CFLZ-FM


CFLZ-FM is a Canadian radio station that serves the Buffalo-Niagara Falls border area, broadcasting at 101.1 FM in Fort Erie, Ontario. CFLZ's studios are located on Ontario Avenue in Niagara Falls, Ontario, while its transmitter is located near Fort Erie. It is also the highest rated Canadian station in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls region, according to Nielsen Audio.

History

Early years

The station was launched on Canada Day 1986, at 5:30 p.m. as AM 530 CJFT, playing a Top 40 format. Afternoon drive personality Alan Chonka signed CJFT on the air. It moved to FM in 1991, adopted the CKEY-FM call letters, and flipped to adult standards.
On August 26, 1994, at noon, the station switched to alternative rock as "FM 101 The Planet." By 1996, the station shifted to dance music while retaining the "Planet" moniker. It was an affiliate of "Pirate Radio" with Chris Sheppard.
On August 21, 1996, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved CJRN 710 Inc.'s application to increase CKEY-FM transmitter from 8,670 watts to 19,700 watts. The Commission also approved the application to amend the broadcasting licence for CKEY-FM by authorizing the licensee to add a transmitter at St. Catharines, operating on frequency 101.1 MHz with an effective radiated power of 150 watts with a callsign CKEY-FM-1. The Commission notes that this transmitter has been operating on an experimental basis for some time and is a co-channel, synchronous repeater of CKEY-FM Fort Erie.
On November 14, 1997, the dance format was dropped in favour of a modern AC format, branded as "The River". In 2001, a change of ownership of CJRN, CKEY-FM and CFLZ-FM to the Niagara Broadcasting Corporation was approved. The company would now be owned by several members of the Dancy family. On September 6, 2002, at 6 AM, the hot AC format moved to sister station CFLZ-FM, and CKEY adopted a rhythmic top 40 format branded as "WiLD 101".
The station entered into a local marketing agreement with Citadel, who operated the station as part of its Buffalo, New York cluster. That LMA was discontinued when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission threatened to revoke the station's licence. By 2005, the station moved to its current top 40 format, and later on, the station changed its branding to Z101 on April 1, 2007. It was the only "Wild"-branded station in Canada. On December 19, 2005, the CRTC approved the transfer of ownership and control of CJRN 710 Inc. from Niagara Broadcasting Corp. to Northguard Capital Corp.. This approval also covered the transfer to Northguard of 788813 Ontario Inc., once it became a wholly owned subsidiary of CJRN 710 Inc. Northguard would then amalgamate both entities to continue the operation of the undertakings under the name, CJRN 710 Inc. 2005-1146-1
The CRTC has continued to express concern with CKEY-FM's programming, calling attention in particular to the station's seeming failure to comply with its licence condition requiring a minimum three hours per week of locally oriented news programming. In its 2007 licence renewal, the station was only granted a two-year licence period.

Z-101

CKEY-FM was a reporter to the American rhythmic top 40 panel on Mediabase and Nielsen BDS, but in 2005, CKEY-FM moved to the American top 40 panel on Mediabase and Nielsen BDS. The station has continued to lean rhythmic even after shifting to mainstream top 40. Another station, CKBT-FM in Kitchener, Ontario, retains the rhythmic lean. Just like similar stations CIDC-FM-Toronto and CKHZ-FM-Halifax, the station pronounces it "Zee" instead of "Zed". In the case of CFLZ, the station is most likely using the American pronunciation due to the station primarily serving Buffalo at this time.
In 2010, the Haliburton Broadcasting Group applied to buy CKEY-FM and sister station CFLZ-FM. The transaction received approval on June 8, 2011.
On August 24, 2011, the station dropped the rhythmic lean entirely and adopted a more mainstream playlist. The station also unveiled a new logo, and will continue to report as contemporary hit radio per Mediabase and Nielsen BDS. As of November 2011, CKEY-FM was moved to the Mediabase Canadian contemporary hit radio panel from the U.S. contemporary hit radio panel as it still reports as a Buffalo station, but it must register as a St. Catharines station.
In late 2011, the station adopted the CFLZ-FM callsign which had been used by its sister station, now known as CJED-FM. As the station's signal has always targeted the Buffalo market and does not fully cover the Niagara Region, the station applied to the CRTC and received approval to deploy a co-channel repeater that is located in south St. Catharines.
On April 23, 2012, Vista Broadcast Group, which owns a number of radio stations in western Canada, announced an agreement to acquire the station and CJED-FM from Haliburton Broadcasting, in cooperation with Westerkirk Capital. The transaction was approved by the CRTC on October 19, 2012.
As a result of ongoing issues with the St. Catharines repeater causing interference, Vista had filed an application with the CRTC to take it off the air and remove it from the licence.

2Day FM

On September 20, 2013, at noon, after playing "This Is What It Feels Like" by Armin van Buuren, CFLZ shifted its brand to the "2Day FM" brand, simulcasting with sister station CJED-FM. The first song on "2Day FM" was "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke.
In May 2014, the licence for CFLZ-FM's repeater in St. Catharines was revoked. Vista says the transmitter was shut down last September.
On April 30, 2014, Vista filed an application with the CRTC to amend the station's broadcasting licence. On December 8, 2014, the CRTC denied the application and cited Vista for being in non-compliance with various conditions of the licence including converting the station to a full-time rebroadcasting transmitter for CJED-FM without prior approval by the commission. New conditions were placed upon the licensee. CFLZ-FM was taken off the air shortly thereafter. It was returned to air on December 19, 2014, apparently continuing to simulcast to CJED-FM.

Juice FM

On July 15, 2016, at 6:13 a.m., CFLZ discontinued simulcasting CJED-FM and switched to Vista Radio's "Juice" format, broadcasting an adult hits format consisting of hits from the 1980s to today. On January 15, 2018, Byrnes Communications Inc. acquired CFLZ and sister station CJED-FM with approval from the CRTC. Byrnes Communications took control of CFLZ on 1 February 2018.

More FM

On March 1, 2018, the station re-branded as "101.1 More FM", playing songs from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Because of the station's programming, More FM competes with WHTT-FM, WBUF and WGRF in Buffalo and CIXL-FM in Welland.
In September 2019, More FM announced that their signal might be temporarily weakened due to transmitter work. The work would be done to improve the present transmitter and allow CFLZ to broadcast at 50,000 Watts full-time. At the time of the announcement, the only "50,000 Watters" in the area were CHTZ-FM and CHRE-FM.