CJAX-FM is a Canadian radio station in the
Greater Vancouver 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, ...
. Owned by
Rogers Sports & 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, ...
, it broadcasts an
adult hits format branded as ''
Jack
Jack may refer to:
Places
* Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA
People and fictional characters
* Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
96.9''. It broadcasts at 96.9 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 h ...
of 75,000 watts from a transmitter on Mount Seymour in the
District of North Vancouver. The station also operates a 1,430 watt repeater (CJAX-FM-1, 96.9) in
Whistler. Its studios are located at 2440 Ash Street in the
Fairview neighbourhood of
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 ...
.
CJAX was the first conventional radio station in
North America to adopt the "
Jack
Jack may refer to:
Places
* Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA
People and fictional characters
* Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
" branding, officially classified as a "
variety hits" or "
adult hits" format. Most "Jack" stations play a wide mix of music from the late 60s through the 90s, as well as some current
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 ...
/
hot 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, quiet ...
singles.
History
In 1980,
Selkirk Communications
Selkirk Communications was a Canadian radio and television broadcasting company, which operated from 1959 to 1989. Evolving out of Taylor, Pearson & Carson, a local broadcaster in Vancouver founded in 1934, the company grew to own 14 radio statio ...
launched CJAZ-FM at 92.1 FM in Vancouver, with an all-
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
format, transmitting from Salt Spring Island at 100,000 watts. Although overall regional coverage was very good, poor stereo reception in the key Vancouver area led the station to change frequencies and transmitter site to 96.9 MHz and Mt Seymour in 1984, transmitting at 75,000 watts. Low ratings led to a format change on September 15, 1985, when the station adopted an
urban adult contemporary
Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music ...
format (the first in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
), rebranded as ''FM 97'' and the call sign was changed to CKKS-FM. This was followed about a year later by a switch to
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 ...
and another on-air rebranding as ''97 Kiss FM''. Four years later, the station was sold to Maclean-Hunter Ltd, and in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...
it became a part of Rogers Broadcasting. The AC format would also arrive on
CHQM-FM
CHQM-FM (103.5 FM) is a Canadian radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia. It broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 100,000 watts from a transmitter on Mount Seymour and airs an adult contemporary format. It is western Canada's old ...
, which dropped its
easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...
format in
1992, and surpassed CKKS as Vancouver's leading AC station, becoming Vancouver's most-listened-to FM station later on.
In 1988, West Coast Community T.V. Association received CRTC approval to add a very low-power transmitter at 102.7 MHz in
Ucluelet
Ucluelet (, also Ukee) is a district municipality (population 1,717) on the Ucluelet Peninsula on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Ucluelet means "people of the safe harbour" in the indigenous Nuu-chah-nulth (No ...
to rebroadcast the programming of CKKS-FM. The call sign for the Ucluelet transmitter (currently
dark
Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown.
Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...
) is CIWC-FM.
In December of
2002, the station's
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 was dropped in favour of
Christmas music. On
Boxing Day, at 8 a.m., CKKS flipped to
adult hits as ''
Jack FM
Jack FM is a radio network brand, licensed by Sparknet Communications, with the exception of the European Union where it is licensed by Oxis Media. It plays an adult hits format, in most cases not using DJs.
Format characteristics
Stations ...
''. The first song on "
Jack
Jack may refer to:
Places
* Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA
People and fictional characters
* Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
" was "
You Shook Me All Night Long" by
AC/DC. The flip resulted at the end of the 10-year AC war in
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 ...
, which meant that
CHQM-FM
CHQM-FM (103.5 FM) is a Canadian radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia. It broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 100,000 watts from a transmitter on Mount Seymour and airs an adult contemporary format. It is western Canada's old ...
became the only AC station in the Vancouver market. Given the "attitude" inherent in the "Jack" brand, it was felt that the call sign "CKKS" would maintain an undesirable association with Kiss-FM's "soft favourites" identity. As it turned out, in 2001, Corus Entertainment had abandoned the old CKLG call sign formerly assigned to one of its Vancouver AM stations (
Mojo AM 730). Rogers applied to transfer these letters to Jack FM, and the station's call sign became CKLG-FM shortly thereafter. This was in part an attempt to trade on
CKLG-AM's history as a popular Vancouver music station in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The move was successful, as Jack-FM's ratings increased dramatically, at one point briefly surpassing traditional market leader
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 regi ...
before settling into the upper rankings in the Vancouver market. The CKKS callsign was subsequently given to a
Sechelt
Sechelt (, Shishalh language chat'lich) is a district municipality located on the lower Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Approximately 50 km northwest of Vancouver, it is accessible from mainland British Columbia by a 40-minute ferry tr ...
rebroadcaster of
CISQ-FM in
Squamish, British Columbia.
Coincidentally, the "Jack" format was cloned on a
Calgary radio station April 1, 2003, on the same frequency as CKLG, and also owned by
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...
. That station was formerly urban CHRK (Kiss FM), as the station changed calls to
CKIS-FM
CKIS-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 92.5 MHz in Toronto, Ontario. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts a Top 40/CHR format branded as ''KiSS 92.5''.
The station was founded on January 26, 1993 as CISS-FM ...
and later to
CJAQ-FM
CJAQ-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 96.9 FM in Calgary, Alberta. The station uses the on-air brand name ''Jack 96.9''. It is the second "Jack" station in Canada and the world, after its sister CJAX-FM in Vancouver. CJAQ's s ...
(after swapping callsigns with Toronto's "Jack" as that station flipped back to
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 "cont ...
as ''KiSS''). As a result, Jack FM Toronto was the third "Jack" outlet in Canada.
In July 2012, the station adopted the "Playing whatever! Whenever!" slogan. The station also added in more recent
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 ...
/
hot 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, quiet ...
songs.
On May 22, 2013, the CRTC approved Rogers' application to relocate its Whistler transmitter, CKLG-FM-1, from its current location to the
CBC-owned tower in Whistler. This relocation will result in a decrease in the average
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 h ...
(ERP) from 586 to 474 watts (directional antenna with a decrease in the maximum ERP from 1,430 to 1,000 watts) as well as an increase in the
effective height of antenna above average terrain
Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...
from -306.2 to -238.3 metres.
In August 2014, the stations changed its call sign from to CJAX-FM. The "CKLG-FM" call sign was transferred to Rogers-owned CIEG-FM Egmont (rebroadcaster of
CISQ-FM Squamish).
In May 2016, CJAX signed on
HD Radio operations. On June 23, 2016, CJAX added a simulcast of sister
CKWX
CKWX (1130 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts an news/ talk radio format branded as ''CityNews 1130''. CKWX's studios and offices are located at 2440 Ash ...
on its HD2 sub-channel. On August 28, 2017, CJAX added a simulcast of
CISL to its HD3 sub-channel.
Controversy
In 2005, some members of Vancouver's
Indo-Canadian
Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The terms ''Indo-Canadian'' or ''East Indian'' are sometimes used to avoid confusion with the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. Categorically, Indian Canadians comprise a subgroup of ...
community accused the station of racial insensitivity with regards to its advertising strategy. The ads in question featured Vijay Chandra, a Fijian radio engineer for the station with a strong Indian accent, singing to promote Jack-FM's "Larry and Willy show".
The complaints stem from a perception that viewers are intended to laugh at Chandra's accent, rather than at the ad copy itself, and that similar lyrics performed without an accent would not be considered humorous.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cklg-Fm
Klg
Klg
Jack FM stations
Klg
Radio stations established in 1980
1980 establishments in British Columbia