About Radio Shalom (CKZW)

Radio Shalom (CKZW)

Radio Shalom (CKZW) is a non-profit radio station broadcasting from Montreal, Quebec, on 1650 kHz AM — a frequency with a remarkable history as the home of Canada's first and only all-Jewish radio station. Launched as "Radio Shalom Montreal" in 2001 and moving to 1650 AM in 2007 under the CJRS call letters, the station broadcast around the clock in French, English, and Hebrew for 15 years before financial pressures forced its shutdown in 2016. The frequency has since continued under new stewardship: owned by Communications Média Évangélique / Gospel Media Communications and operating as CKZW, it now carries a mix of Jewish programming ("Radio Shalom") and French-English gospel programming ("La Radio Gospel").

Overview

CKZW is a non-profit AM station licensed to Montreal, broadcasting on 1650 kHz with 1,000 watts (Class C), with a repeater on CKIN-HD3 at 106.3 in Montreal. Its format is a distinctive blend: news, talk, and Jewish cultural programming under the Radio Shalom banner, alongside bilingual Christian gospel programming as "La Radio Gospel." The station is owned by Communications Média Évangélique / Gospel Media Communications, headed by André Joly.

The station's identity reflects its layered history. The "Radio Shalom" name and Jewish programming descend from the original 2001–2016 service founded by Robert Levy; the gospel programming comes from the Christian audio service that supplied Sabbath-hour programming during the Jewish station's run and took over the schedule full-time after its closure.

History

CJRS was established in 2001 as a subcarrier FM radio service, "Radio Shalom Montreal," before relocating to 1650 AM in May 2007. It was Canada's first and only trilingual Jewish radio station — and, at the time, the only all-Jewish radio station in North America, broadcasting in French, English, and Hebrew. The station was run under president Robert Levy (also rendered Robert Lévy).

Radio Shalom's programming was unique in Canadian broadcasting: it was reported to be the only station in the country airing mizrahi, Yiddish, ladino, klezmer, hassidic, and Israeli music — a pan-Jewish musical palette reflecting Montreal's diverse Jewish community, from Ashkenazi to Sephardi to Mizrahi traditions. Its talk programming included the weekly Sunday-evening "Howie Silbiger Show" with a live call-in segment, shows produced by Alexandre Fredeau, and the long-running "Montreal Jewish Magazine" hosted by Stanley Asher. The station broadcast 24 hours a day, six days a week — going silent on Shabbat, when Jewish law prevents observant members from operating a radio station. During those Sabbath hours, programming was supplied by CKZW, a Christian audio service operated by André Joly (the call sign was not then official) — an interfaith arrangement born of practical necessity that would later define the station's second life.

The CJRS call letters had a previous life: they were used by Radiomédia's Sherbrooke outlet on 1510 AM, which left the air with a host of other AM stations in 1994.

Financial troubles mounted through the 2010s. The almost entirely volunteer-run station struggled to draw listeners, advertisers, and community support. In April 2016, owner Robert Levy announced the station's closure after more than 15 years; the end on the air was abrupt — the last Jewish program, a syndicated broadcast from France, was cut off mid-sentence on a Friday evening as the station switched to the CKZW gospel feed. Critics blamed management and an overly religious, Sephardi-oriented programming direction; supporters mourned the loss of Canada's only all-Jewish station.

After the shutdown, Joly's CKZW service provided programming around the clock while Levy remained the owner of record to satisfy CRTC ownership requirements, with discussions of a formal sale requiring Commission approval. In 2022, the CRTC posted an application by Communications Média Évangélique / Gospel Media Communications to acquire the station from Radio Shalom for $0 — Joly, who also sat on Radio Shalom's board, had effectively been running the station and subsidizing its losses for years, having already acquired most of its assets. The application noted Radio Shalom's board had voted to approve the deal and that the non-profit corporation would be wound up after closing. According to an unaudited 2021 financial statement cited in coverage of the application, Radio Shalom held $136,834 in net assets. The station adopted the CKZW call sign officially (it had used CJRS from 2007 to 2016), closing the book on the Radio Shalom corporate era while preserving the name on air.

Programming

Under its current operation, CKZW's schedule blends two heritages. The Radio Shalom component preserves Jewish cultural programming — music, community talk, and cultural commentary in French, English, and Hebrew — while La Radio Gospel airs French- and English-language gospel music, biblical teaching, and religious programming. Current directory listings describe shows such as "Le Trublion" and "The Consumer Show" alongside the station's cultural and economic-news content aimed at the Jewish community.

The dual format is unusual in Canadian radio: a single non-profit AM frequency serving both Jewish and evangelical Christian audiences, a legacy of the Sabbath-programming arrangement that kept the station on the air during its Jewish era.

Coverage and Audience

CKZW's 1,000-watt signal on 1650 kHz covers Greater Montreal, with the CKIN-HD3 repeater at 106.3 extending digital availability. The station's audience spans Montreal's Jewish community — for whom Radio Shalom was, for 15 years, the only dedicated radio voice in Canada — and the francophone and anglophone gospel audience served by La Radio Gospel. The station also streams online, reaching listeners beyond its terrestrial footprint. Directory profiles describe the station as based in Ville-Mont-Royal, operating daily on 1650 AM with shows such as "Le Trublion" and "The Consumer Show," and dedicated to enriching Jewish cultural experience through music and discussion — a mission statement that survives from the Radio Shalom era into the shared present.

Ownership

CKZW is owned by Communications Média Évangélique / Gospel Media Communications, the non-profit organization headed by André Joly. Joly's service had supplied the station's Sabbath programming during the Radio Shalom years and took over full-time operations after the 2016 shutdown; the formal licence transfer from Robert Levy's Radio Shalom organization was put before the CRTC in 2022. Both organizations are non-profit, and the agreed purchase price for the licence was zero — though the Commission examined whether lease transfers and prior subsidies gave the transaction a calculable value for tangible-benefits purposes, with the Commission suggesting a possible value of $309,125 and Joly agreeing to pay tangible benefits of up to $18,548 (the standard 6 percent) if the Commission found the sale had an actual value.

Digital Presence

The station is associated with two web domains: radio-shalom.ca for the Jewish format and laradiogospel.ca for the gospel format. Directory listings continue to reference radio-shalom.ca with a Montreal contact number (514-738-4100), and the gospel service lists its own contact points. The station streams online and maintains social media presences for both brands, keeping both halves of its unique dual identity visible to their respective audiences.

The station's history — from the 2001 subcarrier launch through the 2007 move to 1650 AM, the 2016 shutdown, and the gospel-era transition — is documented in Montreal media coverage, including Steve Fagstein's detailed reporting on the closure and the licence transfer, in Jewish-community press accounts of the shutdown, and in the CRTC's public filings.

Licence Commitments

When the CRTC approved Radio Chalom's AM licence in March 2006, the applicant committed to an ambitious schedule: at least 90 hours of local programming each week, 42 hours of spoken word including 11 hours of news, news bulletins 16 times daily, and 100 hours of religious programming — 90 percent of it Canadian. It also pledged 18 hours weekly of balanced programming presenting differing views on issues and religions, a condition of licence the station affirmed as a fundamental principle.