CHAY-FM

CHAY-FM

Barrie, Ontario
Broadcast area	Central Ontario
Frequency	93.1 MHz
Branding	Fresh 93.1
Programming
Format	Rhythmic-leaning CHR
Ownership
Owner	Corus Entertainment (Corus Radio Company)
Sister stations	CIQB-FM
History
First air date	May 21, 1977
Call sign meaning	"CHAY" is a Huron greeting loosely translated to "good day"
Technical information
Class	C1
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	303.5 meters (996 ft)
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	931freshradio.ca

CHAY-FM (93.1 MHz) is a Canadian radio station in Barrie, Ontario. The station airs a Rhythmic-leaning CHR format, using its on-air brand name as Fresh 93.1. The station is owned by Corus Entertainment.

History

CHAY signed on the air originally with a hybrid easy listening/beautiful music format on May 21, 1977, but changed to more of an adult contemporary format the following decade with the decline of beautiful music on FM radio. The station was initially broadcast from a 1,000 foot tower just south of Barrie that it had shared with local television station CKVR-TV. On September 7 of that year, a small plane crashed into the tower, destroying the building and killing everyone on board. Toronto station CHIN-FM assisted CHAY in temporarily restoring its signal until the tower was replaced one year later.

In 1989, CHAY moved to more of a mainstream adult contemporary format. Throughout the transition period, the station continued to attract an audience of a quarter million listeners per week.

On October 15, 2000, CHAY flipped to a rhythmic contemporary/CHR format as Energy 93.1, simulcasting some programming from its sister station CING-FM in Hamilton. In 2003, the station returned to its adult contemporary format as The New CHAY 93.1 FM. In 2008, the station was rebranded to FM93, Barrie's Fresh Music Mix, but kept the same AC format.

On March 11, 2011, the station flipped to an adult hits format as CHAY TODAY @ 93.1 FM; by summer 2014, the station moved back to an upbeat mainstream adult contemporary format.

On May 15, 2015, CHAY re-branded as 93.1 Fresh Radio with a hot AC format. CHAY became the eighth Corus radio station to adopt the "Fresh Radio" branding.

On April 1, 2016, Shaw Media was sold to Corus Entertainment.

In 2019, the station was slightly re-branded to Fresh 93.1 with a Rhythmic-leaning CHR format.

External links

• Fresh 93.1
• CHAY-FM at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation
• CHAY-FM in the REC Canadian station database