New ownership at CKOT radio

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Tillsonburg’s radio station is back.

Although CKOT and CJDL didn’t cease to exist, the community presence of the station disappeared after the sale from the Lamers family to Rogers Sports and Media. MY Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) announced the acquisition on Aug. 1, and the Renfrew, ON-based company plans to build new broadcast facilities in Tillsonburg and feature local news, programming, and community involvement.

With the acquisition, a format change for CKOT was approved that will see a classic rock format operating as GIANT FM. CJDL, which was a country station, is now New Country 107.3.

Rob Mise, vice-president of content and regional manager for MBC, said approval from the CRTC came quicker than expected.

“You just don’t know when you’ll get the call until you get the call,” he said.

The change to classic rock was made after assessing the market.

“We did research. We asked listeners what they wanted to heard the most,” Mise said. “The number one thing that stood out there was the regional ownership, get local news, get hockey scores on, that was the biggest thing people missed the most.”

He noted a resurgence in classic rock, with not only the “boomers” listening but also among youth who hear it in TikTok and movies.

“There is a certainly familiarity with it because the music is timeless,” he said.

MBC also operates Giant FM in Welland/Niagara, CD 98.9 and Oldies 99.7 in Simcoe, and other stations across the province. While Mise said there will be some music that is the same as Welland’s Giant FM, the news and “spoken word content” will be different.

Change will be minimal at CJDL except for the return of Randy Owen, who was popular with his afternoon show on CKOT and was laid off by Rogers.

“It’s the same station, it focuses on 2000 country,” Mise said. “The average person won’t hear a difference on the country station except Randy is back on Sunday mornings starting in September.”

“(MY FM Kingston radio host) Big G said we need him, my dad said we need him, Terri Clark said we need him, and many Tillsonburg locals said - you need Randy Owen,” said Jon Pole, MBC president. “Randy will be joining us to work on a special Country Gold show. I'm sure we'll talk him into a few other things too. I'm confident he will be a great ambassador for New Country 107.3.”

MBC is currently looking for a location to establish a storefront in Tillsonburg, which will be staffed. Although the radio tower on the top of the former CKOT building was a landmark in downtown Tillsonburg, Mise said technology has made the need for the tower a thing of the past.

“The antenna on top of buildings isn’t required anymore,” he explained. “The internet has taken over and feeds the transmitter.”

The tower on Highway 19 north of Salford will continue to be used for transmitting both stations.