Dear Toronto, yesterday was truly a day to rejoice as this city welcomed a new player to the airways, G 98.7. Toronto’s newest radio station, G 98.7 (CKFG-FM) has “flipped the switch”, turning on its vibrant mix of R&B, Soul, Reggae, Soca, Hip Hop, Worldbeat, Gospel, and Smooth Jazz. No longer are we stuck listening to the same 20 tracks over and over and over again, we actually have choice. I can honestly say that since discovering this station last week, I have not dared to change the station even once. This is quite impressive coming from a guy that constantly had one hand on the radio flicking stations. G 98.7 had reminded the joys of listening to the radio, I feel that I’m not only enjoying the songs I know but am discovering new music everyday. And to imagine it had taken Fitzroy Gordon, Founder/President/CEO & Station manager over 10 years to make his vision a reality.
“The birth of this station has been more than 10 years in the making,” says Gordon. “I have always been surprised and disappointed that a city as diverse as Toronto has not had a commercial radio station dedicated full-time to delivering Black and Caribbean music, news and talk programming to its population. The disappointment has turned to joy, and the time has finally come to show Toronto ‘the way we groove!’”
“It took me three tries to successfully secure a broadcasting licence,” Gordon continued. “My vision was always to see a Greater Toronto Area that is alive with the sounds of Black and Caribbean music, news, sports and talk for all people regardless of ethnicity, colour, gender, age, and culture. I want to leave a legacy for my people that they can be proud of. I want to ensure that they will always have a commercial radio station that is dedicated to them and provides them with a voice in the mainstream media in this country.”
Remember back in the day when Flow 93.5 was good, well you’ll be happy to know that G 98.7has brought back some of our favourite hosts and djs starting with the morning show hosted by non-other than Mark Strong & Jemeni.
“Mark & Jem are very popular and prominent personalities within this city, and we are excited to be bringing them back to radio,” says Williams. “They’ll stimulate your minds with their intellectual and interactive banter, and they’ll definitely keep you laughing all morning long. Weekdays from 6 am to 10 am will be reignited and reenergized by their presence.”
Other highlights of the G 98.7 program schedule include:
- The return of Dr. Jay and Spex to Sunday nights (Dr. Jay with Soca from 5 pm-8 pm, and Reggae with Spex from 8 pm-11 pm)
- Gospel Morning Show with Grammy-award winning recording artist and songwriter, Carvin Winans (of the legendary Winans family), Saturdays and Sundays from 5am-9 am
- A Sunday slate of engaging talk shows, including Insight (a magazine-style show featuring a weekly news round-up of international and local stories), Grapevine (a call-in show covering current affairs, politics, health, finance, youth, legal matters, and other relevant topics), Community Round-Up (covering a broad range of local community issues and events), and The Travel Show (featuring tourism information on the Caribbean and other worldwide destinations)
- International and local sports coverage (Saturdays from 9 am-11 am and Sundays from 11 pm-2 am)
- The Monday to Friday Drive Time Show with Jester, Evening Show with Peter & Candice, and slow jams with Kerry Lee Crawford (weeknights from 10 pm-1 am)