CKWX
Broadcast area | Greater Vancouver |
---|---|
Frequency | 1130 kHz |
Branding | CityNews 1130 |
Programming | |
Format | News/talk |
Affiliations | ABC News Radio |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
CISL, CJAX-FM, CKKS-FM, CKVU-DT, CHNM-DT | |
History | |
First air date | April 1, 1923 |
Former call signs | CFDC (1923-1927) |
Former frequencies | 430 metres (1923-1925) 730 kHz (1925-1933) 1010 kHz (1933-1938) 950 kHz (1938-1941) 980 kHz (1941-1957) |
Technical information | |
Class | A (clear channel) |
Power | 50,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 49°09′27″N 123°04′01″W / 49.157601°N 123.067024°W |
Repeater(s) | 96.9 CJAX-HD2 (Vancouver) |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | vancouver.citynews.ca |
CKWX (1130
CKWX is a Class A clear-channel station, broadcasting at 50,000 watts. CKWX broadcasts with a directional antenna at all times, using a two-tower array. The transmitter is located at Number 6 Road at Blundell Road on Lulu Island in Richmond.[2] CKWX's daytime signal covers Southwest British Columbia and Northwest Washington. At night, CKWX can be heard around Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. CKWX is also heard on the second HD Radio subchannel of CJAX-FM.
History
Early years
On April 1, 1923, the station first
In 1925, the station switched frequencies to 730 kHz and cut its power back to 10 watts to share time with Vancouver stations CFCQ, CKCD, and CJKC.[3]
Holstead had a branch business at 1220 Seymour Street in Vancouver and decided to relocate CFDC there. The station was regularly on the air in its new locale by September 20, 1925, according to the radio listings in the Victoria Daily Colonist.[4] The Department of Marine and Fisheries (which then regulated broadcasting in Canada) had not authorized CFDC's move to Vancouver and revoked the station's license as a result, but listener complaints led to the department granting a new license to the station.[3]
By October 1926, the station was broadcasting sponsored programmes for the Hudson's Bay Company. It was on the air daily except Wednesday, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Other advertisers included the Kelly-Douglas Company, Dominion Battery Company, Canadian National Carbon Company and Moorite Products of Canada. H.W. Paulson was the announcer and R. Burgess the sales representative. The station transmitted through an 80-foot-high aerial on 411 metres at 10 watts.[5] The station's final broadcast from Nanaimo appears to have been a special programme on April 1, 1927, which was claimed at the time of having established a world record for the furthest distance of a transmission over a submarine telephone cable. Holstead asked Nanaimo City Council to bear part of the $125 cost of any similar broadcasts because of the publicity to the city.[6]
CKWX
The station first used the call letters CKWX on August 1, 1927, in conjunction with the opening of its new studios.[7] The official opening wasn't until August 19, and was marked by a four-hour all-star programme, including the band of the H. M. S. Colombo. Other local stations remained off the air as a courtesy.[8] The station was operating from the Hotel Georgia, 801 West Georgia Street, and sharing air time at 411 metres (730 kilocycles) with CFCQ and CKCD, then with CHLS, CKFC and CKMO in 1929. The station was permitted to use a special wave-length of 340.7 metres for a speech by M.P. Henri Bourassa for one occasion in 1927.[9]
Harold William Paulson, who had been a storage battery engineer in the U.S. before coming to British Columbia, left CKWX by 1933 and eventually became commercial manager at the CBC Vancouver.
In 1933, CKWX moved to 1010 kHz, then to 950 kHz in 1938. It moved to 980 kHz in 1941 following the
Move to 1130 kHz
CKWX went to 24-hour operation on January 1, 1954, at 12:30 a.m., with a program called "Concert Under the Stars." In 1956, the studios moved to a new purpose-built building at 1275 Burrard Street, and on August 15, 1957, CKWX switched from 980 kHz (soon taken by CKNW) to its present 1130 kHz. The station adopted a Top 40 music format in the same year when Red Robinson joined the station's on-air staff. CKWX was, in fact, the first Vancouver radio station to use the all-hit format full-time. In 1958, CKWX became the first non-CBC station in Western Canada to operate with 50,000 watts.
Harold Carson, one-third of the Taylor, Pearson & Carson firm that owned CKWX, died in 1959. The firm changed its name to
Country era
On March 7, 1973, CKWX underwent a major change as it dropped its mix of MOR music and talk and switched to
CKWX and CKKS moved to new studios on 2440 Ash Street on June 17, 1988, with the official opening on July 20. On September 28, 1988, Maclean-Hunter Ltd. purchased Selkirk Communications and its stations (including CKWX and CKKS) and also received approval from the CRTC to transfer the former Selkirk stations to Rogers Communications.
All-news
On February 8, 1996, at 8 a.m., after playing "
In 2003, CKKS switched formats again and became CJAX-FM, playing adult hits under the "Jack FM" branding.[3]
A fairly extensive personnel shuffle took place at CKWX on September 2, 2003. Program Director George Gordon replaced Andrew Dawson as morning co-anchor, joining Kenya Anderson, while Dianne Newman moved to the midday slot joining Brian Brenn. That same day, Jim Bennie joined Joanna Mileos to co-anchor the p.m. drive. In 2006, Don Lehn would rotate in middays with Brian Brenn and Andy Walsh until 2010. Pamela McCall became the newest afternoon anchor, replacing Joanna Mileos, in the Spring of 2007. McCall would later leave the station and be replaced by Karen Thomson in 2008. Following the departure of Kenya Anderson in 2005, Treena Wood and Tammy Moyer alternated in the anchor chair only to be replaced by Dianne Newman in 2006. Ben Wilson was named permanent evening anchor with Tom Bricker in November 2007. That same month, Brian Brenn took early retirement and was replaced in the midday anchor chair by Reaon Ford. George Gordon was terminated July 15, 2009. Reaon Ford was promoted from midday anchor to morning anchor in August 2009.
An editorial commentary segment, titled A Minute with Bill Good was introduced on September 8 2015 with host Bill Good. [12]
On June 23, 2016, CKWX began simulcasting on the HD Radio subchannel of sister station CJAX-FM-HD2.[3][13]
In June 2021, Rogers announced that it would rebrand CKWX and its other all-news radio stations under the CityNews brand beginning October 18, 2021.[14] The radio station's website is co-branded with CityNews, and includes reporting from Citytv Vancouver's newscasts.
Shortwave CKFX
For listeners in remote areas of British Columbia and the
The shortwave service had been in operation since 1929 and had been inherited from CKFC. The shortwave outlet was intended to serve coastal communities that had no existing AM service, in particular Queen Charlotte Islands and upper Vancouver Island. A 10-watt transmitter (output power) and new antenna sent the CKFX signal in a north westerly direction. CKFX operated in the 49-metre band at 6.08 MHz.[3]
References
- ^ "Contact Us". CityNews Vancouver. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ "FCCdata.org - powered by REC". fccdata.org.
- ^ a b c d e "CKWX-AM". History of Canadian Broadcasting. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ Vancouver Daily Colonist, Sept. 20, 1925, pg. 28
- ^ Vancouver Sun, October 21, 1926, Page 14
- ^ Nanaimo Daily News, Tuesday, April 12, 1927, Page 1
- ^ Vancouver Sun, July 30, 1927, pg. 17
- ^ Vancouver Sun, Friday, August 19, 1927, Page 22
- ^ Vancouver Sun, October 17, 1927, Page 7
- ^ "FCCdata.org - powered by REC". fccdata.org.
- ^ Ackermann, Peter; Wagner, John. "NEWS 1130 celebrates 25 years on the Lower Mainland". CityNews Vancouver. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ Hui, Stephen (14 August 2015). "Bill Good comes out of retirement to air his opinions on News 1130". The Georgia Straight. Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ Wong, Denise. "NEWS 1130 on HD Radio". CityNews Vancouver. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ "Rogers extends CityNews brand to five more of its news radio stations". Medicine Hat News. The Canadian Press. June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
- ^ CRTC broadcasting decision 2007-171, deleting silent shortwave transmitter CKFX at licensee's request
External links
- Official website
- CKWX at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation
- CKWX Top 40 surveys - 1957-1962
- CKWX in the REC Canadian station database
- Radio Locator information for CKWX