In 1945, the station signed on the air as CKSF. It was owned by the city's daily newspaper, the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, originally at 1230 kHz with 250 watts. In 1958, it moved to 1220 kHz with 1000 watts using a directional antenna located at a site on part of Lot 7, Concession 4 in the Township of Cornwall. In 1957, the newspaper also launched 104.5 CKSF-FM. Two years later, the stations were acquired by Stanley Shankman, the owner of CJSS-TV. To match the TV station, the radio stations became CJSS-AM-FM.
By 1963, Shenkman had sold his broadcast holdings. Ernie Bushnell purchased CJSS-TV 8, using it as a repeater of Ottawa's CJOH-TV. The radio stations were sold to the local Émard family.
The radio stations were subsequently acquired by Tri-Co Broadcasting Ltd. in 1978. Tri-Co Broadcasting Ltd. converted CJSS from an AM station to FM in 1999.[3] CJSS' former frequency, 1220 AM, did not go dark, but changed to an adult standards format as CJUL (The Jewel). It remained on the air for another 11 years.
On August 18, 2010, CJUL (AM 1220) left the air. Corus stated that listeners across Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry would now get up-to-date local and regional information on local radio as Corus Radio redeployed news and community event information from AM 1220 (CJUL) onto its two FM stations, CJSS-FM, and CFLG-FM.[4][5]
After the flip to FM in 1999, CJSS-FM aired a country station branded as Blaze 101.9 FM. On August 8, 2003, the station shifted to an active rock format, branded as Rock 101.9.
On February 15, 2011, CJSS changed its format to classic hits, branded as Greatest Hits 101.9 FM.
Also on August 25, 2014, Dan Allaire and Bill Halman teamed up to become the "Boom Breakfast with Dan & Bill". Tom Schoch was introduced as the station's new midday host, followed by popular DJ Darryl Adams in the afternoon drive time slot. By October 24, 2014, Bill Halman was named Program Director for both CJSS-FM and CFLG-FM, which had been re-branded as "Fresh FM".
Some of the assets listed above are majority-owned, wholly-owned, by Corus Entertainment, or are under license. Refer to full asset list for detailed information.
