CKCL-FM

Infobox Radio Station
name=CKCL-FM


city=Chilliwack, BC
area=Greater Vancouver (primary)
Chilliwack (secondary)
Abbotsford (tertiary)
branding=FM 104.9
slogan=The Greatest Hits of All Time
airdate=October 1, 1986
frequency=104.9 MHz (Vancouver)
107.5 MHz (Chilliwack)
92.5 MHz (Abbotsford)
format=Classic hits
erp=31 kW (Vancouver)
640 watts (Chilliwack)
2.6 kW (Abbotsford)
class=
callsign_meaning=C K CLear
former_callsigns=CKSR-FM (1986-1999)
CKVX-FM (2000-2004)
owner=Rogers Communications
website= [http://www.1049greatesthits.com FM 104.9] |

CKCL (identified on-air as FM 104.9) is a Canadian radio station. Officially licenced to Chilliwack, British Columbia and operating at 107.5 FM and 640 watts in that city, the station's main studios and listening area are in Greater Vancouver, where its rebroadcasting transmitter (CKCL-FM-2) operates at 104.9 FM on 31,000 watts of power. Rogers Communications owns the station.

History

CKCL signed on for the first time on October 1, 1986 as CKSR-FM (with the original on-air brand Star FM 105) under the ownership of Fraser Valley Broadcasters Ltd. to serve the residents of the Fraser Valley; at the time, the 104.9 frequency was originally located in Abbotsford, west of Chilliwack. The station's original format was a mix of adult contemporary and easy listening music.

Beginning in 1995, CKSR began gradually phasing out its easy listening songs in favor of a pure AC format; the conversion would be completed by 1997, the same year the station's signal was expanded to include the Vancouver area. As part of the expansion, the 104.9 FM transmitter was relocated to Vancouver and a new transmitter (operating on 92.5 FM with 2600 watts) was installed in Abbotsford. Rogers Communications purchased the station in August 1999.

Under the new ownership, CKSR underwent a name and format change at 5 p.m. on December 31, 1999 as it became CKVX and abandoned adult contemporary music for an alternative rock format (adopting the on-air brand and slogan 104.9 XFM - Vancouver's Rock Alternative) to compete with veteran Vancouver rocker CFOX and secure a younger listening audience. In 2000, CKVX would relocate its main studios from Chilliwack to share space with sister stations CKWX and CKKS-FM at 2440 Ash Street in Vancouver, although Chilliwack would remain as the city of licence for the record. The alt-rock format lasted for just under four years, as it was dumped on November 19, 2003 and the brand 104.9 Christmas FM was introduced on-air as CKVX went to round-the-clock Christmas music for the next month.

CKVX switched formats and brands again at noon on December 26 when the 104.9 Clear FM brand was adopted and the station took on a mixed format of adult contemporary and smooth jazz during most of the day, along with a program of chillout, downtempo and trip-hop electronic music called "Vancouver Chills", hosted by Trevor Shand from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. nightly. On April 8, 2004, CKVX changed its call sign to the present CKCL (formerly used on a Truro, Nova Scotia radio station), to reflect its current on-air brand. Shand left CKCL to move to Los Angeles to become the production manager at KROQ-FM [http://members.shaw.ca/vancouverbroadcasters2/S.htm] (while continuing voiceover work for Rogers Broadcasting stations in Vancouver and Toronto) in 2005, and station program director Doreen Copeland took over as host of "Vancouver Chills", which then began mixing more AC and smooth jazz in with the electronica tunes and expanded its airtime to 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. nightly.

On August 31, 2006, CKCL dropped the smooth jazz and electronica music and returned to a full-time AC format, beginning a commercial-free long weekend of non-stop music to herald the return of longtime Vancouver broadcaster Fred Latremouille and his wife Cathy (who previously had a morning show, "Latremornings", on sister station CKKS-FM) to the Vancouver airwaves after a six-year retirement; the new "Latremornings" show debuted at 5 a.m. on September 5. But the show was short-lived, ending after only one year in late 2007, when the couple returned to Maui.

In December 2007, it was announced that Charlee Morgan, formerly of Calgary's CHFM (Lite 96) and the old LG73, would take-over the morning slot in early 2008. Morgan made her morning-show debut at CKCL on February 18, 2008. On September 26, 2008, CKCL dropped Morgan's morning show and its adult contemporary format for an classic hits format and rebranded itself as FM 104.9

The CKSR call sign and Star FM brand are now used by its Chilliwack FM sister station (located at 98.3 FM), formerly known as CHWK on the AM band.

Past station logos

External links

* [http://www.1049greatesthits.com FM 104.9]
* [http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/radio/histories.php?id=1139&historyID=1089 CKSR/CKCL history at CCF website]
*RecnetCanada|CKCL-FM