Broadcast History - April 14

[jon]

In 1951, CHWK Chilliwack moved from 1340 to 1230 KHz, the frequency vacated by CKNW in 1949, and increased power to 1000 watts daytime and 250 watts at night. Within 2 years, CHWK moved to 1270 KHz, with 1000 watts full-time, increasing to 10,000 watts in 1960. The station first hit the airwaves in 1927 on 1210 KHz with 5 watts. Some sources say the original assigned call letters were 5CG, but they were definitely CHWK by 1928. They only broadcast an hour or two a day, sometimes less if the owners of Menzies Hardware (and CHWK) were too busy selling radios to their customers. One U.S. publication of the day labelled CHWK "the smallest commercial radio station in North America".



In 1969, with the recent arrival of the Montreal Expos baseball club, CKAC began broadcasting the play-by-play description of the games, which would continue until Spring 2004. The announcer, Jacques Doucet, became the club's official voice, describing the games until the Expos eventually left Montreal at the end of the 2003-2004 season.

In 1997, the key administrative event occurred that paved the way for CKUA to return to the air: the CKUA Radio Foundation board stepped down and turned over control to a new board. The original board had shut the station down on March 20th, citing lack of funds. The new board had the station back on the air by April 25, with staff volunteering to work the first month without pay. CKUA is a totally simulcast Alberta network of 16 FM transmitters spread throughout the province, with powers ranging from 20 to 100,000 watts.