of being the first city in North America to list The Beatles at Number One on a radio chart when "She Loves You" went to number one on December 06, 1963.

On November 27, 2017, CFPL rebranded as Global News Radio 980 AM.

References

^ "Blue Jays Radio Network".
^ CNRL-AM Archived 2017-01-09 at the Wayback Machine at Canadian Communications Foundation's former South-Western Ontario Radio Stations