CHFI-FM Toronto: Introducing the World of FM

 

This two-page flyer was a mass-mailing promotion when CHFI-FM was starting up.  I found it among my late father-in-law's possessions.   Fortunately, he never threw anything out!

The first commercial FM broadcasting stations were in the United States, but initially they were primarily used to broadcast classical music to an upmarket listenership in urban areas, and for educational programming. CHFI was the first FM station in Canada that provided programming exclusively for FM transmission (rather than doing simulcasts from a sister AM station).  "HFI" in the call letters stood for "High Fidelity".  The station went on the air in 1957.  By the late 1960s FM had been adopted by fans of "Alternative Rock" music ("A.O.R. - 'Album Oriented Rock' Format"), but it wasn't until 1978 that listenership to FM stations exceeded that of AM stations in North America.  CHFI is still around, a part of the Rogers network.   Compared to when they started, they now boast 44,000 watts of power.  For more on the station's history, visit Radio Station History.

The flyer above was prepared by Granco Products Inc. of Long Island City, NY which made radio sets. Reportedly, one of the company's business managers failed to renew the fire insurance, and consequently a fire in 1963 ended the firm.