CKCK-FM

From Free net encyclopedia

CKCK, a Canadian radio station in Regina, Saskatchewan, was one of the world's pioneering radio stations.

Contents

History

In 1922, the Leader-Post newspaper hired a man named Bert Hooper to run a new radio station for them. In the beginning, Hooper was the station's only employee, but he soon hired a second announcer, Pete Parker. In 1923, Parker called a Regina Capitals hockey game on the station - the world's first complete broadcast of a professional hockey game. Around the same time, the station conducted the British Empire's first live remote broadcast of a church service.

The station and the company, under the ownership of the Sifton family, prospered over the years. The station had a signal that belied its 10 kilowatts of power, thanks in part to its 620 kHz frequency, and the soil south of Regina on which the transmitter was built. The company obtained a television station licence, and signed CKCK-TV on the air in 1954.

CKCK started to fall on hard times in the 1970s. The television station was sold, forcing on-air staff to choose which station to continue to work for. The radio station, as well, was sold a number of times to different owners.

CKCK was acquired by Craig Media in 1996. In 1998, Craig signed a local management agreement giving Harvard Communications authority to operate the station. By the late 1990s, most of the station's programming was being delivered by satellite from Toronto. Finally, as a result of a complicated transaction between Craig, Harvard and Rawlco Communications, the original CKCK signed off the air in 2001 and its frequency was taken over by Harvard's CKRM.

In 2002, Rawlco adopted the CKCK callsign for its new FM radio station, which was branded as Rock 94. On July 29, 2005, the station was rebranded as Jack FM, becoming the first Canadian radio station not owned by Rogers Communications to adopt that brand identity.

Notable past personalities

Source

Canadian Communications Foundation

External link

Station website