CFOM (defunct)

CFOM was a radio station in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was the only full-time English language radio station in the city until it was shut down in 1976.

The station was launched in 1949, with the call sign CJNT, later changing to CJQC in 1953. It finally adopted the CFOM call sign, which it retained for the remainder of its existence, in 1964. For its entire history, it was owned by Goodwill Broadcasters of Quebec.

The station was a privately owned affiliate of CBC Radio's main network, the Trans-Canada Network (forerunner of today's CBC Radio One). At the time Quebec City was the only provincial capital without a CBC-owned and -operated English-language radio station. This put CFOM in a difficult position as a commercial station whose license required it to air predominantly non-commercial programming. As such, it was a money-bleeder for most of its existence.

The station was hobbled by the fact that it was an anglophone station in a nearly monolingual francophone city. Its audience came primarily from anglophone members of the National Assembly, as well as anglophone government employees--just barely enough for the station to be viable.

Goodwill realized early on that it was in a precarious position. In 1951, Goodwill asked for permission to offer service in both English and French. However, the CBC, which at the time doubled as both regulator and broadcaster, turned the request down. A year later, Goodwill asked for permission to switch to French only. That request was also turned down, leading the station to seriously consider going off the air.

In 1962, the Trans-Canada Network merged with the CBC's secondary English radio network, the Dominion Network. This left CJQC as the only source of English programming in Quebec City; some Dominion programming had aired on CKCV, which dropped all English programming after the merger of the two networks.

In 1967, Goodwill asked the Board of Broadcast Governors, which had become Canada's broadcast regulator nine years earlier, to remove the stipulation that it operate only in English. Like the previous requests to change its operating language, it was refused.

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