CKO/CFOX was an

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Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

located in

Pointe-Claire Pointe-Claire (, ) is a Quebec local municipality within the Urban agglomeration of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in Canada. It is entirely developed, and land use includes residential, light manufacturing, and retail. As of the 2021 ce ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

from 1960 to 1989. The station's call sign was CFOX from 1960 to 1977 and it later operated as CKO, the Montreal station of the news network of the same name, from 1977 until 1989.

History

With studios based at 203 Hymus Blvd. in Pointe-Claire, the station went on air on March 15, 1960 as CFOX with an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format with 1,000 watts of power. On February 5, 1963, the station upgraded their signal to 10,000 watts. In 1964 the station format changed to

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 ...

, and in 1965 to a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

station. The station was originally operated by Lakeshore Broadcasting, which was owned by noted Montreal radio journalist Gord Sinclair Jr. (the son of Toronto radio/TV journalist

Gordon Sinclair Allan Gordon Sinclair, OC, FRGS (June 3, 1900 – May 17, 1984) was a Canadian journalist, writer and commentator. Early life Sinclair was born in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, the son of George Alexander and Bessie Gol ...

). It was sold to

Allan Slaight John Allan Slaight (July 19, 1931 – September 19, 2021) was a Canadian rock and roll radio pioneer, media mogul, and philanthropist. His career began as an amateur magician before moving to radio. He was the founder of Slaight Communications, ...

in 1972, and he converted it to a country format. In 1975, the station went back to a Top 40 format until September 1977. The last song played was Fox on the Run by

Sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...

. Later that year it was purchased by the CKO news network, changing the call sign to CKO accordingly and converting it from Top 40 to an

all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...

format. The CFOX call sign would later resurface in January 1979 at an

FM station FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

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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, ...

. In 1986, CKO applied to convert from the AM dial to the FM dial at 95.1 MHz; that application was denied on March 19, 1987. (95.1 FM has since been occupied by

CBF-FM CBF-FM is a French-language Canadian radio station licensed to Montreal, Quebec. Owned and operated by the government-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, it transmits on 95.1 MHz from the Mount Royal candelabra tower with an effective radia ...

, after that station's relocation from 690 kHz in 1998.) On June 20, 1989, the commission approved an application by changing the frequency from 1470 kHz to 650 kHz, as a way to improve reception in areas of Montreal Island; CKO's frequency change proposal was never implemented.Decision CRTC 89-345
Approval of Montreal's frequency change from 1470 kHz to 650 kHz. 20 June 1989 The station went off air when the network ceased broadcasting during a noon newscast on November 10, 1989. The news was produced, but never aired. The broadcasting licences for the CKO network were returned to the

CRTC 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 ...

in 1990. To this day the 650 and 1470 frequencies has not been reactivated in the Montreal area; in addition, the 1470 frequency would no longer be available in Montreal, following the 2007 sign on of CHOU on 1450, whose allocation relocated to Montreal from Granby. Its transmitter site with three antennas in

Châteauguay Châteauguay ( , , ) is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, located both on the Chateauguay River and Lac St-Louis, which is a section of the St. Lawrence River. The population of the city of Châteauguay at the 2021 Cen ...

was demolished in 1992. CFOX is perhaps most famous for getting exclusive access to

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

's 1969

Bed-in The Bed-ins for Peace were two week-long nonviolent protests against wars, intended as experimental tests of new ways to promote peace. As the Vietnam War raged in 1969, John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono held one protest at the Hilton Hotel in Ams ...

for peace in room 1742 at the

Queen Elizabeth Hotel Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth (french: Fairmont Le Reine Élizabeth) is a historic grand hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. With 950 rooms and 21 floors it is the largest hotel in the province of Quebec, and the second largest Fairmont hotel in ...

, during which the song "

Give Peace a Chance "Give Peace a Chance" is an anti-war song written by John Lennon (originally credited to Lennon–McCartney), and recorded with the participation of a small group of friends in a performance with Yoko Ono in a hotel room in Montreal, Quebec, C ...

" was recorded.

References

External links

Marc Denis' CFOX 1470 Radio Archive
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cfox

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

Pointe-Claire Radio stations established in 1960 1960 establishments in Quebec Radio stations disestablished in 1989 1989 disestablishments in Quebec

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...