| City of license | Richmond, British Columbia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Metro Vancouver |
| Branding | AM 650 |
| Slogan | All Time Favourites |
| Frequency | 650 kHz (AM) |
| First air date | May 1, 1980 |
| Format | adult standards |
| Power | 10,000 watts (day) 9,000 watts (night) |
| Class | B |
| Callsign meaning | C ISL (reference to Lulu Island) |
| Former frequencies | 940 kHz (1980-1985) |
| Owner | Astral Media (Astral Media Radio G.P.) |
| Sister stations | CKZZ-FM |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | AM 650 |
CISL is a Canadian adult standards radio station, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The station broadcasts on the AM band at 650 kilohertz. It is one of Canada's few remaining successful music stations on the AM dial. The calls in its moniker are generally pronounced "C-Isle".
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CISL originally signed on on May 1, 1980, at a frequency of 940 kHz and a power of 2500 watts. The licence was granted to a group controlled by Michael Dickenson, whose previous broadcast experience included a stint at CHQM. While the original music content was primarily easy listening, overall content placed an emphasis on the community of Richmond (the ISLand in CISL).
About 1985, the frequency was changed to 650 kHz and the daytime power increased to 10,000 watts, still at the same Richmond transmitter site (the antenna array was changed from four to three towers).[1][2] About the same time, the musical format morphed into oldies, and the Richmond community programming gradually disappeared.
Today CISL broadcasts out of Richmond, British Columbia and its program director is Gerry O'Day. The station billed itself as one of Canada’s few remaining adult standards radio stations.
In September 2007, CISL stopped using the "Oldies 650 CISL" name and became "SuperHits 650 CISL". The format remained very similar.
On October 29, 2007, CISL along with the rest of the Standard Broadcasting stations were sold to Astral Media.
On November 10, 2008, CISL flipped from oldies to adult standards. The classic hits/oldies format moved to Rogers-owned CFUN-FM in September. However, in August 2011, that station has since moved to a contemporary hit radio format. The move was a result of Jim Pattison Group flipping CKBD from its adult standards format to an adult album alternative format and switching to FM on November 13.
On December 23, 2009, CISL filed an application with the CRTC, requesting permission to broadcast up to 20% of its programming in Russian during the 2010 Winter Olympics,[3] which is to be supplied by Moscow radio station AvtoRadio.[4] This application received approval on January 26, 2010.[5]
| –2007 | 2007–2008 | 2008–present |
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