In 1933,
CKOK Windsor and
CJGC London were merged to create
CKLW. Because CKLW took over CKOK's license and frequency, the city of license was still Windsor, but the call letters stood for "London-Windsor". In 1934, the London Free Press pulled out of the partnership, leaving CKLW to Windsor. CKLW had 1000 watts on 540 KHz when they signed on as CKOK on June 2, 1932. They moved to 840 KHz in 1933 with 5000 watts. And to 1030 KHz in 1934. The move to the Canada-Mexico clear channel 800 KHz ("The Big 8") came in the Great Frequency Shuffle of 1941, but the legendary 50,000 watts required five 307 foot towers and did not happen until September 7, 1949. In 1956, RKO was the largest shareholder of CKLW (33.4%), gaining 100% control of CKLW AM, FM and TV in 1963. During the latter half of the 1960s and well into the 1970s, CKLW-AM could rightfully brag that it had more listeners than any other radio station in Canada, a record that has never been beaten. The reason, of course, was their complete Top 40 dominance in Detroit and strong presence in several other U.S. markets.
In 1952,
CFNS Saskatoon signed on to 1170 KHz with 1000 watts. It was one of several independent French language stations started during this period.
CFRG Gravelbourg (Saskatchewan) had begun earlier the same year. And
CHFA Edmonton signed on in 1949. The
CBC purchased all three of them in the early 1970s.
In 2002,
CBUX-1-FM Victoria was approved by the CRTC as a new rebroadcast transmitter for French language CBUX-FM Vancouver. It signed on October 7, 2003, with 3200 watts on 88.9 MHz.
