CFRW/1290 (Winnipeg) has gone off the air amid nationwide cutbacks at parent company Bell Media.
The Canadian Press reports that Bell will cut 1,300 jobs, shut down six AM radio stations, and is selling three others in response to financial challenges.
An announcement looping on CFRW’s former web stream says the broadcast signal went off the air at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 14. The station’s website has already been taken down and it no longer appears on Bell media’s list of brands.
“The realities of AM radio and the broadcast media landscape have made this change unavoidable,” the announcement says.
The wording of the statement is similar to one made when CFRW switched from “TSN 1290” Sports to an All-Comedy format as “Funny 1290” in 2021.
CFRW broadcast with 10kW, using different directional patterns day and night. It had been one of three remaining AM radio stations in Winnipeg.
The city’s remaining AM stations are Corus’ CJOB/680 and CBC Radio One’s CBW/990, with many other regional AM stations also receivable in the city. CBW is also rebroadcast on CBW-1-FM/89.3 (Winnipeg).
Bell’s other Winnipeg stations include Adult Hits “99.9 Bob FM” (CFWM-FM), Contemporary Hits “103.1 Virgin Radio” (CKMM-FM), and CTV affiliate CKY-DT/7.