CHWE-FM (106.1 FM, ''Energy 106'') is a radio station in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. Owned by

Evanov Communications Evanov Communications is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. It is also the sole owner of Dufferin Communications Inc., 80% owner of Halifax Broadcasting Ltd. and Ottawa Media Inc. The group of Evanov companies owns and operates a number of ra ...

, it broadcasts a

CHR/Top 40 Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

format. CHWE-FM's studios and offices are located behind

Polo Park Polo Park (corporately styled as CF Polo Park) is a shopping centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is situated on the former Polo Park Racetrack near the junction of Portage Avenue and St. James Street. Its grounds also includes a Scotiaba ...

at 202-1440 Jack Blick Avenue in Winnipeg, with sister stations

CKJS-FM CKJS is a multilingual radio station which operates at 92.7 FM. The station broadcasts from Polo Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba with sister stations CFJL-FM and CHWE-FM, while its transmitter is located at Duff Roblin Provincial Park just south of W ...

and

CFJL-FM CFJL-FM (100.5 FM, ''Hot 100.5'') is a radio station in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Owned by Evanov Communications, it broadcasts a classic hits format focusing on pop, rhythmic, and rock music from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. CFJL-FM has studios and ...

. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is located at Duff Roblin Provincial Park.

History

On May 8, 2009,

Evanov Radio Group Evanov Communications is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. It is also the sole owner of Dufferin Communications Inc., 80% owner of Halifax Broadcasting Ltd. and Ottawa Media Inc. The group of Evanov companies owns and operates a number of ra ...

was granted approval by 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 ...

to launch a new Winnipeg radio station on the 106.1 FM frequency. At first it was rumored that the company was going to launch another "Jewel" radio station, similar to

CKDX-FM CKDX-FM (88.5 MHz, ''Lite 88.5'') is a radio station licensed to Newmarket, Ontario, Canada and serving the Greater Toronto Area. Owned by Evanov Communications (but with a 30% stake held by outside investors under numbered companies), it broad ...

and various other stations around Ontario, as the Winnipeg station was registered as CFJL-FM. On June 8, 2011, the station began testing its signal. On July 29, 2011, CJFL launched as

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

''Energy 106''. On October 14, the station added live shows from local

nightclubs A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

on Friday and Saturday nights, and launched its full-time airstaff on October 19. On November 26, 2011, CFJL changed its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

to CHWE-FM, to match the "Energy" moniker. The CFJL call sign would move to its

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

, ''100.7 The Breeze'', which dropped its

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

format that same day. That station became ''Jewel 101 FM'' in January 2014, and then ''Hot 100.5'' in February 2017. The new station's

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

-leaning playlist paid off in the Numeris ratings, where in its first book it took a 6.9% share of the audience. The station has since moved to a more mainstream Top 40 direction. In August 2020, Dave Wheeler, formerly of

CITI-FM CITI-FM (92.1 MHz) is a commercial Canadian FM radio station broadcasting in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts a mainstream rock format branded as ''92.1 CITI''. Its studios are located on Osborne Street ...

, was announced as the station's new morning host beginning August 31. The hiring proved controversial, as he had originally been fired from CITI in 2018 after making

transphobic Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

comments on his morning show. The station's program director defended the hiring, stating that Wheeler had "changed to fit us". Wheeler stated that "I have done a lot of work on me. It's profoundly personal when you take a deep look inside. I have put it all in the rear-view."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chwe-Fm Hwe Hwe Hwe Radio stations established in 2011 2011 establishments in Manitoba