The trend to all-sports radio that has been sweeping the u.s. since the late 1980s has finally reached north into Canada.

Effective Sept. 4, Toronto’s cjcl becomes the first Canadian radio station to offer live sports coverage and sports talk programs 24 hours a day.

All-sports radio originated at New York station wfam and soon spread to stations in cities such as Cleveland, Philadelphia, San Diego and Seattle.

The concept continues to pick up steam in the u.s., with all-sports stations appearing within the last year in Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.

John Rea, general manager at cjcl, says the station began beefing up its sports programming six months ago, adding broadcasts of Toronto Blue Jays spring training games, increasing the frequency of its sports updates from every hour to every 30 minutes, and expanding its nightly sports talk schedule.

Rea says the changes generated a 78% increase in male listenership aged 25-54, noting ‘we were encouraged by the listener reaction, and we were enthused by the advertiser reaction.’

CJCL will promote its programming change via tv and out-of-door advertising.

Ad agency is Toronto’s Burghardt Wolowich Crunkhorn Kibble.