CHNI-FM (88.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

) is a Canadian FM

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 ...

in Saint John,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. The station airs an

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

format branded as ''Q88.9''. It is owned by the

Stingray Group Stingray Group Inc. (formerly Stingray Digital and Stingray Digital Group) is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment company based in Montreal, Quebec, with offices in the United States, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, S ...

History

On November 26, 2004,

Rogers Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, ...

received

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 ...

approval to operate a new

English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

commercial FM

News News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

Talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

radio station which would broadcast at 88.9 FM in Saint John, New Brunswick as well as other News/talk stations in Halifax and

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. The ...

under licensing agreement, the CRTC officially approved the application.Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2004-520
/ref> On October 11, 2005, CHNI signed on as ''News 88.9'' under the ownership of Rogers Media, as part of a three-station

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

network comprising CHNI,

CKNI-FM CKNI-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 91.9 FM in Moncton, New Brunswick. Owned by Acadia Broadcasting, the station broadcasts an adult contemporary format branded as ''91.9 The Bend''. CKNI's studios and offices are located at Jo ...

(which has since been sold to Acadia Broadcasting and flipped to an AC format in August 2014), and

CJNI-FM CJNI-FM (95.7 MHz) is a Canadian radio station in Halifax, Nova Scotia. CJNI has a News/Talk/Sports format branded as ''CityNews 95.7''. The station is owned by Rogers Sports & Media which also owns sister station CFLT-FM. CJNI-FM is currently th ...

in Halifax. As CHNI, the station would also broadcast

Saint John Sea Dogs The Saint John Sea Dogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The team was founded as an expansion team in 2005 and play at TD Station in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Sea Dogs became the first tea ...

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

games, along with programming from

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

and

Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and ...

. On July 4, 2013,

Newcap Radio Stingray Radio (formerly Newcap Radio) is a Canadian radio broadcasting conglomerate owned by Stingray Group. It owns and operates 101 radio stations in Canada—making it the second-largest radio conglomerate in Canada behind Bell Media. It also ...

announced that it would acquire CHNI from Rogers Media pending CRTC approval, marking the company's entry into the Saint John market. The acquisition, along with a request by Newcap to allow CHNI-FM to switch from a news/talk format to a music format, was approved by the CRTC on March 14, 2014. The acquisition closed on March 31, 2014. Six CHNI employees laid off as part of the sale sued both Rogers and Newcap, alleging they were assured that no employees would be laid off. On July 28, 2014, CHNI flipped to

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

branded as ''Rock 88.9'', with 30 days of commercial-free music as the station began to hire on-air talent. David Newbury, general manager for Newcap Radio in Atlantic Canada stated that the company felt there was a "void" in the Saint John market that needed to be filled, and noted that Newcap was hoping CHNI would emulate the success of its sister stations in other Atlantic Canadian markets. On August 19, 2019, CHNI rebranded as ''Q88.9'', while keeping the same slogan "The Rock of Saint John".

References

External links

* * * {{coord, 45, 28, 39, N, 66, 13, 59, W, type:landmark_region:CA, display=title

HNI HNI Corporation is one of the largest office furniture manufacturers in the world in regard to revenues resulting from office segment sales. HNI is also the world's leading hearth products company, manufacturing and marketing gas, electric, wood ...

Radio stations established in 2005 2005 establishments in New Brunswick