CKNW (AM)

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CKNW

Broadcast area	Vancouver, BC
Branding	CKNW AM 980
First air date	August 15, 1944
Frequency	980 kHz (AM)
Format	News/Talk/Sports
ERP	50 kW
Callsign meaning	C K New Westminster (the station's original location)
Owner	Corus Entertainment
Website	CKNW AM 980

CKNW, part of Corus Entertainment, is the leading talk radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It broadcasts on AM 980.

The station's content is based on news and current events. It features call-in shows with mostly Vancouver-based hosts. In 2006, Charles Adler was added to the lineup, broadcasting from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

[edit] History

CKNW first signed on-air in New Westminster, BC, on August 15, 1944 at its original frequency of 1230 AM, under the ownership of Bill Rea's International Broadcasting Co. group. It was Vancouver's first country music station. CKNW was also the first station in the region to provide hourly newscasts (between 6 a.m. and midnight) and the first in the province to broadcast 24 hours a day, beginning in 1947.

In 1947, Rea purchased a half-interest in Port Alberni radio station CJAV. Several personalities who started out at CJAV would later move to CKNW. These included Joe Chesney, who became morning show host until moving on to establish Langley station CJJC (now CKST in Vancouver) in 1963, and Jim Robson, who would do radio play-by-play for the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL beginning in 1972). On January 2, 1949, CKNW switched frequencies to 1320 AM and increased its power from 250 watts to 1000. It increased its power again, to 5000 watts, on November 5, 1954.

In February 1956, health problems forced Bill Rea to sell CKNW to Frank Griffiths and the Ballard family, who went on to form Western Broadcasting Co., the forerunner to Western International Communications (WIC). On November 17, 1958, the station switched to its present frequency of 980 AM. On February 22, 1960, its transmission power was increased to 10,000 watts, and it was further increased to 50,000 watts in 1965. On January 15, 1969, CKNW moved into larger studio space in a former Safeway store in New Westminster. Parent company Western Broadcasting put FM sister station CFMI on the air on March 22, 1970.

CKNW founder Bill Rea died on April 15, 1983 in Santa Barbara, California at age 74. On October 3, 1983, the station began broadcasting in AM stereo. On June 18, 1984, it became the flagship station of the Western Information Network, broadcasting programs via satellite to affiliate stations throughout British Columbia. In 1986, CKNW and CFMI moved from New Westminster to a new Vancouver studio on the Expo 86 site.

During the 1990s, CKNW made a gradual transition from the mixed format of news, sports, talk shows and MOR music it had adopted in the 1960s to full-time news, talk and sports. In 1996, CKNW and CFMI moved again to their current studios in the TD Bank tower at Pacific Centre in downtown Vancouver. In 2000, both stations were purchased by Corus Entertainment as part of the splitting of WIC's broadcasting assets. Corus also acquired WIC's pay-TV assets; WIC's broadcast TV stations were purchased by Canwest Global.

In February 2001, Corus Entertainment launched an all-news sister station, NW2. This new station (CJNW AM730, formerly CKLG) was branded as "24 hour news radio, powered by CKNW." NW2 shared newsroom resources with CKNW, including several anchors and reporters. However, NW2 did not achieve broad appeal, and was shut down in May 2002.

Since 2001, CKNW has gone through two significant restructurings focused on reducing costs, which resulted in dozens of lay-offs. Several senior reporters have left CKNW for other opportunities. CKNW has also significantly increased its "informercial" content during weekend programing. The cost-cutting decisions made by Corus, along with the increase in infomercials, has correspondingly resulted in CKNW suffering a steady erosion of its listening audience.

CKNW lost the BC Lions CFL broadcast rights to Team 1040 in 2003. The station had broadcast the games continuously since 1985. In 2006, CKNW lost the rights to broadcast Vancouver Canucks games to Team 1040 after broadcasting every one of the club's games since 1970. The loss of the Canucks games may have resulted in the station losing nearly a third of their cummulative audience in the Fall ratings of 2006.

However, the station continues to lead the market in overall ratings, as it has for nearly every ratings period for over 40 years.{[1]}

The station continues to have a line up of Vancouver's top talk show hosts, news reporters, sports reports and commentators. News talk show hosts include Bill Good, Philip Till, John McComb and Michael Smyth. Retired hosts include John Ashbridge, who also announces the Canucks home games. Guest hosts include Christy Clark and Bill Teilman.

The CKNW News department runs major newscasts at 8 am, Noon and 5 pm, with news on the hour and half hour. Well known voices in the market reading and reporting the news include Gord McDonald, Terry Schintz, Sheila Gardner, Connie Thiessen, Terry Bell, Marcella Bernardo and Jill Bennett. Recently, it has become a specialty of the news department to cover major news events such as major storms in the region.

Even without the Canucks broadcasts, the sports department plays an important role in programming. Rick Dhaliwal came over from The Team in 2005 to become the Sports Director. Neil MacRae is an outspoken sportscaster who works mornings and is known for his bombastic commentaries and exchanges with other on-air hosts. Rick Quinton and Jim Mullin also work as sportscasters/reporters. Dan Russell's Sportstalk is the longest running sports talk show in Canada, running Monday thru Friday from 9 pm-midnight. Sportstalk Weekend runs in the same time slot and is hosted by Rick Quinton. Guest hosts include Jim Mullin, Farhan Lalji of TSN, and Jay Janower of Global BC.

On Saturday nights during hockey season, CKNW broadcasts Vancouver Giants Western Hockey League games simulcast with CHMJ AM 730. Joey Kenward and Bill Wilms provide commentary.