In 1985, CJAZ-FM Vancouver changed call letters to CKKS-FM. The station first signed on March 1, 1980, as Canada's first all jazz station. The station was owned by CKWX-AM, and first operated on 92.1 MHz from a transmitter site on Salt Spring Island in Georgia Strait. Almost everything about the station has changed over the years, often several times. Today it is owned by Rogers, is running the Jack format on 96.9 MHz from Mount Seymour, and has claimed the long dead CKLG-FM call letters.
In 2000, CKST Vancouver majority owner Ron Dixon died in a car crash in Mexico. He was taking a well deserved vacation break from negotiations to sell the station. Nonetheless, a deal was made and the CRTC approved the sale to newly-formed Grand Slam Radio Inc. on December 21st. Grand Slam took ownership the following February 1st. And the station switched to all sports on April 25th, joining CHUM's Team Radio Network on May 7th. Less than two years later, CHUM bought the station.
CKST has a complicated history. The call letters were originally used in St. Albert, a suburb of Edmonton, in the 1970s and '80s, but were changed to CHMG. The call letters reappeared in Langley in 1988, as CJJC became CJUP in 1985 and CJUP became CKST in 1988, calling itself "Coast 800". In 1992, CKST owner Western World Communications Corp. bought CIMA Vancouver from Monarch Broadcasting, and effectively moved CKST to Vancouver by taking over CIMA's 1040 KHz with 50,000 watts, and surrendering the 800 KHz license.
In 2001, CHNU-TV officially signed on at 7:00 p.m. as Now-TV on UHF Channel 66 with 16,000 watts. Although licensed to serve the Fraser Valley, CRTC requirements forced the station to be carried on a basic channel on Vancouver area cable systems. Rogers' purchase of the station in 2005 used the cable channel assignment, Channel 10, as part of the rebranding as OMNI.10. At the same time, Rogers signed on a rebroadcast transmitter in Victoria, forcing cable companies there to carry the station.
In 2004, CKIK-FM Calgary changed call letters to CFGQ-FM, to match a format change earlier in the year that saw the station become Q-107. CKIK-FM first signed on April 15, 1982.
In 2006, The Red Robinson Show Theatre at the Boulevard Casino in Coquitlam was opened with a private VIP reception and show in the new 1100-seat theatre. Reveen and Wink Martindale were there, with entertainment by Paul Revere and the Raiders, and Bill Medley. Red has been credited as the first DJ in Canada to play Rock & Roll on the radio on a daily basis, at CJOR Vancouver.
Also in 2006, CKVH-AM in High Prairie (Alberta) switched from Cat Country to The Fox network at 7:15 a.m. The station first signed on in 1990 with 1000 watts day and 400 watts night on 1020 KHz.
