| City of license | Kitchener, Ontario |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Waterloo Region |
| Branding | 570 News |
| Frequency | 570 kHz (AM) |
| First air date | 1949 |
| Format | news |
| ERP | 10 kW |
| Class | B |
| Callsign meaning | CK Great Lakes Broadcasting (a former owner of the station) |
| Owner | Rogers Media |
| Sister stations | CIKZ-FM, CHYM-FM |
| Website | 570 News |
CKGL is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 570 AM in Kitchener, Ontario. Owned by Rogers Media, the station airs a news / talk / sports format branded 570 News.
Following the 2009 conversion of CKKW to FM, CKGL is now the sole remaining AM station based in Waterloo Region, although some stations from nearby markets remain available as well.
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The station was originally launched in 1949 as FM 96.7 CKCR-FM, simulcasting the programming of CKCR.
In 1965, the stations were acquired by Great Lakes Broadcasting, a consortium that included Maclean-Hunter. Both stations changed their callsigns to CHYM that year. Distinct programming was launched on CHYM-FM for the first time in 1968. In 1972, the FM outlet's callsign was changed again, to the current CKGL.
In 1982, Maclean-Hunter took over full ownership of the stations. The CHYM and CKGL intellectual units (call signs, branding, and programming, but not the licences themselves) swapped frequencies in 1992, with CKGL moving to the AM band. (CRTC approval was required, but only as a format swap between the existing stations at 570 and 96.7, not a formal exchange of frequencies.)[1] The stations became part of Rogers Communications in 1994 when that company acquired Maclean-Hunter.
When CHYM and CKGL swapped frequencies, the CKGL country music format was moved to AM with CKGL. In 1997, this successful format was changed to news talk radio.
In late 2005, CKGL adopted the popular all-news format for the morning and afternoon drive time slots.
In 2007, 570 News won the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for "Best Newscast". The winning newscast aired Friday October 6, 2006 at 7 AM and highlighted RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie's intent to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins. 570 News had a reporter live in Pittsburgh when Balsillie made the announcement.
Unlike the Rogers all-news stations in major markets like Toronto (680 News) or Vancouver (News 1130), CKGL only carries continuous news programming during morning and afternoon drive on weekdays (5:00 to 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.) and throughout the morning on weekends (6:00 to 11:00 a.m. Saturday, 6:00 a.m. to noon Sunday). Local news updates air every half hour during the daytime talk shows, but the station relies on hourly Canadian Press newscasts overnight.
Local talk shows hosted by Jeff Allan (9:00 to noon, repeated evenings 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. in the absence of sports coverage) and Gary Doyle (noon to 3:00) air during the daytime hours on weekdays.
The evening and weekend afternoon hours are largely filled with sports programming, including Kitchener Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs hockey, Toronto Blue Jays baseball, NFL football, and Fox Sports Radio programming.
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