CKO

Last updated
CKO
Defunct
Broadcast areanational
Frequency various
Programming
Format News/talk
Ownership
OwnerCanada All-News Radio Ltd.
History
First air date
July 1, 1977
Last air date
November 10, 1989
Canada All-News Radio Ltd.
IndustryMedia
Founded1977
Defunct1989
FateOff the air
Headquarters65 Adelaide Street East, Toronto, Ontario (1977–1981); Carlton Inn Hotel beside Maple Leaf Gardens (1981–1988),
Key people
David Ruskin, president and CEO
Products Radio news network

CKO was a Canadian radio news network which operated from 1977 to 1989. The CKO call sign was shared by twelve network-owned stations, as listed below.

Contents

The network was owned by Canada All-News Radio Ltd. AGRA Industries was originally a 45 percent partner in the network, but by 1988 it was the sole owner. David Ruskin was the network's founding president.

History

On July 12, 1976, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved a licence for CKO to Canada All News Radio Limited. [1] Twelve transmitters were required to be in place across the country and ready for broadcast by the fall of 1979.

With a recorded message from Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to launch it, the CKO radio network started broadcasting on July 1, 1977 with stations in Ottawa and Toronto. Power problems delayed the start of the Ottawa station by an hour. Stories included much American content, plus two features about prostitutes. [2] One announcer mispronounced Arkansas several times in one newscast and was reportedly dismissed. [3]

Later that year, stations were added in Montreal (by acquisition of AM station CFOX), [4] London, Vancouver and Calgary. The Vancouver station began with a news staff of ten, including news director Cam Scott, Gerry Gifford, Richard Dettman, Stan Crossley, Bill Rodger, Norm Bright and Joanna Piros. Scott was replaced in 1978 by Peter Ray, who had been transferred from the Montreal station. After Ray's departure that year, Tom Spear was hired from CHWK Chilliwack in December 1978 until most local programming was curtailed in August 1980.

The news network began live broadcasts of the Canadian government's Question Period in late 1977; for nearly all Canadians, it was the first regular, live access to House proceedings as it would be well over two years before the CBC Parliamentary Television Network began regular nationwide video distribution to most cable systems. [5]

In November 1977, the Calgary station was opened with Bob Quinn as its first news director. He expanded coverage in Alberta and was instrumental in the network's coverage of the Kosmos 954 satellite crash in the Northwest Territories in January 1978 and the crash of Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314 in Cranbrook, BC a few weeks later. Reporter Bill Pringle was the first journalist at the crash scene. Calgary coverage centered on local news and the booming Alberta energy sector. The Calgary and Edmonton reporters joined forces to broadcast the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. The Calgary stationed featured numerous local features reflecting the skills on the staff and balanced network's national approach. Calgary and Edmonton produced a regional afternoon newscast, Alberta Today. It was often co-anchored by Cliff Oginski in Edmonton and Calgary's Bill Pringle.

In 1978, a station was added in Edmonton under station manager/news director Garfield Chesson. He made CKO Edmonton a key supplier of national news reportage in the era of the Trudeau government's National Energy Program. Edmonton journalists Cliff Oginski, Ian Kinsey, Karen Brown and Bob Unger balanced a perceived Toronto slant to national issues.

CKO closed the London studio that year due to poor ad sales.

After its first anniversary, the network faced low ratings and higher financial losses than expected. However, it was hoped that a planned advertising campaign would help boost awareness of the station. The Toronto transmitter power was also to be increased to 100,000 watts in by the end of 1978. [6]

CKO began live sports broadcasts for Toronto Maple Leafs hockey and National Football League football in late 1978. CKFH previously carried the Maple Leafs games and attempted to have the CRTC stop CKO's hockey broadcasts. The CRTC rejected CKFH's complaint, on the rationale that sports broadcasts were within CKO's programming commitments. [7]

In 1985, CKO added a station in Halifax.

Maclean-Hunter sold its Newsradio broadcast syndication division to CKO in August 1987. [8]

In 1986, CKO applied to convert its Montreal outlet to 95.1 MHz; that application was denied on March 19, 1987. [9] (95.1 FM has since been occupied by CBF-FM, after that station's relocation from 690 kHz in 1998.) On June 20, 1989, the commission approved an application by changing the frequency from 1470 kHz to 650 kHz, as a way to improve reception in areas of Montreal Island; CKO's frequency change proposal was never implemented. [10]

In 1988, CKO filed an application with the CRTC to trade frequencies with Toronto AM station CKEY 590. The transaction would have included a payment of $4 million to CKO which the network would have used to launch three more stations (Regina, Saint John and St. John's) for which it already held licenses, but had not been financially able to establish. However, the CRTC denied the application on April 25, 1988. [11] Later the same year, AGRA transferred its 99% ownership in CKO to its majority-owned media division, Cybermedix. [12] In March 1989, the network under its restructured ownership declared to the CRTC that it would no longer have financial losses by 1993. [13]

Later that year, CKO established a station in Winnipeg, which became the network's final new station before its closure.

Ted Tevan briefly hosted a weekday sports talk show on the network. Although Tevan was from Montreal, CKO's Montreal station did not have a suitable studio for the program, forcing Tevan to commute to Toronto. Tevan quit CKO after the network rejected his offer to set up a Montreal studio. [14]

In 1989, AGRA agreed in principle to sell Cybermedix to Montreal-based broadcaster Cogeco, which planned to sell off Cybermedix' medical labs while keeping CKO and the Cybermedix cable systems in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. However, there was no timetable for the CRTC to approve the deal, and Cogeco would not be allowed to operate CKO until the sale was approved. As a result, with the transaction still pending before the CRTC and no prospect of stanching CKO's mounting losses in the interim, AGRA decided to euthanize the network. On November 10, network president Bill Stewart told employees via conference call that CKO was shutting its doors. While this meeting was taking place, the network abruptly went off the air in the middle of the noon (Eastern Time) broadcast, never to return. It lost a reported $55 million during its existence. [15] [16]

The broadcast licenses were surrendered to the CRTC, which formally revoked them on August 15, 1990. [17]

Personalities

Personalities associated with the network included:

Programs

Transmitters

City of licence Call signFrequencyFirst air dateStudioReassigned to
Ottawa, Ontario CKO-FM-1FM 106.9July 1, 197769 Sparks Street,
later 150 Wellington Street
CKQB-FM (relocation from 540 AM)
Toronto, Ontario CKO-FM-2FM 99.1July 1, 197765 Adelaide Street East,
later 30 Carlton Street
(Carlton Inn)
CBLA-FM (relocation from 740 AM)
London, Ontario CKO-FM-3FM 97.5October 21, 1977380 Ridout Street North CIQM-FM (relocation from 103.1 FM)
Vancouver, British Columbia CKO-FM-4FM 96.1November 21, 19772780 East Broadway CHKG-FM (new station)
Calgary, Alberta CKO-FM-5FM 103.1November 7, 1977332 17th Avenue South West,
later 5925 Third Street
CFXL-FM (new station)
Edmonton, Alberta CKO-FM-6FM 101.9March 1, 197812316 Jasper Avenue CKER-FM (relocation from 1480 AM; later moved to 101.7)
Winnipeg, Manitoba CKO-FM-7FM 99.1May 1, 1989unknown CFPG-FM (new station)
Regina, Saskatchewan CKO-FM-8FM 100.7n/an/a CILG-FM (new station)
Halifax, Nova Scotia CKO-FM-9FM 103.5January 1, 19852000 Barrington Street
(Cogswell Tower)
CKHZ-FM (new station)
Saint John, New Brunswick CKO-FM-10FM 99.7n/an/anever reassigned
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador CKO-FM-11FM 101.9n/an/a CBAX-FM-2 (new station; repeater of CBAX-FM Halifax)
Pointe-Claire / Montreal, Quebec CKO AM 1470September 19, 1977203 Hymus Blvd, Pointe Claire,
later 2085 Union Street, Montreal,
later 550 Sherbrooke Street West
never reassigned; unavailable since 2007 as 1450 is used by CHOU

† The stations in Regina, Saint John and St. John's were licensed by the CRTC but had not been launched by the network before its shutdown.

Studios

CKO's main studios and offices in Toronto were initially at 59-65 Adelaide Street East, Toronto - a vacant 6 storey building next to the Adelaide Street courthouse, and then moved to the 2nd floor of the Carlton Inn Hotel on Carlton Street just west of Maple Leaf Gardens from 1981 to 1988.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Television Network</span> Canadian broadcast TV network

The Global Television Network is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CTV, and has fifteen owned-and-operated stations throughout the country. Global is owned by Corus Entertainment — the media holdings of JR Shaw and other members of his family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citytv</span> Canadian television network owned by Rogers Communications

Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consists of six owned-and-operated (O&O) television stations located in the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, a cable-only service that serves the province of Saskatchewan, and three independently owned affiliates serving smaller cities in Alberta and British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CITY-DT</span> Citytv flagship station in Toronto

CITY-DT is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television outlets CFMT-DT and CJMT-DT. The stations share studios at 33 Dundas Street East on Yonge–Dundas Square in downtown Toronto, while CITY-DT's transmitter is located atop the CN Tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKXT-DT</span> Former TV station in Toronto

CKXT-DT was a broadcast television station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which broadcast to much of southern and eastern Ontario. It was owned by Quebecor Media through its Groupe TVA unit. Although beginning as a general interest independent station carrying a typical schedule of entertainment and information programming, by the time of the station's closure on November 1, 2011, the station had been converted into an over-the-air simulcast of Quebecor's cable news channel, Sun News Network. The station transmitted on channel 52 in Toronto.

Ici Radio-Canada Première is a Canadian French-language radio network, the news and information service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the public broadcaster of Canada. It is the French counterpart of CBC Radio One, the CBC's similar English-language radio network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CITV-DT</span> Global TV station in Edmonton

CITV-DT is a television station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. The station is owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, and maintains studios on Allard Way Northwest in the Pleasantview neighbourhood of Edmonton. Its transmitter is located just off of Highway 21, southeast of the city. CITV-DT carries the full Global network schedule, and its programming is similar to sister station CICT-DT in Calgary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKVU-DT</span> Citytv station in Vancouver

CKVU-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CHNM-DT. The two stations share studios at the corner of West 2nd Avenue and Columbia Street in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood of Vancouver; CKVU-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver, with additional transmitter link facilities on the roof of the Century Plaza Hotel in Downtown Vancouver.

CBLT-DT is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the English-language service of CBC Television. It is part of a twinstick with Ici Radio-Canada Télé outlet CBLFT-DT. The two stations share studios at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre on Front Street West in downtown Toronto, which is also shared with national cable news channel CBC News Network and houses the studios for most of the CBC's news and entertainment programs. CBLT-DT's transmitter is located atop the CN Tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKEM-DT</span> TV station in Edmonton

CKEM-DT is a television station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, part of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CJEO-DT. The two stations share studios with Rogers's local radio stations on Gateway Boulevard in Edmonton; CKEM-DT's transmitter is located near Yellowhead Highway/Highway 16A. The station also operates a rebroadcast transmitter in Red Deer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKAL-DT</span> Citytv station in Calgary

CKAL-DT is a television station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, part of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CJCO-DT. The two stations share studios at 7 Avenue and 5 Street Southwest in Downtown Calgary; CKAL-DT's transmitter is located near Old Banff Coach Road/Highway 563.

<i>Breakfast Television</i> Canadian morning program television brand

Breakfast Television (BT) is a Canadian morning television program that is broadcast by Citytv. Currently hosted by Sid Seixeiro and Meredith Shaw and first premiering in 1989, the program originated as the morning show of the network's original station CITY in Toronto.

CityNews is the title of news and current affairs programming on Rogers Sports & Media's Citytv network in Canada. The newscast division was founded on September 28, 1975 as CityPulse as a standalone local newscast on the network's Toronto station owned by CHUM Limited. Through the acquisitions of the Edmonton, Winnipeg and Calgary A-Channel stations in 2004, it was relaunched under the CityNews brand on August 2, 2005 and later expanded to Montreal in 2012. The remaining Citytv stations airs the news headlines segments during each station's Breakfast Television morning show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CFOX (AM)</span> Former radio station in Montreal

CKO/CFOX was an English language Canadian AM radio station located in Pointe-Claire, Quebec from 1960 to 1989. The station's call sign was CFOX from 1960 to 1977 and it later operated as CKO, the Montreal station of the news network of the same name, from 1977 until 1989.

Theodore "Ted" Tevan was a Canadian sports radio broadcaster.

John Gilbert was a Canadian radio broadcaster.

Global News Morning is the name of local morning newscasts airing on Global Television Network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os) in British Columbia, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Kingston, Peterborough, Montreal, and Halifax with each station producing its own edition of the program. In Ontario, the program was branded The Morning Show, with local variations being produced on Global Toronto, CKWS Kingston, and CHEX Peterborough, before they too adopted the Global News Morning branding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global News</span> Canadian news network

Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned-and-operated stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sun News Network</span> Defunct Canadian cable news TV channel

Sun News Network was a Canadian English language Category C news channel owned by Québecor Média through a partnership between two of its subsidiaries, TVA Group and Sun Media Corporation. The channel was launched on April 18, 2011 in standard and high definition and shut down February 13, 2015. It operated under a Category 2 licence granted by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in November 2010, after the network aborted a highly publicized attempt for a Category 1 licence that would have given it mandatory access on digital cable and satellite providers across Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TSN Radio</span> Canadian sports radio network

TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media. The TSN Radio brand, and some of the stations' content, are shared with Bell Media's television sports channel, The Sports Network. With the American sports media company ESPN being a minority shareholder in TSN, most of the stations also air some ESPN Radio programming, usually on weekends and/or overnight.

References

  1. Decision CRTC 76-416 Approval to operate an all-news network - originally licensed on 12 July 1976.
  2. (no byline) (1977-07-02). "Hangups and hookers mar All-News Radio debut". Globe and Mail. p. 27.
  3. "Dead air and technical errors greet network listeners", Brandon Sun, July 6, 1977.
  4. Decision CRTC 77-387 Commission approves the acquisition of the assets of the AM radio station CFOX at Pointe Claire. One of the editors in 1979 at the CFOX station was Randy Hurst who is now president of the Canadian Electricity Forum. Also working at the station at the time was the announcer Mitch Melnick. Mitch Melnick is a 30-year veteran of radio in Montreal. Melnick is a star of Montreal's English all sports radio station, Team 990. 5 July 1977
  5. Kirby, Blaik (1977-11-11). "Wry restoration comedies bite through the usual pap (CKO story at end of article)". Globe and Mail. p. 16.
  6. Keddy, Barbara (1978-09-09). "Adage about half-full, half-empty cup appropriate to position of CKO radio". Globe and Mail. pp. B5.
  7. (no byline) (1979-01-13). "CRTC favors CKO-FM on sports". Globe and Mail. p. 39.
  8. (no byline) (1987-08-11). "Newsradio news service sold by Maclean Hunter to CKO radio network". Globe and Mail. pp. B13.
  9. Decision CRTC 87-189 Denial of Montreal's CKO conversion to the FM dial. 19 March 1987
  10. Decision CRTC 89-345 Approval of Montreal's frequency change from 1470 kHz to 650 kHz. 20 June 1989
  11. Decision CRTC 88-294 Key Radio Limited Toronto, Ontario/The CKO Radio Partnership Toronto, Ontario 25 April 1988
  12. Globe and Mail (1988-11-09). "Agra Industries sells CKO radio network". Globe and Mail. pp. B12.
  13. Partridge, John (1989-03-16). "CKO will break even in 1993, president says". Globe and Mail. pp. B8.
  14. Patton, Paul (1989-03-27). "Tevan ends CKO show". Globe and Mail. pp. C4.
  15. CKO forced to close due to red ink, Tony Van Alpen, Toronto Star, November 11, 1989
  16. Writing had been on the wall for closedown of CKO Radio, Greg Quill, Toronto Star, November 11, 1989
  17. Decision CRTC 90-745 Revocation of the licenses for the radio broadcasting transmitting undertakings in various cities across Canada issued to the CKO Radio Partnership. 15 August 1990
  18. Globe and Mail, The (1988-02-04). "Patrick Hynan - Produced show on Hemingway (obituary)". Globe and Mail. pp. A16.
  19. Globe and Mail, The (1986-02-08). "Walter Kanitz - Veteran Radio Broadcaster (obituary)". Globe and Mail. pp. A22.
  20. Beveridge, Massey (1987-01-01). "Letters to the Editor: The wrong Mr. Varley". Globe and Mail. p. 6.
  21. (no byline) (1981-02-16). "Advertisement from Herbert W. Armstrong". Globe and Mail. p. 20.
  22. (no byline) (1984-09-25). "CKO Advertisement". Globe and Mail. p. 4.
  23. Tansey, Mike (1986-03-17). "Letters to the Editor: National open line". Globe and Mail. pp. A6.