CKO

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See also: Chief knowledge officer

CKO was a Canadian radio news network which operated from 1977 to 1989. The CKO call sign was shared by twelve network-owned stations, as listed below.

The network was owned by Canada All-News Radio Ltd. AGRA Industries was originally a 45 per cent partner in the network, but by 1988 it was the sole owner. David Ruskin was the network's founding president.

Contents

[edit] History

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On July 12, 1976, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommuncations Commission approved a licence for CKO to Canada All News Radio Limited. Twelve transmitters were required to be in place across the country and ready for broadcast by the Fall of 1979.

With a recorded message from Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to launch it, the CKO radio network started broadcasting on July 1, 1977 with stations in Ottawa, Ontario and Toronto, Ontario. The first day was a near disaster, with newsreading and technical problems occurring wall to wall; one announcer mispronounced Arkansas several times in one newscast and was reputedly dismissed. Perhaps the glaring mispronunications were somewhat understandable given the need to find and develop over one hundred news and public affairs broadcasters to eventually run the CKO operation. The new owners might have compounded the problem because they did not spend a great deal of money to hire veterans for a majority of the air positions.[citation needed] In the last few years of its existience CKO had developed many quality programs and more than a few notable on air news professionals.

Power problems delayed the start of the Ottawa station by an hour. Stories included much American content, plus two features about prostitutes.[1]

Later that year, stations were added in Montreal, Quebec (by acquisition of AM station CFOX), London, Ontario, Vancouver, British Columbia and Calgary, Alberta.

The news network began live broadcasts of the Canadian government's Question Period in late 1977; for nearly all Canadians, it was the first regular, live access to House proceedings as it would be well over two years before CPAC's precedecessor began nationwide video distribution to most cable systems.[2]

In 1978, a station was added in Edmonton, Alberta under station manager/news director Garfield Chesson. He made CKO Edmonton a key supplier of national news reportage in the era of the Trudeau government's National Energy Program for all Canadians and Alberta premier Peter Lougheed's mandate of ensuring Alberta's energy profits benefited Albertans first. Edmonton journalists Cliff Oginski, Ian Kinsey, Karen Brown and Bob Unger balanced the perceived Toronto slant to national issues.

CKO closed the London studio that year due to poor ad sales.

After its first anniversary, the network faced low ratings and higher financial losses than expected. However, it was hoped that a planned advertising campaign would help boost awareness of the station. The Toronto transmitter power was also to be increased to 100 000 watts in by the end of 1978.[3]

CKO began live sports broadcasts for Toronto Maple Leafs hockey and NFL football in late 1978. CKFH previously carried the Maple Leafs games and attempted to have the CRTC stop CKO's hockey broadcasts. The CRTC rejected CKFH's complaint, on the rationale that sports broadcasts were within CKO's programming commitments. [4]

The stations each had local studios, but also shared national programming as well. In the 1980s, CKO became one of the first Canadian radio networks to deliver its programming by satellite.

In 1985, CKO added a station in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Maclean-Hunter sold its Newsradio broadcast syndication division to CKO in August 1987.[5]

In 1988, CKO filed an application with the CRTC to trade frequencies with Toronto AM station CKEY. The transaction would have included a payment of $4 million to CKO which the network would have used to launch three more stations (Regina, Saint John and St. John's) for which it already held licenses, but had not been financially able to establish. However, the CRTC denied the application on 25 April 1988[6]. Later the same year, AGRA transferred its 99% ownership in CKO to its majority-owned media division, Cybermedix.[7] In March 1989, the network under its restructured ownership declared to the CRTC that it would no longer have financial losses by 1993.[8]

Later that year, CKO established what would become its final station in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Montreal-based Ted Tevan briefly hosted a weekday sports talk show on the network. But CKO's Montreal station did not have a suitable studio for the program, therefore Tevan was required to commute to Toronto. Tevan quit CKO after the network rejected his offer to set up a studio in his home city.[9]

In 1989, AGRA sold Cybermedix to Cogeco. However, the CKO network had always struggled to turn a profit, and on November 10 of that year suddenly terminated all broadcasting during the newscast at noon (Eastern time). Cogeco only wanted Cybermedix's cable properties, and the network lost a reported $55 million during its existence. The broadcast licences were surrendered to the CRTC which formally revoked these on 15 August 1990.

[edit] After CKO

Even after CKO's demise, there are still quite a few all-news stations in Canada.

[edit] Personalities

Notable and working class personalities associated with the network included:

  • Gene Costain--News anchor, now Professor at University of Central Florida, wrote MA thesis (1996) on CKO at York University
  • Paul Johnson--Winnipeg bureau, wrote Journal of Radio Studies (1995) article on CKO
  • Squire Barnes - now a Global BC sportscaster
  • Pat Burns - deceased
  • Gerry Dobson - former CFTO-TV sports director, now a Rogers Sportsnet soccer commentator
  • Don Gauthier
  • John Gilbert (1930-1998)[10]
  • Lynne Gordon, entertainment reporter - now a keynote speaker
  • Patrick Hynan, head newswriter - died 3 February 1988[11]
  • Walter Kanitz, travel correspondent - died 7 February 1986[12]
  • Steve Kee - now Director, Media and Marketing with TSX Group Inc.
  • Roger Millions - now a Calgary Flames play-by-play announcer on Rogers Sportsnet
  • David Onley - now a Citytv and CablePulse 24 journalist
  • Taylor "Hap" Parnaby, once CKO's President - now Chief Correspondent for CFRB 1010 Toronto
  • Andrew Sharp
  • Glen Stone - now Public Affairs Manager at the Toronto Board of Trade
  • Ted Tevan, sports-themed talk show in 1989
  • Peter Varley[13] - now Vice-President of Public Affairs at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario
  • Larry Wachtel
  • David Windsor - now an actor
  • Stan Mulholoch - CKO's morning host.

[edit] Programs

  • Herbert W. Armstrong, weekdays and Sundays 9:30pm[14]
  • The John Gilbert Show[15]
  • Hotline, hosted by Pat Burns
  • Science File, hosted by Glen Stone
  • Soccer Report, Edmonton based pre-NASL open line show created and hosted by Ian Kinsey in 1978 and '79. Canada's first soccer call-in and feature program
  • Spacewatch, hosted by David Onley
  • Time to Talk, national open line show hosted by Don Gauthier from 1985[16]
  • Toronto Maple Leafs hockey games
  • Alberta soccer league, games play-by-play host Ian Kinsey
  • Wall Street Report, hosted by Larry Wachtel
  • Wineview, hosted by Andrew Sharp

[edit] CKO frequencies

Many of CKO's frequencies were not reassigned to new radio broadcasters for almost a decade after CKO's demise. In fact, two of the frequencies remain unassigned as of 2005.

CKO also held licenses for the following stations, which were never launched:

[edit] References

  1. ^ (no byline). "Hangups and hookers mar All-News Radio debut", Globe and Mail, 2 July 1977, pp. 27.
  2. ^ Kirby, Blaik. "Wry restoration comedies bite through the usual pap (CKO story at end of article)", Globe and Mail, 11 November 1977, pp. 16.
  3. ^ Keddy, Barbara. "Adage about half-full, half-empty cup appropriate to position of CKO radio", Globe and Mail, 9 September 1978, pp. B5.
  4. ^ (no byline). "CRTC favors CKO-FM on sports", Globe and Mail, 13 January 1979, pp. 39.
  5. ^ (no byline). "Newsradio news service sold by Maclean Hunter to CKO radio network", Globe and Mail, 11 August 1987, pp. B13.
  6. ^ [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/eng/Decisions/1988/..%5C..%5CDecisions%5C1988%5CDB88-294.htm Decision CRTC 88-294]
  7. ^ Globe and Mail. "Agra Industries sells CKO radio network", Globe and Mail, 9 November 1988, pp. B12.
  8. ^ Partridge, John. "CKO will break even in 1993, president says", Globe and Mail, 16 March 1989, pp. B8.
  9. ^ Patton, Paul. "Tevan ends CKO show", Globe and Mail, 27 March 1989, pp. C4.
  10. ^ Rock Radio Heaven
  11. ^ Globe and Mail, The. "Patrick Hynan - Produced show on Hemingway (obituary)", Globe and Mail, 4 February 1988, pp. A16.
  12. ^ Globe and Mail, The. "Walter Kanitz - Veteran radio broadcaster (obituary)", Globe and Mail, 8 February 1986, pp. A22.
  13. ^ Beveridge, Massey. "Letters to the Editor: The wrong Mr. Varley", Globe and Mail, 1 January 1987, pp. 6.
  14. ^ (no byline). "Advertisement from Herbert W. Armstrong", Globe and Mail, 16 February 1981, pp. 20.
  15. ^ (no byline). "CKO Advertisement", Globe and Mail, 25 September 1984, pp. 4.
  16. ^ Tansey, Mike. "Letters to the Editor: National open line", Globe and Mail, 17 March 1986, pp. A6.

[edit] External links

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