In 1934, exactly one year later, CRCT moved back to 840 from 960 KHz.
In 1937, CRCV Vancouver changed call letters to CBR. The CBC had been formed almost a year prior, on November 2, 1936, replacing the CRBC, and taking over 500 watt CRCV on 1100 KHz. On February 16, 1937, CRCV increased power to 10,000 watts and moved into new studios in the Hotel Vancouver.
In 1956, Assignment was first aired on the CBC Dominion Network (AM), airing until this day in 1971.
In 1960, CHUB Nanaimo sent a three man News team to cover the Chinatown fire in the city.
In 1961, CTV, then known as The Canadian Television Network (CTN), began its first full season of broadcasting, having secured broadcast rights to the Eastern Conference of the Canadian Football League games. CFCN-TV Calgary, CHAN-TV Vancouver, CJAY-TV Winnipeg, CFTO-TV Toronto, CJCH-TV Halifax, CFCF-TV Montreal and CJOH-TV Ottawa had already joined the network, but on this day in 1961, CFRN-TV Edmonton became the newest member, having dropped its CBC affiliation the day before, just in time for CBXT-TV to sign on today. CHCH-TV Hamilton also dropped CBC affiliation on September 30th, but surprised many by opting instead to become Canada's first independent television station.
CFRN-TV Edmonton shared the microwave network with the CBC, time-delaying programs on videotape during hours when the CBC was not using the microwave link. In August 1962, this arrangement ended when a second channel of microwave became available, and all time-delay videotaping was done at CFCN-TV Calgary.
In 1962, The Max Ferguson Show debuted on CBC Radio, replacing the infamous Rawhide program. It initially aired every weekday morning from 8:35 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., and later moved to weekly, on Saturday mornings until its last broadcast on September 5, 1998. Alan McFee was there until the last few months, long after retiring from the CBC, but had to stop as his health failed. Shelagh Rogers was also there in the last few years of the show.
Also in 1962, the CBC Dominion and Trans-Canada networks were combined, leaving CBC Radio with one network, just as it had been before January 2, 1944, when The Dominion Network was formed.
1962: CJAD Montreal again had an FM station. Only this time, it had the call letters CJFM. Standard Broadcasting had purchased CJAD the year before, and signed the FM station back on after CJAD-FM left the air in the 1950s, having first hit the airwaves in 1948.
In 1963, CKLW-FM first aired separate programming from CKLW-AM, which it had been simulcasting since first signing on in 1948 with 250 watts. Power was also increased in 1963 to 50,000 watts. Initially, separate FM programming was only from 7-9 p.m. each evening, increasing to 6:00 p.m. to midnight in 1967.
Also in 1963, the first recordings from the Canadian Talent Library (CTL) album series were aired on radio stations across Canada. Initially, 21 stations subscribed to the service. Long before CanCon regulations, CTL came into existence to provide stereo FM stations with Canadian recordings which, up to that point, had been almost exclusively mono. Without the continuing series, it is doubtful that easy listening stations could have survived the coming of CanCon regulations in the early 1970s. Many have slammed the series as being composed entirely of boring cover versions, but, as an operator at CHQM Vancouver at the time (1971-72), I was quite impressed with the series. It had about the same percentage of lacklustre instrumental versions of popular Top 40 hits as the U.S. material of the time (e.g. - Andre Kostelanetz, George Melachrino, James Last), and there was some truly fine material that exposed Canadian songwriters like Bruce Cockburn to an entirely new audience.
In 1964, CJBC Toronto became full-time French language programming, of which 5 1/2 hours per week was locally produced, and the remainder from Radio-Canada, the CBC's French language network.
Also in 1964, the CBC FM network reopened, after closing in 1962. The network originally opened in 1960, but only connected stations in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. CBU-FM had signed on November 21, 1947, as VE9FG, but first carried CBC FM network programs on this day in 1964.
In 1987, CJOI (now W-14-40) Wetaskiwin had a new broadcast license, but it was only good for 18 months. That was how long the CRTC had given the station to correct its violations of Radio Regulations: to maintain at least 30% Canadian Content music, and adequate logger tapes. The situation was resolved in the specified time period.
In 1993 at 5:30 a.m., Q104 (Quality 104) was the new name for CKST Vancouver. The nostalgia format tried to evoke memories of CHQM in the 1960s.
In 1996, CFXL Calgary, the former Top 40 giant CKXL, signed off 1140 KHz forever. Golden West's CHRB in High River moved from 1280 KHz to 1140 KHz soon after.
In 1999, CKEG Nanaimo launched a Good Time Oldies format, replacing its Country format.
In 2004, Mel Cooper's Seacoast Communications, including CFAX-AM and CHBE-FM in Victoria, was sold to CHUM. The CRTC had approved the sale on September 3rd, and CHUM first announced its purchase agreement on January 26th.
