is a
Canadian radio station, which broadcasts an
Adult Contemporary format at 97.3
FM in
Toronto, Ontario . The station uses the on-air brand '''EZ Rock''' (pronounced "Easy Rock", not "E-Zed Rock".)
The station was launched in
1987 by Redmond Broadcasting as an
Easy Listening station. It was acquired by
Telemedia in
1995 , and subsequently adopted its current format and branding. Several other Telemedia-owned stations broadcasting a similar format in other cities were later branded EZ Rock as well.
When
Standard Broadcasting acquired Telemedia in
2002 , CJEZ was one of the stations retained by Standard, although some of the other EZ Rock stations were sold to
Rogers Communications .
CJEZ competes most closely with fellow adult contemporary station
CHFI at 98.1. In the mid-
2000s , it picked up veteran CHFI morning show host
Erin Davis after that station cancelled her show with
Bob Magee in favour of Mad-Dog and Billie, later known as
Jay And Billie , younger morning hosts who had previously worked in
Contemporary Hit and urban radio at
KISS 92 FM . In
2005 , CHFI rehired Davis for mornings, also hiring her co-host, longtime CJEZ morning personality
Mike Cooper .
For its new morning show, CJEZ hired
Stu Jeffries and
Colleen Rusholme away from
Country 95.3 .
Heading into her 13th year in broadcasting, Colleen Rusholme is no stranger to radio and television. A native of Kitchener-Waterloo, Rusholme began her career as a news reporter in Toronto. Through the years, she found herself in various roles including being the only female air borne traffic reporter in Canada at the time. As an interviewer, Rusholme has come up close and personal with such stars as Faith Hill, Shania Twain and Celine Dion. She was a weekly on-air contributor to CMT's flagship show, CMT Central.
"My Music at Work", then a slogan for the station, inspired the title of
The Tragically Hip 's
2000 album ''
Music At Work ''.
- Mike Cooper , former weekday morning co-host (with Cardoso) and (Davis); left October 2005 to join Erin Davis @ CHFI 98.1
- Erin Davis , maternity leave substitute for Christine Cardoso as weekday morning co-host with (Cooper), 2004 – 2005 and returned to CHFI
- Jay Nelson (Frank Coxe), late weekday morning co-host
- Christine Cardoso , weekday morning co-host with (Cooper); left Summer 2005
- Ron Young, weekends and swing shifts, and Studio 97 - now with Mix 99.9 FM
- John Majhor - late weekday morning host
Although the EZ Rock brand was originally named for CJEZ's call letters, it has since been adopted by several other Canadian radio stations broadcasting a similar musical format.
All of the EZ Rock stations were owned by Telemedia, the same company that owned CJEZ, at the time they adopted the branding. After Standard Broadcasting acquired the Telemedia stations, some were sold to
Rogers Communications or
Astral Media , although they continued to use the EZ Rock brand.
CICX in
Orillia, Ontario was an EZ Rock station from
1996 until
2002 , when it adopted the
Jack FM brand.
CIBX in
Fredericton, New Brunswick was an EZ Rock station from
2000 until
2005 , when it adopted the "Capital FM" brand.
