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2005 & beyond

2005

    

Jan. 5: CBUX FM 90.9 Vancouver & FM 88.9 Victoria which is the French-language jazz and classical music station is now called "espace musique" instead of "la chaine culturelle."  In English this translates to being changed from "the cultural channel" to "music space."

 Feb. 11 at noon, CKWV-1 FM 99.9 Parksville stopped simulcating the Wave FM 102.3 Nanaimo and launched its own full-service radio station playing Adult Standards.  It's new call letters are CHPQ which are the call letters the station had in the 90s.  It's new name is "The Lounge."

 On March 25 at noon CFSR FM 107.1 Abbotsford dropped it's "adult contemporary" simulcast of FM 98.3 Chilliwack to become Country 107.1.  It was commercial-free and DJ-free for one month.

 Aug. 2 CIVI (The New VI: Ch. 53/cable 12) Victoria will now be identified as "A Channel." Check here.

Aug. 21: CBU FM-7 has started testing its new transmitter in Chilliwack at FM 99.9.  The announcement says that regular programming will commence when the test period is over. 

   Sept. 2:  CJAV 1240 Port Alberni has made its move to FM 93.3 and is now known as "The Peak."  New website.  To hear the sign off of CJAV 1240 and the launch of "The Peak" click here.

Sept. 5: NOW TV (cable 10/UHF 66) in Surrey is now known at OMNI TV with lots of U.S. reruns in the late afternoon and early evening and a new local live public affairs program called "The Standard" debuting Sept. 26. A new re-broadcast transmitter began operation from Victoria at UHF channel 21.

Oct. 12 6 am: CBU FM-7 Chilliwack FM 99.9 commences regular CBC Radio Two service to Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley.  This follows over 7 weeks of test programming and non-stop classical music from the Galaxie network due to the now-resolved CBC lockout of its employees.

Oct. 15: CHMZ FM 90.1 is now on the air playing continuous music for the residents of Tofino and the Long Beach peninsula.  Power: 170 watts. 

Oct. 21: The new owners of the radio stations on northern Vancouver Island and Powell River have shuffled formats.  Magic FM's adult contemporary format has moved to CHQB 1280 Power River.  FM 98.9 in Courtenay is now called "Jet FM" and playing "The Island's Best Rock. 

Nov. 28: A new era in radio commences this week as XM Radio and Sirius Radio launch their respective satellite radio services in Canada.  XM is launching with 61 commercial-free music channels and 21 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels.  Sirius is launching with 60 commercial-free music channels and 38 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels.

Also, this week, CBC Radio 3 relaunches into a 24/7 service from Vancouver over the internet, on Sirius satellite radio and after midnight simulcast (Saturdays 7:30 pm) on CBC Radio Two. It is a youth-oriented  service. 

Extended all Christmas formats were heard on KBAI 930 Bellingham (from Nov. 24), STAR FM 98.3 Chilliwack (from Dec. 3) and KAFE FM 104.3 Bellingham (from Dec. 15).

Dec. 24: CKYE FM 93.1 Vancouver started testing its new signal even with commercials.  They are stunting with music from the south Asian sub-continent.  They will be a multicultural radio station when they begin regular service.  Their regular programming service began on Feb. 1. Website link added March 8.


2006
March 7 at noon: CFML BCIT Radio started its testing of FM 107.9 from its campus in Burnaby.  Its programming consists of a mix of music and information programming with a BCHL playoff game between the Burnaby Express and  the Langley Hornets that evening.  CFML has operated on cable FM 104.5 for the last 20 years and will continue to do so.  Its power is 12 watts, so its coverage will be limited to Burnaby and New Westminster.  The station will be known as "Evolution 1079." CFML's website is under construction.

March 22: 165 countries and 25 years later, Canada now has its own MTV, which launched at 3 pm PT on March 21 from a renovated Masonic Temple in Toronto.  MTV Canada will feature youth lifestyle programming with a live interview/talk show each weekday. 

March 22: CKAY FM 91.7 has started testing its new radio station serving the Sunshine Coast, Central Vancouver Island and nearby parts of the Lower Mainland.  The station will go to full service on May 20 at noon.

March 27: CFWB 1490 Campbell River switched from a format of Country and All Time Favourites to Country and Southern Rock as "1490 The Ride."


May 20 noon: CKAY FM 91.7 officially signs on the air with an announcement by General Manager Bob Morris. Its first song was Cyndi Greco's "Making Our Dreams Come True" (the theme from "LaVerne & Shirley" .) CKAY FM will continue commercial free and announcer free until May 29 at 5:30 am.  Listen to the CKAY FM sign on.

May 30 at noon:  Time was up on the all sports gig at AM 730 which had been all-sports since Feb. 2004.  AM 730 is now stunting with "car/highway/jetairliner" songs for their new non-stop rush hour traffic reports and the best of talk to begin June 5 at 7:30 am.

June 5: At 7:30 AM, AM 730 became the first commercial radio station in North America to broadcast all-traffic during the rush hours.  Time shifting CKNW talk shows throughout the rest of the day fills out the schedule.  Beginning Oct. 12 all day continuous traffic reports were heard from 6 am-7:30 pm.

Aug. 31:  CLEAR FM 104.9 Vancouver started playing "Favourites of Yesterday and Today" from the mid 60s to today and promoting the return of Fred Latremouille and Cathy to host their AM drive program on Sept. 5 at 5:30 am.  Their previous mix of Adult Contemporary Music and smooth jazz ended the evening before.

Oct. 27: Radio Rim Jhim CJRJ AM 1200 started broadcasting non-stop music from southeast Asia.  Radio Rim Jhim has been broadcasting for 18 years as a subcarrier pay radio service.  The full service began at 6:48 pm on Nov. 25.  They are broadcasting mostly in Punjabi from Monday-Saturday and in many languages on Sunday. 

Beginning with the record November snowstorm on Nov. 26, AM 730 started broadcasting all traffic reports 24 hours a day except for Vancouver Giants and Seattle Seahawks broadcasts.

Dec. 8: Aboriginal Voices Radio signs on at FM 106.3 in Vancouver.  It broadcasts a 4-hour tape loop and will commence regular programming in January, 2007.  This follows a number of 1-2 week test periods on this and other frequencies over the last 2 years.

2007
March 19: CBC Radio 2 FM 105.7 Vancouver makes its biggest format change in over 30 years.  From 6 pm-6 am it will feature "contemporary music" in different genres.  The first two hours will have a jazz focus with some soul and Latin music, live concerts from 6-8 pm and anything goes from 10 pm-6 am. 

June 3 at midnight: CKZZ FM 95.3 Vancouver plays its last song: "Walk Away" by Kelly Clarkson then starts playing comedy sketches and novelty songs beginning with Abbott & Costello's "Who's on First?"

June 5 at 7 am: FM 95-3 CRAVE FM launches with "Music" by Madonna.

  At 10 a.m. on August 29, CKFR Kelowna B.C.’s oldies format came to an end with Don McLean’s “American Pie”, as it switched to AM 1150 News/Talk/Sports.  The morning show remained local with host Phil Johnson, but most of the remainder of the broadcast day included programs such as the Bill Good Show, Christy Clark and Sportstalk with Dan Russell, syndicated from CKNW in Vancouver.  The change to talk programming filled the gap in Kelowna after the move of rival CKOV from AM to FM on August 17, and its subsequent switch to country music.

 

Sept. 1: "Oldies 650 C-ISL" Vancouver changes its imaging and jingles to "SUPERHITS 650 C-ISL" in a similar move that other oldies stations throughout North America have been doing over the last couple of years.

Sept. 7: CHEK TV Ch. 6 Victoria which rebranded as "CH" on Sept. 1, 2001 rebrands today as "E! Everything Entertainment" with much of its programming from the E! Network in the U.S. Local news will return to the use of local call letters CHEK. The change took place during a special "Countdown to E! at 7 pm.

2008
Feb. 1: KBAI 930 Bellingham which had been running a satellite-delivered oldies format for just under 2 years switched to a progressive-talk format calling themselves "Radio Free Bellingham."

Aug. 27: At 9:57 am CHPQ AM 1280 Powell River relaunches as CFPW FM 95.7.

Aug. 28 6 pm: After Jurgen Gothe's final "Disc Drive" this afternoon, CBC Radio 2 launched into its final phase (see March 19, 2007) of its new sound showcasing a wider mix of music.  It will be  limiting classical music programming to 10 am-3 pm weekdays, the Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and up to 7 other hours during the weekend.  First song played on "The New 2" the classic Motown hit "Money" by Boyz II Men.

Sept. 1: CHNU (Ch. 66/cable 10) from Surrey, which had been known as NOW TV, OMNI 10 and in the past six months as CHNU will now be known as Joy TV under a new owner S-VOX.
Also CHMN (Ch. 42/cable 8) from Surrey,  known as Channel M, will now be known as OMNI British Columbia.

Sept. 9: CJUI FM 103.9 signs on the air for testing with the song "Juicy" by Better Than Ezra. "The Juice" officially launched on Sept. 29 at 5:30 am with Liz McKinney and The Moose morning show.

Sept. 26 2 pm: CKCL FM 104.9 Vancouver/FM 107.5 Chilliwack/92.5 Abbotsford ends its mix of adult contemporary music and 3 or 4 classic hits per hour as CLEAR FM with the song "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLauchlin.  Then it launched a pure classic hits format with popular hits from 1964-89. First song played was "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles.


Oct. 3: CBC Radio One (AM 690) begins duplicating its service on FM 88.1. 

Nov. 4: CKKO FM 96.3 launched in Kelowna, B.C. with "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" by Bachman Turner Overdrive.

Nov. 10: Vancouver/Richmond radio station CISL 650 flipped formats at 9 am from "Superhits" (1960-84) to "All Time Favorites" (adult standards 1950-79). Last song played as a superhit was "Kiss and Say Goodbye" by the Manhattans.  The station launched with a 4-minute CISL retrospective then played "We've Only Just Begun" by the Carpenters.

Nov. 13 at 5:35 pm CKBD AM 600 signed off with a 25-minute retrospective of the 84 year history of the radio station and concluded with "Thanks for the Memories" by Bob Hope. Then at 6 pm CKBD began to simulcast with CKPK FM 100.5 as they signed on with a live party from Seasons in the Park and a 40-minute concert by the band Hey Rosetta.  At 6:50 the new staff were introduced and the official sign-on was at 7 pm. The station identifies itself as THE PEAK "World Class Rock."   First song played was "Elevation" by U2.

Nov. 27 at 6 pm KWPZ (Praise 106.5) from Lynden, WA. began an early all-Christmas format beginning with the Beach Boys "Little St. Nick."  KAFE FM 104.3 Bellingham went to an early all-Christmas format on Dec. 12 and STAR FM Chilliwack on Dec. 13.  Praise 106.5 returned to its contemporary Christian music format on Dec. 27 at 5:30 am.

2009
Jan. 8 at 4 pm: CKZZ FM 95.3 which had been known as 95 Crave since June, 2007 relaunched under the "Virgin" name.  95 Crave's last song was "Beautiful Goodbye" by Amanda Marshall and Virgin 953 launched with "Sway" by Michael Buble.  The DJs have stayed for the new radio station with Ryan Seacrest's syndicated program from Los Angeles on the air evenings at 6 pm. Virgin Radio stations then signed on in Ottawa on Jan. 9 and Montreal Jan. 12.

Feb. 20 at 12:05 pm CHWK FM 89.5 (THE HAWK) went on the air in Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley. THE HAWK signed on the air with a brief history of Chilliwack (including mentioning the original CHWK in 1927).  First song played was "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC.  CHWK had been testing their signal with sponsored tests for 10 days.

 
June 1 1:04 pm: CHHR-FM THE SHORE FM 104.1 began their month-long preview with Bob Marley's "Don't Worry Bout a Thing", followed by Van Morrison's "Caravan" and "When Love Comes to Town" by U2 and B.B. King.  Their month-long preview has commercials.  The full launch took place July 1. 

June 15 at 9:20 am. CFSI FM 107.9 began testing as a community radio station from Salt Spring Island. Its power is 1000 watts.  Two other low-powered radio stations operate on FM 107.9 in  southwest British Columbia, CFML (Evolution 107.9) from B.C.I.T. in Burnaby and CILS a community operated French language radio station in Victoria.

July 1 6 am: After a full month of testing, CHHR FM THE SHORE FM 104.1 officially goes "live" with DJs.  "The Moose" announces at 6:04 that their first official song "Caravan" by Van Morrison which demontrates the spirit of THE SHORE as a caravan of music.

During the week of Aug. 24, CFSI FM 107.9 from Saltspring Island began online streaming and CFCV FM 98.7, the new 4-watt community radio station began broadcasting to the Cowichan Valley.

 Aug. 31: After months of speculation that CHEK TV would close down on this date,  a last minute meeting between the employees of CHEK TV Victoria and local investors with the owners Canwest-Global agreeing to keep the station on the air on a day-to-day basis.  This announcement was made at 5 pm during the newscast and a "farewell party" outside.  At 7 pm and continuing until the early morning hours of Sept. 1, CHEK TV ran highlights of their reporters news stories over the past 18 years.

Sept. 4: An agreement between Canwest Global and the new local ownership group of CHEK TV agreed sell the station to the new local ownership which included employees of the station.  Changes included a local 10 pm newscast and movies nightly at 8 pm.  Canwest Global agreed to a smooth transition in the coming weeks. A B.C. news wheel premiered on Sept. 21 from noon-5 pm weekdays and 2-5 pm on weekends.

Nov. 5 10 am: CFUN Talk 1410 gutted its talk format to go all-sports as TEAM 1410.  The station which is owned by the CHUM radio group, also owns TEAM 1040.  The B.C. Lions broadcasts will now be heard on TEAM 1410 as well as Canucks replays and ESPN programming.

 Nov. 12: CKCL FM 104.9 has re-branded itself as "1049 Fun FM" still playing the greatest hits from 1964-80.

 Nov. 27 at 12:01 am KWPZ FM 106.5 Lynden (PRAISE 1065) launched into an all-Christmas format with Nat King Cole's "Christmas Song."

2010:
Jan. 14 at 7:30 pm: KAFE FM Bellingham swapped adjacent FM frequencies with CHHR FM Vancouver. KAFE is now heard at FM 104.1 and CHHR (Shore) is now at FM 104.3.  At noon, the hosts of both morning shows exchanged 4 foot-high styrofoam .1 and .3 at the Peace Arch as well as an international gift exchange including souvenirs of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics for the Bellingham morning team.

Feb. 10, 2010: Following CRTC approval, AM 650 CISL begins a nightly Russian broadcast live from the Russia Sochi 2014 House at Science World.  This is a simulcast of Auto Radio which is heard in over 300 cities in Russia and Europe.

Feb. 12, 2010: Vancouver welcomes the world to the 2010 Winter Olympics.  Extensive coverage on CKWX 1130 with hockey on CFUN FM 104.9 and daily reports on many Rogers stations and Olympic affiliates.  TV coverage includes CTV, TSN, Rogers Sportsnet with V & RDS in French, ATN in Punjabi, OMNI in Mandarin & Cantonese and APTN in at least 7 aboriginal languages.  Most of NBC's coverage is delayed 3 hours for the west coast.

Nov. 19: With Christmas music being played earlier each year and the first snowflakes falling on the city, CFUN FM 104.9 began playing Christmas music at 11 am with Bruce Springsteen's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", and continuing with Christmas music until Dec. 26 at 1:52 pm. At 2:12 pm CHQM FM 103.5 began it's Christmas music marathon with Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas." It resumed its regular programming on Dec. 26 at 9 pm.

On Nov. 25/26 at midnight: KPWZ (Praise 106.5) from Lynden began its all-Christmas programming with Andy William's "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."  This continued until Dec. 27 at 6:30 am then less and less Christmas songs appeared throughout the day.