The station was used to promote Edward S. Rogers Sr.'s invention of a batteryless radio receiver that could be operated using alternating current and therefore did not need the cumbersome battery that had previously been required.

The station itself was a demonstration of Rogers' application of his invention to radio transmitters as well as receivers, a development that allowed for a signal that reproduced voices and music more clearly.

The station began transmitting on an experimental basis in January 1927 as 9RB, before being converted to commercial operation a few weeks later, as CFRB.

[5] In 1932, CFRB began airing the General Motors Hockey Broadcast, which had originated on the CNR's network.

He eventually became its morning drive time host, a position he would hold until his retirement on November 1, 1996, after exactly fifty years at the station.

Beginning in 1948, through until the early 1970s, CFRB made several unsuccessful bids for a licence to operate a television station in Toronto.

[5] A long-lasting show, Calling All Britons featuring news, sports scores and music from Britain, began in 1965.

In 1978, Argus Corporation was acquired by Conrad Black and his brother Montegu, thus also giving them ownership of Standard Broadcasting.

[7] Ted Rogers, the communications mogul and son of CFRB's founder, had vowed to re-acquire the station that his family had lost after his father's death, and considered his failure to do so his greatest disappointment.

[9] Shortly after the purchase, Bell announced that it would move the studios and offices of CFRB and sister station CKFM-FM from their long-time location at St. Clair Avenue and Yonge Street, to 250 Richmond Street West at Richmond and Duncan (which already houses the operations of sister radio stations, CHUM and CHUM-FM).

[11] The transmitting antennas for CFRB are a prominent landmark along Lake Ontario, a four-tower array in the Clarkson neighbourhood of Mississauga.

The shortwave signal was originally directed to the northwest in order to provide service towards northern Ontario and western Canada.

When a new transmitter was installed in the 2000s, it was made omni-directional with the intention of providing availability to Canadians travelling to or vacationing in the United States, particularly snowbirds.

[13] CFRB has local hosts most of the day, though several shows are syndicated to other Bell Media talk stations in Canada.

[15][16] As of 2024, Newstalk 1010's Monday to Friday schedule consisted of Moore in the Morning with John Moore in the morning drive slot, Jerry Agar in mid-morning followed by The Vassy Kapelos Show over midday, The Rush, with rotating hosts, in the afternoon, the simulcast CTV News Toronto in the late afternoon drive slot, followed by Newstalk Tonight with Jim Richards in the evening and a simulcast of CTV National News in the late evening followed by repeats overnight.

[17] [20] In August 2009, CFRB announced it was laying off a number of its well-known personalities, including Michael Coren, Paul and Carol Mott, Christina Cherneskey, Jacqui Delaney and newscaster Kris McCusker as part of a move to open a "new chapter" at the station.

[22] In 2010, Carroll left CFRB to take a job in Los Angeles and was replaced by Jerry Agar.

Included in the layoffs were Newstalk 1010 news director Kym Geddes, and several broadcasters including weekend host Ted Woloshyn, Nightside host Barb DiGiulio, news reporters and anchors Hayley Cooper, David McKee, Lucas Meyer, and Claude Feig.