Rogers Sports & Media made a series of changes to the Ottawa radio landscape Thursday that included rebranding its Ottawa news/talk station 1310 News (CIWW-AM) as “CityNews” which will now be simulcast on the FM frequency formerly used by Country 101.1 (CKBY-FM). Accordingly, Country 92.3 has debuted on CJET-FM in place of the JACK FM brand.
1310 NEWS is now CityNews 101.1FM. Still #1 for local news in Ottawa and the Valley, now with clearer and better sound quality. Make the switch to 101.1FM to listen, or ask your smart speaker to ‘play CityNews Ottawa’. pic.twitter.com/MENMNZj94C
— 1310 NEWS (@1310NEWS) December 3, 2020
Charmaine Khan, Senior Manager of Communications, News & Entertainment, for Rogers Sports & Media, told Broadcast Dialogue that the move is an investment in the news format at a time when information is vital.
“News is critical, now more than ever, so we are investing in our newsrooms in the nation’s capital and making important changes that will ensure Ottawa’s award-winning 1310 NEWS is heard throughout Ottawa and the Valley by simulcasting on 101.1 FM, giving it a stronger and clearer sound, and across all digital platforms including online, apps, and smart speakers,” said Khan. “On CityNews, audiences will continue to hear the latest hyper-local news, traffic, and weather, plus all the local talk shows they’ve come to know and love, such as The Rob Snow Show, and Ottawa Today with Mark Sutcliffe.”
The adoption of the CityNews brand by radio is a first for 1310 News. Khan didn’t rule out an expansion of the brand to other Rogers Sports & Media radio stations currently under the so-called “green brand’ umbrella.
“Right now, we are focused on Ottawa, but we may look to do this down the road if it helps us build a stronger presence in the local market and better serve our audiences,” said Khan.
Khan said Country 92.3 will continue to feature popular Country 101.1 hosts Robin Harper, Brendan Seeley, and Wendy Boomer, as well as local news.
“Due to the number of FM stations we can operate in one market under the current CRTC rules, we had to make the tough decision of saying goodbye to JACK 92.3. While this was not an easy decision, we are now in a better position to ensure our local news programming has the widest possible audience,” said Khan.
As part of the changes, OttawaMatters.com has also changed its name to Ottawa.CityNews.ca.
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