CFAC & CKMX (CFCN) Radio Centennials

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CFAC & CKMX (CFCN) Radio Centennials

Postby albertaboy4life » Sat Feb 26, 2022 7:36 am

This May will mark the centennials of CFAC (Sportsnet 960) and CKMX (Funny 1060, formerly CFCN) radio being on air.

RadioWest will be marking the occasions throughout 2022. Starting in early April with a nod to the history of CFAC radio.

Our collection is very short on CFCN radio items.

Please contact Radiofan or me if you have historical items you would like to share. You're welcome to PM either of us here, your e-mail is also invited at radiowest@telus.net

Items celebrating other radio stations' milestones are also welcomed.

Thank you
Faster cars, younger women, older cheese, more money . . .
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Re: CFAC & CKMX (CFCN) Radio Centennials

Postby jon » Sat Feb 26, 2022 2:16 pm

We are actually only a few weeks away from the 100th anniversary of what was claimed to be the first radio station in Western Canada. It was launched by the Vancouver Province and aired daily on 150 KHz, way below the standard AM broadcast band.

When broadcast licenses were first issued at the beginning of April 1922, the station became CFCB, but did not move off 150 KHz until late June, to about 680 KHz.

Not to be outdone, the Sun and Daily World also got their stations on the air, still in March 1922. In April, they were assigned CJCE and CFYC, respectively.

All three stations were gone by the end of 1940.
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Re: CFAC & CKMX (CFCN) Radio Centennials

Postby cart_machine » Sun Feb 27, 2022 6:55 am

jon wrote:We are actually only a few weeks away from the 100th anniversary of what was claimed to be the first radio station in Western Canada. It was launched by the Vancouver Province and aired daily on 150 KHz, way below the standard AM broadcast band.

When broadcast licenses were first issued at the beginning of April 1922, the station became CFCB, but did not move off 150 KHz until late June, to about 680 KHz.

Not to be outdone, the Sun and Daily World also got their stations on the air, still in March 1922. In April, they were assigned CJCE and CFYC, respectively.

All three stations were gone by the end of 1940.


Ckick here https://radiowest.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=33026 for a day-by-day account of CFCB ("The Daily Province Radiophone") for the first couple of weeks of its operation. Same with the Sun station for the first week here: https://radiowest.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3146. CFYC was taken over by the Jehovah's Witnesses and moved to a house on Royal Oak south of Kingsway before being ordered off the air.

CJCE is a bit of a mess. It was owned by the Sun but run by Sprott-Shaw. In 1924, the Sun abandoned the station. Some time prior to this, Sprott Shaw and Radio Specialties set up CFCQ. I'd have to hunt around again to see when Radio Specialties got out of the picture, but Sprott Shaw had Harry Hooper running the station for a bit. Somewhere on this site, there's a story about CFCQ briefly changing to CKWO on June 18. 1928 and then being ordered by the Fisheries Dept. to change its call-letters to CKMO. The first CKMO entry I can find in the local papers is for programming of Monday, July 20, 1928.

Besides John Ackerman, I don't think anyone still on the air locally cares enough to even mention any of this on CFCB's anniversary on March 13th. The station eventually became CKCD, which was ordered to close on Jan. 31, 1940 by the CBC. Its newscasts went to CJOR.

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Re: CFAC & CKMX (CFCN) Radio Centennials

Postby radiodon » Sun Feb 27, 2022 9:57 am

CHWK and CJVI would be 80ish?
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Re: CFAC & CKMX (CFCN) Radio Centennials

Postby cart_machine » Mon Feb 28, 2022 3:16 am

radiodon wrote:CHWK and CJVI would be 80ish?


CJVI's call letters appeared in 1941. Ads in the Victoria Times at the time say "(formerly CFCT)."
The Aug. 6, 1924 edition of the Times says CFCT signed on August 8, 1924. It aired concerts on Wednesday and Friday nights from 8 to 9:30 p.m.

CHWK was originally CJCU, a five-watt station at 1210 kc. owned and operated by Earl R. Streeter from a business at Washington and James Streets in Mission (source, Radio Service Bulletin, July 30, 1927). It could be picked up as far as Saskatoon. The Mission paper isn't on line to tell us when it first signed on.
The Chilliwack Progress announced on Aug. 11, 1927 the station had been purchased by "Clarence" Wells and was to be installed at Menzies Hardware. Later editions of the Progress state the first experimental broadcast of CHWK (phonograph records; the studio was being built) was on August 31, 1927, with the antenna lying flat on the roof. It would appear the first actual broadcast was on Sunday, Sept. 11, 1927, consisting of Tchaikovsky's Concerto in B Flat Minor. The Progress of Sept. 15, 1927 also reported the station was on the air from noon to 1 p.m. and took requests at phone number 262 (evidently, the request was "Less Tchaikovsky").

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