CJLO is the official campus and community radio station for Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec and is operated almost entirely by its volunteer membership. The station broadcasts from the Loyola campus, and it can be heard at 1690 AM in Montreal, iTunes radio in the College/University category, the CJLO mobile app, or on the CJLO website. CJLO started streaming online 7 days a week in early 2003, and the station began broadcasting by radio in the Montreal area on 1690 AM with 1000 watts of power in late 2008. The tower and transmitter are located in Lachine and the signal can be heard as far as Ottawa and Burlington, Vermont, United States. CJLO was voted #1 Best Radio Station in Montreal in the Cult MTL Best of MTL Readers Poll 2022.

History

The station was originally formed in 1998 from the merger of CRSG, a closed circuit station at Concordia's Sir George Williams Campus, and CFLI, a carrier current station at the Loyola Campus. It continued to broadcast by closed circuit until 2003, when it launched an Internet radio stream. The station was granted a license by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 2006 to broadcast on the AM band at 1690, and began airing a testing signal in September 2008. The station officially launched its on-air programming on October 15, 2008 with the song "Left of the Dial" by The Replacements. On April 25, 2014, the CRTC published CJLO's application for a low-power FM retransmitter on 107.9 MHz, to alleviate reception issues downtown. The main concern with the use of 107.9 is potential interference from WVPS, the Vermont Public Radio flagship in Burlington. The application was denied by the CRTC on January 26, 2015, as they felt that there were no broadcasting deficiencies of the 1690 AM signal within its immediate broadcast area. WVPS, whose signal is not protected outside the United States, was not considered a factor in this decision.

Programs

CJLO has over 70 original live programs with formats that include spoken-word and a variety of musical genres such as rock alternative, classical, hip-hop, jazz, experimental, metal, world beat, and more. As of Winter 2016, the station currently airs the following: Some of CJLO's programs that aired in the past several years include:

Awards and honours

CJLO is a station that has received multiple nominations and wins at the CMJ Music Marathon College Radio Awards since 2008. The station was consistently voted as one of the top-ten Best Radio Stations in The Montreal Mirror's Best of Montreal Readers Poll.

CMJ College Radio Awards

Montreal Mirror Best of Montreal Readers Poll

Other

In 2010, CJLO was ranked as one of the best college radio stations by the Huffington Post and was the only Canadian radio station selected to attend the First Annual International Radio Festival in Zurich, Switzerland. In 2013, CJLO was voted the second Best Radio Station in the CultMTL Best of MTL Readers Poll. In 2022, CJLO was voted #1 Best Radio Station in Montreal in the CultMTL Best of MTL Readers Poll.