About FM96 (CFPL)

FM96 (CFPL)

FM96 (CFPL-FM) is London, Ontario's rock radio station — an alternative-leaning active rock outlet owned by Corus Entertainment, broadcasting on 95.9 MHz with an unusually powerful 150,000-watt signal across southwestern Ontario. The station is one of Canada's oldest FM outlets, signing on May 15, 1948, as the FM arm of the London Free Press newspaper — the "FPL" in its call sign stands for "Free Press London." Its studios are in downtown London at Wellington and King streets, and it is the official radio home of the London Knights hockey club.

Overview

CFPL-FM is a commercial FM station licensed to London, Ontario, owned by Corus Entertainment (Corus Premium Television Ltd.). It broadcasts on 95.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 150,000 watts (300,000 watts maximum), Class C1, from a tower in southwest London off Communications Road shared with CFPL-DT and sister station CFHK-FM — an unusually high-powered FM signal whose reach extends well beyond London.

The format is alternative-leaning active rock, branded "FM96," with the slogan "London's Best Rock." Sister stations include CFPL (980 AM, news/talk), CKDK-FM (103.9, Woodstock), and CFHK-FM (103.1, St. Thomas).

History

CFPL-FM signed on May 15, 1948, at 93.5 MHz as a simulcast of CFPL AM — Canada's third-oldest FM station, owned by the London Free Press newspaper. The FM station began airing separate programming in 1949, the same year it moved to 95.9 MHz at 4,440 watts. In 1961, CFPL-FM boosted its signal to 179,000 watts — at the time the most powerful FM signal in Canada.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, CFPL-FM broadcast classical music as a CBC affiliate. In 1972, it disaffiliated from the CBC and adopted a variety format as "Stereo 96." In 1979, the station became "FM96" with an adult contemporary format under the "Rock 'n' Easy" moniker, carrying the slogan "Music Above All" through part of the 1980s, before shifting to rock in the 1980s.

Ownership moved from the Blackburn Group to Corus: Blackburn Radio sold its London stations to Shaw Communications in 1999, and the stations passed to Corus Entertainment. In 2006, FM96 was named Station of the Year and won the BDS Cutting Edge Award. On August 14, 2006, FM96 "pulled the plug" — playing all-acoustic songs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to mark the Northeast Blackout of 2003 and raise power-conservation awareness. In 2006 and 2007, the station staged the "FM96 Rocks" concerts in downtown London, featuring Metric, Yellowcard, Wintersleep, The Trews, Tokyo Police Club, Finger Eleven, and Sam Roberts.

Programming

FM96's active rock lineup includes The Taz Show in mornings and Alan Cross's The Ongoing History of New Music, alongside local news, sports, and weather. The station is the official radio voice of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, providing live game coverage.

Coverage and Audience

The station's 150,000-watt signal covers southwestern Ontario and reaches into parts of the United States across Lake Erie. FM96 has been a ratings leader in the London market and a long-standing community presence through its concerts, charity events, and Knights broadcasts.

Ownership

CFPL-FM is owned by Corus Entertainment. Earlier owners include the London Free Press (1948–1990s), Blackburn Radio, and Shaw Communications (1999). The station was acquired by Corus as part of the Shaw radio asset transfer.

The Corus ownership connects FM96 to one of Canada's largest rock-radio portfolios — sister rock stations include Q107 Toronto, CFOX Vancouver, Rock 101 Vancouver, Power 97 Winnipeg, and Y108 Hamilton — giving the station access to shared programming like Alan Cross's The Ongoing History of New Music and the buying power of a national group. But the station's identity remains stubbornly local: the downtown Wellington-and-King studios, the London Knights partnership, and the "FM96 Rocks" concerts all trade on the station's 75-plus years as London's rock station.

The 1999 Blackburn-to-Shaw sale was part of the great late-1990s consolidation of Canadian radio, when family-owned groups sold to national consolidators. The London Free Press had owned the station for half a century — the call sign's "FPL" is a permanent memorial to that era — and the Blackburn family's stewardship covered the classical years, the Stereo 96 experiment, the "Rock 'n' Easy" era, and the rock flip. Corus's stewardship has covered the digital era: the 2007 website relaunch, streaming, social media, and the podcast extensions of the station's personality shows.

The technical profile deserves a final note: 150,000 watts ERP (300,000 maximum), Class C1, from a shared tower on Communications Road — an unusually powerful FM facility that gives FM96 one of the largest FM footprints in Ontario. The 1961 boost to 179,000 watts was a bet on FM's future made when most broadcasters still treated FM as an afterthought; seven decades later, that bet still pays dividends every time the signal crosses Lake Erie.

CFPL-FM's claim as Canada's third-oldest FM station rests on a 1948 sign-on that predates FM's commercial maturity by decades. The London Free Press — the newspaper whose name lives on in the call sign — launched the station at 93.5 MHz as a simulcast of CFPL AM, when FM receivers were still rare. Separate programming began in 1949 with the move to 95.9 MHz at 4,440 watts, and the 1961 power boost to 179,000 watts made it the most powerful FM signal in Canada — a record that reflected the Free Press's ambition to dominate southwestern Ontario broadcasting.

The classical years (1960s to 1972) are a forgotten chapter: as a CBC affiliate, CFPL-FM carried fine music to a region the national network otherwise underserved. Disaffiliation in 1972 brought "Stereo 96," a variety format mixing music and talk, and the 1979 arrival of "FM96" with the "Rock 'n' Easy" adult contemporary format — slogan "Music Above All" — positioned the station for the 1980s. The shift to rock in the 1980s completed the format journey and set up the station's modern identity.

The Blackburn-to-Shaw-to-Corus ownership chain mirrors Canadian radio consolidation. The Blackburn Group (the Free Press's broadcast arm) sold its London stations to Shaw Communications in 1999; the radio assets passed to Corus Entertainment, which has owned FM96 since. Corus's 2007 website relaunch gave the station a modern digital front door consistent with its sister rock stations.

The station's community signature includes the "FM96 Rocks" concerts — the September 15, 2006 downtown show at King and Clarence with Metric, Yellowcard, Wintersleep, The Trews, Danko Jones, and Tokyo Police Club, and the 2007 sequel at the Libro London Balloon Festival with Finger Eleven and Sam Roberts — and the August 14, 2006 "pull the plug" stunt: all-acoustic programming from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. marking the Northeast Blackout of 2003 and promoting power conservation. The 2006 Station of the Year and BDS Cutting Edge awards recognized the station's national standing.

As the official radio station of the London Knights, FM96 carries one of junior hockey's most followed teams, embedding the station in the city's sporting life. The downtown studios at Wellington and King place it at the literal centre of London, while the 150,000-watt (300,000 maximum) signal from the Communications Road tower — shared with CFPL-DT and CFHK-FM — reaches across southwestern Ontario and into the United States.

Digital Presence

FM96 streams live from its website and maintains active social media accounts in English promoting its shows, concerts, and contests. Its official site is listed in the frontmatter. The station's history — from the 1948 Free Press sign-on through the classical years and the rock era — is documented by the Canadian Communications Foundation's broadcasting-history.ca project and on its Wikipedia page.