CHOZ-FM - History

History

The station launched on June 15, 1977, at 93.9 FM soon after Stirling sold his interest in what is now CJYQ. It was originally a full-time rock station known as "Radio OZ"; it is perhaps intended to be the Newfoundland equivalent of other stations then owned by Stirling such as CHOM-FM Montreal. It eventually transitioned to a combination contemporary hit radio/classic rock format under the "OZ FM" brand; nonetheless it kept the slogan "The Rock of the Rock".

In 1984, CHOZ was granted to change frequencies from 93.9 FM to 94.7 FM.

During most of the 1990s it was the most popular FM radio station, both in the province and in the core St. John's market. The channel's success was driven largely by the strength of its eclectic morning show, The Dawn Patrol.

Yet by the early 2000s its newly strengthened competitor Newcap Broadcasting had begun to cause a significant effect, particularly in St. John's. Already the owner of the city's dominant radio station, AM station VOCM, Newcap effectively split CHOZ's market by converting VOCM-FM (and several other stations across the province) to classic rock, and soon after CKIX-FM to contemporary hits. Another strong contender, Coast Broadcasting's adult contemporary station CKSJ-FM, launched in 2004.

But since CKSJ and CKIX only operated in the St. John's area, Oz FM was now in the problematic situation of competing primarily with female-skewing FM stations in its largest market, and with a single male-skewing FM competitor in the rest of the province.

CHOZ can still boast having the largest audience of any FM radio station in the province, largely because it is the only station with a province-wide network of transmitters, all carrying identical programming, which can therefore be accumulated for ratings purposes as a single station. In contrast, other provincial radio services - such as CBC Radio One, VOCM/CFCB, and K-Rock - are made up of separate local stations with some unique programming, while several stations operate only in the immediate St. John's area.

In 2003, Randy Snow left the OZFM Dawn Patrol to join rival station CKIX to host his own morning show. His replacement was Brian O'Connell, who left the VOCM Morning Show to join OZFM.

In April 2007, O'Connell took over as station manager for the OZFM Network and host of the daily Electric Lunch program. Then, Brian left OZFM and now works for Newcap Broadcasting hosting The VOCM Irish Newfoundland Show and The VOCM Morning Show (VOCM). OZFM staff announcer Paul Kinsman was named as O'Connell's on air replacement, joining long time Dawn Patrol veterans Deborah Birmingham and Larry Jay.

On August 17, 2009, OZ changed its format to mainstream rock from hot adult contemporary, forcing rival CKIX-FM taking the hot adult contemporary format, but continue to report on the Mediabase/Nielsen BDS Canadian top 40 panel. However, CKIX-FM has since returned to contemporary hit radio following the return of hot AC to Oz FM.

At Midnight on January 2, 2012, Oz FM stopped playing their mainstream rock format without notice. Oz FM started playing a hot adult contemporary format, with a new slogan Today's Best Music. This ended the use of their longtime slogan "The Rock of the Rock", despite the fact that that slogan was still used the previous time that the station played a contemporary hit format. The station also resurrected the longtime heart-rainbow logo, that the station used prior to 2008. The following month, the station surfaced on the Mediabase Canadian hot AC panel. It should be noted that although OZ-FM has officially dropped their "Rock of the Rock" slogan, from time to time, it can still be heard usually before a Rock leaning track is to be played.