| City of license | Regina, Saskatchewan |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Regina, Saskatchewan |
| Branding | 94.5 Jack FM |
| Slogan | We Play It All |
| Frequency | 94.5 FM |
| First air date | 1922 (AM), 2002 (FM) |
| Format | Classic hits/Classic rock |
| Callsign meaning | randomly assigned |
| Owner | Rawlco Communications |
| Sister stations | CJME, CIZL-FM |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 94.5 Jack FM |
CKCK-FM, a Canadian radio station in Regina, Saskatchewan, was one of the world's pioneering radio stations. Its current incarnation is known on air as Jack FM, and broadcasts at 94.5 MHz. It is housed at 2401 Saskatchewan Drive in Regina, with CJME and CIZL-FM.
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In 1922, the Leader-Post, the daily newspaper in Regina, hired Bert Hooper to run a new radio station. 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.
It was an affiliate of the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission from 1933 to 1936 when it affiliated with the newly formed Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1939, CBC launched its own station in Regina, CBK.
CKCK and the company, under the ownership of the Sifton family, prospered over the years. Due to its location on the lower end of the AM dial and Saskatchewan's mostly flat land (with near-perfect soil conductivity), its 10,000-watt signal covered most of Saskatchewan's densely populated area, as well as parts of North Dakota and Montana. The company obtained a television station licence, and signed CKCK-TV on the air in 1954.
The 1960s saw CKCK at its commercial peak, dominating the broadcast market in Regina and southeast Saskatchewan. But its massive market share started to erode in the early 1960s as rival CJME (AM 1300 kHz) came under the ownership of the Rawlinson family and switched from a "beautiful music" format to Top 40 rock. CKCK cut back on its promotional arm in the belief that its ratings could not fall. Another rival, CKRM, switched from a middle-of-the-road (MOR) format to country music in 1971 and CBC Radio belatedly began building up its local news and current affairs staff. In 1976, CKCK-TV was sold, forcing members of the joint newsroom to "choose sides". CKCK "spun off" an FM station, CKIT 104.9, but it pursued a MOR format.
In the fall of 1991, CKCK switched from an adult contemporary format to oldies using the branding CK-62. This was the beginning of satellite oldies programming on CKCK, beginning in the evenings and by 1996 all but the morning show was from satellite programming.
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 complex ownership transaction between Craig, Harvard and Rawlco Communications,[1] Harvard took over ownership of CKCK and shut it down.[2] Harvard's CKRM took over CKCK's former AM frequency, Rawlco's CJME took over CKRM's former frequency, and the assets of CKCK were transferred to Rawlco to be relaunched as an FM station.[3]
CKCK's old AM signal signed off the air at 11:59 pm on September 30, 2001. The final song played on "62 Kool" was The Last Song by Edward Bear.
Rawlco relaunched CKCK on FM 94.5 in 2002, with the branding 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. Recently, it has promoted its call letters as unofficially meaning Canada Knows JaCK.
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