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CHML
CHML (900 AM) was a commercial radio station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, owned by Corus Entertainment. The station's long-time slogan was "Hometown Radio". It went off the air on August 14, 2024 at 1 p.m., shortly after Corus announced that the station would be closing.
Its power was 50,000 watts, the maximum for Canadian AM stations. It had a directional antenna with an eight-tower array. Its signal was oriented largely west-northwest to east-southeast, covering the Niagara Peninsula and Western New York. The transmitter was located between Peter's Corners and Cambridge. Its studios were located on Main Street West (next to Highway 403) in Hamilton's Westdale neighbourhood. The station last aired a news/talk format branded as 900 CHML.
Some of Canada's best-known broadcasters held the mic at CHML, including Tom Cherington, Paul Hanover, Roy Green, Bill Kelly and Scott Thompson. It signed on the air on September 28, 1927. It began broadcasting as a response to censorship of political discussions by Hamilton's first radio station, CKOC, after that station abruptly "pulled the plug" on a radio broadcast by a minister with the United Church of Canada. Rev. James Hughson was preaching a sermon on Prohibition, a controversial plan to end sales of liquor.
The original owner of CHML was the Maple Leaf Radio Company, operated by George H. Lees. Lees was a former mayor of Hamilton, and one of the elders of Rev. Hughson's church. The "HML" in the call sign stood for "Hamilton Maple Leaf". In those early years, CHML operated at 341 meters (880 kHz). In early December 1934, George Lees sold the station to Senator Arthur Hardy. At that time, CHML was operating with only 50 watts of power, and the new owner hoped to increase it to 100 watts. In 1936, Hardy asked local broadcaster Ken Soble to become the station's manager.
In 1944, Soble was able to purchase CHML, owning it for more than two decades. The station aired a middle of the road (MOR) format of popular adult music, news and information. Shortly after Soble's death in 1966, his estate sold the station to Western Broadcasting, later known as Western International Communications. Corus took over Western's radio assets in late 1999; this included twelve radio stations, among which was CHML. Western oversaw the station's transition from MOR music to a news-talk format. On November 27, 2017, CHML rebranded as Global News Radio 900 CHML.
CHML's 1927 debut broadcast was typical of its era. Hamilton's mayor gave a brief talk, and then a series of local artists performed live from the new station's studios. The evening's master of ceremonies was tenor Fred Trestrail, who had become well known as a vocalist on CFRB in Toronto. Throughout CHML's early years, the station's programming was a combination of music, news, sports and stock market reports, and religious sermons from area clergy. The music was provided by local performers: one frequent guest was contralto Olive Barlow, and other guest entertainers came from the Tivoli Theatre in downtown Hamilton. The station was an affiliate of CBC Radio's Dominion Network from 1944 until the network dissolved in 1962.
Throughout the years, CHML became well known for local programs, such as live broadcasts of the Hamilton City Council, Ken Soble's Amateur Hour, and the return to radio of veteran broadcaster Jane Gray in the early 1950s. Also popular was Bill Hartnoll, the "Old Garden Doctor" who broadcast advice about gardening for nearly twenty years, during the 1970s and 1980s. CHML was also the voice of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, broadcasting football from 1950 to 1977, and then again from 1984 to 2015. One of CHML's best-known sportscasters was Norm Marshall, who began doing play-by-play on radio in the mid-1940s, and later expanded his role to cover sports on local television station CHCH-TV; he also did some work for the CBC. He was known as the voice of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for 26 years. In 2015, Marshall was posthumously inducted into the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame.
While CHML had an all-talk format in its last years, it did not begin broadcasting daily talk shows until the early 1950s. The station debuted its first talk radio program, a morning call-in show known as "Open Line," in 1954. One announcer who became known for hosting it was Perc Allen, who became the host of "Open Line" in 1959. Allen, who also wrote and broadcast editorials about current issues, later became a news and traffic reporter, and spent several decades as a sportscaster for CHML.
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CHML
CHML (900 AM) was a commercial radio station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, owned by Corus Entertainment. The station's long-time slogan was "Hometown Radio". It went off the air on August 14, 2024 at 1 p.m., shortly after Corus announced that the station would be closing.
Its power was 50,000 watts, the maximum for Canadian AM stations. It had a directional antenna with an eight-tower array. Its signal was oriented largely west-northwest to east-southeast, covering the Niagara Peninsula and Western New York. The transmitter was located between Peter's Corners and Cambridge. Its studios were located on Main Street West (next to Highway 403) in Hamilton's Westdale neighbourhood. The station last aired a news/talk format branded as 900 CHML.
Some of Canada's best-known broadcasters held the mic at CHML, including Tom Cherington, Paul Hanover, Roy Green, Bill Kelly and Scott Thompson. It signed on the air on September 28, 1927. It began broadcasting as a response to censorship of political discussions by Hamilton's first radio station, CKOC, after that station abruptly "pulled the plug" on a radio broadcast by a minister with the United Church of Canada. Rev. James Hughson was preaching a sermon on Prohibition, a controversial plan to end sales of liquor.
The original owner of CHML was the Maple Leaf Radio Company, operated by George H. Lees. Lees was a former mayor of Hamilton, and one of the elders of Rev. Hughson's church. The "HML" in the call sign stood for "Hamilton Maple Leaf". In those early years, CHML operated at 341 meters (880 kHz). In early December 1934, George Lees sold the station to Senator Arthur Hardy. At that time, CHML was operating with only 50 watts of power, and the new owner hoped to increase it to 100 watts. In 1936, Hardy asked local broadcaster Ken Soble to become the station's manager.
In 1944, Soble was able to purchase CHML, owning it for more than two decades. The station aired a middle of the road (MOR) format of popular adult music, news and information. Shortly after Soble's death in 1966, his estate sold the station to Western Broadcasting, later known as Western International Communications. Corus took over Western's radio assets in late 1999; this included twelve radio stations, among which was CHML. Western oversaw the station's transition from MOR music to a news-talk format. On November 27, 2017, CHML rebranded as Global News Radio 900 CHML.
CHML's 1927 debut broadcast was typical of its era. Hamilton's mayor gave a brief talk, and then a series of local artists performed live from the new station's studios. The evening's master of ceremonies was tenor Fred Trestrail, who had become well known as a vocalist on CFRB in Toronto. Throughout CHML's early years, the station's programming was a combination of music, news, sports and stock market reports, and religious sermons from area clergy. The music was provided by local performers: one frequent guest was contralto Olive Barlow, and other guest entertainers came from the Tivoli Theatre in downtown Hamilton. The station was an affiliate of CBC Radio's Dominion Network from 1944 until the network dissolved in 1962.
Throughout the years, CHML became well known for local programs, such as live broadcasts of the Hamilton City Council, Ken Soble's Amateur Hour, and the return to radio of veteran broadcaster Jane Gray in the early 1950s. Also popular was Bill Hartnoll, the "Old Garden Doctor" who broadcast advice about gardening for nearly twenty years, during the 1970s and 1980s. CHML was also the voice of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, broadcasting football from 1950 to 1977, and then again from 1984 to 2015. One of CHML's best-known sportscasters was Norm Marshall, who began doing play-by-play on radio in the mid-1940s, and later expanded his role to cover sports on local television station CHCH-TV; he also did some work for the CBC. He was known as the voice of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for 26 years. In 2015, Marshall was posthumously inducted into the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame.
While CHML had an all-talk format in its last years, it did not begin broadcasting daily talk shows until the early 1950s. The station debuted its first talk radio program, a morning call-in show known as "Open Line," in 1954. One announcer who became known for hosting it was Perc Allen, who became the host of "Open Line" in 1959. Allen, who also wrote and broadcast editorials about current issues, later became a news and traffic reporter, and spent several decades as a sportscaster for CHML.