Corus Radio Ottawa has launched Jump 106.9, a new contemporary hits radio (CHR) station, saying goodbye to its old handle The Bear’s rock format. Corus acquired the former Astral station after Bell Media was required to divest of it following its acquisition of Astral.

Mark Dickie, general manager, Corus Radio Ottawa, tells MiC that Corus had waited many years for an opportunity to get into the Ottawa market. The new station has a core target of women 18 to 35, and a broader target of persons 15 to 44, says Dickie, adding that Corus has market research suggesting CHR is the most popular type of music among Ottawa’s radio listening population.

Dickie says Jump is differentiating itself from other CHR and hot adult contemporary stations in the market through its 90 minute music blocks, offering 7.5 minutes of commercials per hour, compared to the average 11 to 12 minutes per hour. With longer music blocks listeners will tune in longer and with fewer commercial minutes advertisers get a larger share of voice, says Dickie.

Corus is promoting the new station with an OOH-heavy paid media campaign in the form of bus transit ads, as well as a campaign with ZoomMedia activating in restaurants, bars and gyms. The campaign also leans on YouTube pre-roll ads. Creative is handled in-house at Corus with media by an agency that Dickie declined to name.