Bell Media gave a post-Boxing Day revamp to ten stations across Canada this morning including their AC’s in Vancouver and Ottawa.

Following the consolidation of their CHRs and Country outlets as “Virgin Radio” and “Pure Country” respectively, Bell launched “Move” as the new branding for these stations now living between AC and Hot AC.

The stations that have rebranded are:

• AC “103.5 QM-FM” CHQM Vancouver to “Move 103.5“
• AC “101.5 EZ Rock” CILK Kelowna BC to “Move 101.5“
• CHR “97.1 Sun-FM” CJMG Penticton BC to “Move 97.1“
• AC “Majic 100.3” CJMJ Ottawa ON to “Move 100.3“
• AC “105.7 EZ Rock” CHRE St. Catharines ON to “Move 105.7“
• CHR “Energy 99.7” CKPT Peterborough ON to “Move 99.7“
• Hot AC “98.3 Fly-FM” CFLY Kingston ON to “Move 98.3“
• AC “104.9 JR-FM” CFJR Brockville ON to “Move 104.9“
• Hot AC “C100” CIOO Halifax to “Move 100.1“
• CHR “106.9 Capital-FM” CIBX Fredericton NB to “Move 106.9“

All ten stations are now positioning as “Today’s Best Variety” with a similar presentation that places the brand musically closer to Hot AC than AC. The stations are mostly recurrent based with a few golds per hour. The stations are promoting the return of their local airstaffs on Monday, January 4

INSTANT INSIGHT: While broadcasters here in the states continue to tiptoe around nationalizing brands, Canadian operators have been much more aggressive with Bell leading the way around their licensing of the “iHeartRadio” branding for their stations. Rogers Sports & Media has also centralized most of their stations around “Jack“, “Kiss“, “Country“, “Rock“, “News“, and “The Fan” identifiers with only a handful of exceptions.

iHeartRadio Canada announced today the launch of Canada‘s new national contemporary radio brand, MOVE Radio, in 10 markets across Canada, as well as on the iHeartRadio Canada app and at MoveRadio.ca. Each MOVE station plays the biggest hits and favourite blasts from the past, along with delivering local information and programming in each market.

iHeartRadio Canada‘s new MOVE Radio stations are:

• Vancouver’s MOVE 103.5
• Ottawa’s MOVE 100
• Halifax’s MOVE 100
• Brockville’s MOVE 104.9
• Fredericton’s MOVE 106.9
• Kelowna’s MOVE 101.5
• Kingston’s MOVE 98.3
• Niagara’s MOVE 105.7
• Penticton’s MOVE 97.1
• Peterborough’s MOVE 99.7

Each MOVE station across Canada retains local morning shows and welcomes new upbeat programming. Beginning Monday, Jan. 4, weekdays on MOVE feature 60 minutes of non-stop music every hour from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., giving Canadians the perfect workday companion. Weekends on MOVE offers listeners a mix of great local programming as well as MOVE RADIO’S EXCLUSIVE AT40 WITH RYAN SEACREST, featuring the Top 40 songs of the week on MOVE Radio stations across Canada. Please visit MoveRadio.ca to confirm local air times.

“We are thrilled to bring this fresh new brand to iHeartRadio Canada– MOVE with us at home, at work, or on the go,” said Dave Daigle, Vice President, Radio and Local TV, Bell Media. “Across Canada, listeners can enjoy exclusive content, contesting, and their favourite songs from the biggest artists.”

“With MOVE Radio, our adult contemporary stations will benefit from the scale of a national brand, while maintaining a local focus in their respective markets,” said Rob Farina, Head of Radio Content, Strategy, and iHeartRadio. “We look forward to bringing MOVE energy to local communities across Canada.”

Beginning Monday, Jan. 4, the following homegrown morning shows that listeners know and love anchor MOVE Radio in their local markets: Vancouver‘s THE NAT & DREW SHOW; Ottawa‘s MOVE MORNINGS WITH STUNTMAN STU, ANGIE & JANEL; Halifax‘s MOVE MORNINGS; Brockville‘s THE BRUCE WYLIE SHOW; Fredericton‘s MORNINGS WITH CRASH & SARAH BETTS, Kelowna‘s MORNINGS WITH STEPHEN KEPPLER; Kingston‘s REID & BEN IN THE MORNING; Niagara’s LORI & CURTIS IN THE MORNING; Penticton‘s MORNINGS WITH KYLE STEWART; and Peterborough‘s BRIAN & ANGELA IN THE MORNING.