680News celebrates its 20th anniversary

This week marks 20 years of traffic and weather on the ones and breaking news on 680News. Toronto’s all-news radio station is celebrating two decades since making the switch from music to radio.

This is how it all started 20 years ago: “Farewell to the old, hello to the news,” featuring the voice of Sandy Sanderson.

The news cycle then started with legend Dick Smyth saying, “good morning, it’s 14 C at six o’clock.”

Smyth told 680News that moment still makes him smile.

“680News has become a Toronto institution; I take a bit of personal pride in the fact that I was the first voice to be heard,” he said.

Smyth said he still listens to the station today.

“It’s become a very important news source. I have it on my car radio; I put it on for the traffic, I put it on to get that fix,” he said.

680News officially flipped the switch from being a powerhouse of music to a powerhouse of news.

“680News preceded Twitter before Twitter came along. We provided news in quick ways and in a quick fashion, and now we’re seeing what’s happened,” said John Hinnen, the vice-president of news for Rogers Media Television and Radio.

“People want their information quickly and so we were a forerunner when we came to those types of things,” he added.

At the onset, 680News was branded as an innovative information service that, at the time, wasn’t available in Toronto or even the rest of Canada.

“Since day one with traffic and weather together on the ones, and sports at :15 and :45, business at :26 and :56, people have gotten accustomed to what to expect from us. I think we are by far the most consistent radio station in this city and probably in the country,” he said.

Hinnen, along with several staff members from 680News and parent company Rogers, will be at the Toronto Stock Exchange to ring the bell at 9:30 a.m. to mark the milestone.

Click here to visit our commemorative page.

Click here to read what listeners had to say about the station.

Rogers Media is the parent company of 680News, CityNews and CityNews.ca.

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