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CKFR is a
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
Kelowna, British Columbia Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''kiĘ ...
, Canada. Broadcasting at 1150 AM, the station airs
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 ...
and
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
formats, and identifies on air as ''AM 1150 News, Talk, Sports''. It is owned by
Bell Media Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
. Current on-air talent include Phil Johnson, who hosts the ''AM 1150 Early Edition'' from 6-9am Monday to Friday. Throughout the day, Mike English, Regan Bartel, Calvin Hector read the news during the midday and afternoon newscasts. Regan Bartel, who started with CKFR in the fall of 2000, has been calling the play-by-play of the Kelowna Rockets on the radio station for 20 years. Syndicated programming includes
Evan Solomon Evan Solomon (born April 20, 1968) is a Canadian columnist, political journalist, radio host, and publisher. Until 2022, he was the host of ''The Evan Solomon Show'' on Toronto-area talk radio station CFRB, a writer for ''Maclean's'' magazine, an ...
, Mike Smyth Show, and various
CFRB CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West. CFRB is a clea ...
programming. Other than in mandated hourly pre-recorded station identifications and the title of the morning show, the callsign CKFR is not mentioned on air or in station branding and promos. The callsign was randomly assigned to replace the former CKBL callsign when the station switched from 1150 AM The Bullet's
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 to Oldies 1150's
oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
format in 2004.


History

The station originated as CKIQ, first signing on the air on November 8,
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...
. It was owned and operated by veteran broadcasters Walter Gray, who would later serve as three-term mayor of Kelowna, and Bob Hall through their company Four Seasons Radio. Four Seasons also owned several stations in
Golden Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall * Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...
, Revelstoke and
Salmon Arm Salmon Arm is a city in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District of the Southern Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia that has a population of 17,706 (2016). Salmon Arm was incorporated as a municipal district on May 15, 1905. The ...
. The licence, for an AM station operating on 1150 kHz with a day and night power of 1,000 watts, was awarded July 22 of the same year and beat out a competing application from J.B. Cooper. In the summer of 1972, the offices of CKIQ were destroyed by fire. By the next day, the station was back on the air, reportedly operating out of several motel rooms in the area. Warehouse space in the area was found for CKIQ to operate out of for six months while the fire-ravaged building was rebuilt on the original property. The following year, in December 1973, CKIQ's daytime power was increased to 10,000 watts while nighttime power remained at 1,000 power. Nighttime power is often lower because of changes in the planet's
ionosphere The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an ...
that allow a station to be broadcast farther and more clearly at low power. However, in 1981, CKIQ's nighttime power increased from 1,000 to 10,000 watts as well. In 1982, CKIQ's coverage area expanded with the granting by the
Canadian Radio-television 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 ...
for an FM rebroadcaster at Big White Ski Village on Big White mountain. It was known unofficially as CKIQ-FM, though that was never advertised on air, when the rebroadcaster launched in 1983. In 1995, Four Seasons Radio launched
CKBL-FM CKBL-FM (92.9 FM, "92.9 The Bull") is a radio station in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Owned by 629112 Saskatchewan Ltd. trading as Saskatoon Media Group, it broadcasts a country music format. History The station originated on the AM dial as CFQC, ...
after receiving approval for an FM licence in the Kelowna radio market. That station was branded as ''99.9 The Bullet'' and broadcast a
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. A company called Okanagan Skeena Radio Group acquired the remaining 73.2% of a personal holding company, West Global Broadcast Holding that it didn't already own from Walter Gray, Bob Hall, and other shareholders. West Global, in turned, owned the operating company for CKIQ and CKBL, Four Seasons Radio. Following this transaction, Okanagan Skeena Radio Group became the new sole owner of these radio stations, as well as stations in Golden, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm and its southern interior stations. 1997 saw major changes to the two sister stations in the Kelowna radio market. CKBL-FM became
CHSU-FM CHSU-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 99.9 FM in Kelowna, British Columbia. The station currently broadcasts a CHR/Top 40 format branded as ''99.9 Virgin Radio''. History CHSU traces its origins to 1995 when the Canadian Radio-te ...
, changing its branding to ''99.9 Sun FM'' and its music format to
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 ...
. Simultaneously, CKIQ-AM's call letters became CKBL-AM and its format switched from its twenty-six-year-old
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 ...
format to a
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 and the station was now branded as ''1150 AM The Bullet''. This all required, and received, approval of the
Canadian Radio-television 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) and
Industry Canada Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED; french: Innovation, Sciences et DĂ©veloppement Ă©conomique Canada; french: ISDE, label=none)''Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal I ...
for the flipping of CKBL from the FM to the AM band and the various callsign changes. Several things happened in 1999. CKBL-AM's CKBL-FM-1 rebroadcaster at Big White Ski Village (98.1 MHz with ERP of 18 watts) ceased to be a rebroadcaster for CKBL-AM. It was now a rebroadcaster for CHSU-FM.
Telemedia Telemedia was a Canadian media company, which had holdings in radio, television and magazine publishing. The company was launched in 1968 by Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien, when he purchased CKAC in Montreal from Power Corporation of Canada. CK ...
purchased Okanagan Skeena Group. Finally, on October 28 of the same year, Okanagan Skeena Radio Group's application to convert CKBL to the FM band was denied by the CRTC.Decision CRTC 99-481
/ref> The application was submitted by Okanagan Skeena before Telemedia's buyout Okanagan Skeena Radio Group was finalized. In 2002,
Standard Radio Slaight Communications is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. The company was formed as Slaight Broadcasting in 1971, when owner J. Allan Slaight acquired CFGM in Richmond Hill. Slaight later also acquired CFOX in Montreal and CHOK in Sar ...
acquired Telemedia's radio and northern BC TV station assets. Telemedia's printed periodical business were largely acquired by
Transcontinental Media Transcontinental Inc., operating as TC Transcontinental, is a Montreal-based packaging, commercial printing and specialty media company. The company was established in 1976 as a direct marketing company, and later expanded into newspaper printing ...
at the same time. By buying Telemedia's radio and TV stations, Standard became the largest privately owned radio station owner and operator in Canada. On August 1, 2003, CKBL switched from country music to an
oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
format and its branding was also changed to ''Oldies 1150''. In May 2004, its call letters were changed as well to its current callsign of CKFR. ''KFR Kelowna'' was added to the Oldies 1150 logo and the station was given a slogan as well, calling itself "The Greatest Music on Earth". (As of November 1, 2007, CKBL are the call letters of an FM station in
Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
,
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
) On August 29, 2007, CKFR-AM switched to its current format of
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 ...
and
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
, branding itself as ''AM 1150 News, Talk, Sports'' when cross-town competitor CKOV switched to the FM dial and began offering a
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 as ''B-103'' on August 17. For two weeks, Kelowna was without a news/talk radio station. In October 2007,
Astral Media Astral Media Inc. was a Canadian media conglomerate. It was Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 84 radio stations in eight provinces. Astral was also a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, with 23 specialty channels ...
acquired Standard Broadcasting's terrestrial radio and television assets, including CKFR.


References


BC Radio History - CKIQ

AM 1150 News, Talk, Sports , Standard Radio
Information on the station. *


External links

* *

at BC Radio History

at BC Radio History {{DEFAULTSORT:Ckfr Kfr Kfr Kfr Radio stations established in 1971 1971 establishments in British Columbia