CFMI-FM (branded as ''Rock 101'') is a Canadian radio station in the Metro

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

region of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. It broadcasts at 101.1 MHz on the FM band with an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

of 100,000 watts (peak) from a transmitter on

Mount Seymour Mount Seymour is a mountain located in Mount Seymour Provincial Park in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is a part of the North Shore Mountains, rising to the north from the shores of Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm t ...

in the District of North Vancouver. Owned by

Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian mass media company. Formed in 1999 as a spin-off from Shaw Communications, it has prominent holdings in the radio, publishing, and television industries. It is headquartered at Corus Quay in Toronto, Onta ...

, the studios are located in

Downtown Vancouver Downtown Vancouver is the central business district and the city centre neighbourhood of Vancouver, Canada, on the northwestern shore of the Burrard Peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. It occupies most of the north sh ...

, in the TD Tower. The station has a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

format.

History

CFMI first signed on in early 1970. Over the years, the station added FM transmitters in most of British Columbia. On July 26, 2011, CFMI received

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(CRTC) approval by increasing New Westminster's transmitter to the average

(ERP) from 37,000 to 53,000 watts (maximum ERP from 75,000 to 100,000 watts), by decreasing the effective height of antenna above average terrain from 686 to 386.4 meters and by relocating its transmitter.

HD Programming

On October 13, 2015, CFMI-HD was launched as the first Canadian HD service west of Ontario: *HD2 carries sister station

CKNW CKNW is a news/talk formatted radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, owned by Corus Entertainment. It broadcasts on an assigned frequency of AM 980 kHz, and is unusual in that it is a 50,000-watt, Class A station broadcasting on a region ...

AM 980. *HD3 carries sister station

CKGO CKGO (730 AM) is a commercial radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, owned by Corus Entertainment and calling itself ''AM 730''. It broadcasts a highway advisory format. Its radio studios and offices are in the TD Tower in Downtown Vanc ...

AM 730; this began on July 3, 2016 due to AM730's transmitter being damaged by the 2016 Burns Bog fire.

Overview

The station signed on with a very-short-lived

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

format. This was followed by a light-popular music format (" pop for adults"). CFMI was distinguished in its earlier years by being a technical innovator of early automation systems. Stereo automation systems of the day relied heavily on reel-to-reel tape machines for music. CFMI's automation had no reel machines, but relied totally on cartridge carousels, which allowed greater programming flexibility ("random access"), but no broadcast cartridges of the day could reproduce quality stereo. The response of CFMI's engineers was to invent a new cartridge that could: the Aristocart. Parent company

Western International Communications WIC Western International Communications Ltd. (or WIC) was a Canadian media company that operated from 1982 to 2000, with operations including broadcast and specialty television, radio, and satellite distribution via a majority interest in Can ...

went on to develop a manufacturing division, exporting these improved cartridges to broadcasters around the world. Today's broadcasters use computer systems with large hard drives to reproduce music digitally, and have no need of tape systems. But in its heyday (circa 1975-1990), the Aristocart was an improvement to a technical problem shared by all commercial stereo broadcasters. Among CFMI's programming innovations was ''Discumentary'', a one-hour musical documentary of programming featuring a particular artist or a particular theme. This was developed in response to the CRTC's requirement for foreground programming. The ''Discumentary'' programs were written by Paul Wiggins and voiced by Dave McCormick, then Terry David Mulligan and syndicated throughout Canada, and broadcast internationally on the Anik D satellite. Later, CRTC regulations phased out the need for foreground programming, and CFMI phased out ''Discumentary''.

Rebroadcasters

CFMI also operates on a number of low-power FM transmitters.

Alberta

British Columbia

Newfoundland and Labrador

Saskatchewan

References

External links

Rock 101
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cfmi-Fm Fmi Fmi Fmi Radio stations established in 1970 1970 establishments in British Columbia