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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Corus bids goodbye to radio station's jazz format
THE federal broadcast regulator has granted Corus Radio permission to sound the final note on the late Izzy Asper's dream of a Winnipeg jazz signal.
In a decision released Wednesday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved a Corus request to remove licence stipulations that require Groove FM 99.1 to loosely follow a jazz and blues format.
The specialty station has been losing money since Corus purchased it from now-defunct media broadcaster Canwest in 2007, the CRTC noted in its decision.
Corus now plans to rename and reformat the station as a female-friendly pop signal before the end of February 2012, said Garth Buchko, general manager for Corus in Winnipeg.
"Thankfully, as of tomorrow, 99.1 FM can be anything and everything we want it to be," said Buchko, who also praised the efforts of staff who attempted to make the signal work as a specialty station. "There are people who put their heart and soul into that station and it just didn't work because there wasn't that large an audience."
Under the direction of Canwest founder Asper, a jazz aficionado, Canwest launched what was originally known as Cool FM 99.1 in 2003. The station was rebranded to Groove FM in 2007 and never fulfilled Asper's dream, as the playlist was dominated by smooth jazz initially and later soft rock.
"That was a brave endeavour Izzy pioneered. It was a shame it could not find a larger audience," said Mark Maheu, vice-president and general manager of rival chain Bell Media's Winnipeg operations.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 1, 2011 A2
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