CKCK, a Canadian radio station in Regina, Saskatchewan, was one of the world's pioneering radio stations.

History

AM Radio

In 1922, the Leader-Post, the daily newspaper in Regina, Saskatchewan, hired Bert Hooper to run a new radio station for it. 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. The station had a signal that belied its 10 kilowatts of power, thanks in part to its 620 kHz frequency, and the soil south of Regina on which the transmitter was built. The company obtained a television station licence, and signed CKCK-TV on the air in 1954.

The 1960s saw CKCK at its commercial peak. It dominated the broadcast market in Regina and southeast Saskatchewan. But its massive market share started to erode in the early 1960s: rival CJME (AM, 1300 MHz) 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 AC format to Oldies using the slogan "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 complicated transaction between Craig, Harvard and Rawlco Communications, the original CKCK signed off the air in 2001 and its frequency was taken over by Harvard's CKRM.

CKCK signed off the air at 11:59PM on September 30, 2001. The final song played on "62 Kool" was The Last Song by Edward Bear.

Slogans used on CKCK

• "620 CK Radio" (late 80's & early 90's)
• "CK-62" (1991-1993)
• "All Oldies 620 CKCK" (1993-1996)
• "620 CKCK Saskatchewan" (1996-1998)
• "62 Kool" (1998-2001)

FM Radio

In 2002, Rawlco Radio adopted the CKCK callsign for its new FM radio station, which was branded as 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.

Notable past personalities

• Johnny Sandison
• Lloyd Saunders
• Jim McLeod
• Doug Alexander "Daddy D"
• Roy Brown "The Aerial Act"
• John Badham
• Ron Barnes/Barnet
• Carol Gay Bell
• Eugene "Porky" Charbonneau
• Barry Davies
• Howard J. Green "The Jolly Green Giant"
• Duane "Granny" Granboise
• Clark Gray
• Harold Hamilton
• Lorne Harasen "The Harasen Line"
• Terry David Mulligan
• Peter Scott (Scott Peters)
• Fred Sear
• Ken "Sebastian" Singer
• Don Slade
• Royal Watson
• John Wells
• Gord "Whitey" Whitehead
• George Young
• Jim Smalley
• John Lynch
• William Alexander
• Greg Morgan
• Roger Currie
• Mike Benny

External links

• 94.5 Jack FM
• Collection of CKCK music surveys