Wikipedia

EZ Rock

Not to be confused with KGVL in Greenville, Texas, which uses the EZ Rock branding.

EZ Rock was a brand of adult contemporary radio stations heard primarily in Canada. The branding was originally created by Telemedia in the mid-1990s for its AC stations, and based on the call sign of its former Toronto flagship CJEZ-FM (now adult hits-formatted CHBM-FM).

EZ Rock
TypeRadio network
Country
Canada
Programming
FormatAdult contemporary
Ownership
OwnerBell Media
(Bell Media Radio)
History
Foundedby Telemedia
Launch dateJune 30, 1995
ClosedMay 18, 2021
Links
Website(see each station's articles)

Via acquisitions, control of the "EZ Rock" brand passed from Telemedia to Astral Media and later Bell Media. By 2021, as the majority of its owned-and-operated stations had been shifted to one of Bell Media's other standardized station formats, such as Pure Country, Move Radio (AC, which replaced Ontario's final "EZ Rock" station CHRE-FM in St. Catharines, and Kelowna's CILK-FM), or Virgin Radio (CHR/Top 40), the only remaining "EZ Rock" stations were in British Columbia. On May 18, 2021, the final "EZ Rock" stations flipped to adult hits under Bell's "Bounce Radio" brand.

History

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Logo of the original EZ Rock station, CJEZ/Toronto

Ownership of the EZ Rock brand passed from Telemedia to Standard Broadcasting in 2002, to Astral Media in 2007, and to Bell Media in 2013.

On August 29, 2013, Rogers Media's "EZ Rock" stations in Northern Ontario switched to the company's standard "Kiss" brand (heard primarily on CHR stations); these stations were former Standard stations that were acquired by Rogers in 2002.[1][2]

As of January 2021, the "EZ Rock" branding was mostly heard on Bell Media-owned stations in British Columbia making it the last Canadian province to use the "EZ Rock" branding since the other stations have rebranded to Move Radio. On May 18, 2021, Bell flipped all remaining "EZ Rock" stations to its new adult hits branding "Bounce Radio".[3]

Programming

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The EZ Rock stations were generally programmed independently, although special Canadian content versions of shows such as Delilah and the John Tesh Radio Show were heard across the network. Several marketing stations like London and St. Catharines also heard is On Air with Ryan Seacrest and Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 as well. Some stations in smaller markets may also share voice-tracked programming in weekend and overnight slots.

Former EZ Rock stations

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All stations are owned by Bell Media Radio, unless otherwise specified.

Alberta

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British Columbia

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New Brunswick

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Nova Scotia

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  • Truro - CKTO-FM (identified as EZ Rock from 2001 until 2002)

Ontario

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References

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Bell Media: EZ Rock - This link, is no longer exist information. However, this link will be transfer now into "Bounce Radio" brand network information.

  1. ^ "Rogers Preparing To Rebrand Four Ontario EZRocks," from Radio Insight, 7/8/2013
  2. ^ "EZ Rock radio stations eager to dump their branding," from Canada.com, 7/8/2013 archived 2013-07-11 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Bell Media Bounces 25 Stations Across Canada To New Variety Hits Brand". RadioInsight. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
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