In 1974, Mel Cooper received approval to acquire 71% of CFAX-1070 Victoria from Clare Copeland. Formal ownership transfer occurred on September 1st. Mel was born in Newfoundland in 1932, and raised near Signal Hill where Marconi received his first trans-Atlantic wireless signal. But his family moved to Vancouver during Mel's teenage years, where he attended UBC, before starting out at CJAV Port Alberni (B.C.) as an announcer in 1951. He moved in quick succession to CKMO, News at CKWX, Sales at CKNW, where he became General Sales Manager in 1957 and General Manager in 1970. I first met him that same year (1970) when he visited his son Dean at UBC Radio (CYVR). After taking over CFAX, he purchased CKOV-AM and CKLZ-FM in Kelowna in 1988, sold them to Jim Pattison in 1996, and obtained an FM license for CFEX-FM Victoria in May 2000. He sold all of his radio holdings to CHUM in 2004. But it is impossible to ignore the enormous amount of voluntary public service performed by both father and son over the years. Mel's CCF bio can be seen at http://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/cooper-mel
Also in 1974, CKRM-980 Regina purchased CFMQ-FM which then only had 6200 watts but received a power increase to 100,000 watts in 1978. The station had first signed on February 4, 1966, and is currently known as CHMX.
In 1976, nine Toronto stations began broadcasting from transmitters atop the newly-constructed CN Tower: 44,000 watt CHFI-FM, 40,000 watt CHUM-FM, 38,000 watt CBL-FM, 4000 watt CHIN-FM, 40,000 watt CKFM-FM, 84,000 watt CBLT-TV-5, 2,140,000 watt CBLFT-TV-25 (UHF), 208,000 watt CITY-TV-79, and 1,080,000 watt CICA-TV-19 (TV Ontario). Some just after midnight and others at morning sign-on. The antenna heights were 1380 feet for the FM stations, 1520 for CBLT, and 1605 for CBLFT and CICA. All had been testing their new transmitters, towers and antennas since May 24th. CHFI's 44,000 watts was a far cry from the 210,000 watts each vertically and horizontally that it once had.
In 2000, NewCap took operational control of VOCM AM & FM and its repeaters across the province of Newfoundland. V call letters were assigned to Newfoundland stations before Newfoundland became a province of Canada in 1949. VOCM-AM began experimentally after being issued a license on December 22, 1933. Commercial broadcasting began officially at 8 p.m. on October 19, 1936. VOCM-FM first signed on in September 1982.
In 2002, CJFB-TV-5 Swift Current (Saskatchewan) closed its local studios, sold its transmitters, towers and land to the CBC, and became a repeater for CBC Regina. The station itself had repeaters across Southwestern Saskatchewan, which were included in the CBC sale. When the station first signed on at 6 p.m. on December 23rd, 1957, it was Saskatchewan's third television station, and had state of the art facilities. Throughout those 45 years, the station was operated by the Forst family of Swift Current. For more information, see CCF's station history at http://broadcasting-history.ca/listing_ ... on/cjfb-tv and Bill Forst's bio at http://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/forst-bill
