CJAX-FM
 | |
| City | Vancouver, BC |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Metro Vancouver |
| Branding | 96.9 Jack FM |
| Slogan | Playing whatever! Whenever! |
| Frequency | 96.9 MHz (FM) |
| First air date | March 1, 1980 |
| Format | Adult hits |
| ERP | 75 kilowatts |
| HAAT | 686 metres |
| Class | C |
| Transmitter coordinates | 49°21′27″N 122°57′14″W / 49.357365°N 122.953776°WCoordinates: 49°21′27″N 122°57′14″W / 49.357365°N 122.953776°W |
| Callsign meaning | Sounds like "jack" |
| Former callsigns |
CJAZ-FM (1980-1985) CKKS-FM (1985-2002) CKLG-FM (2002-2014) |
| Former frequencies | 92.1 MHz (1980-1984) |
| Owner | Rogers Media |
| Sister stations |
Radio: CKWX, CKKS-FM TV: CKVU-DT, CHNM-DT |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www.jackfm.com |
CJAX-FM is a Canadian radio station in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia. It broadcasts at 96.9 MHz on the FM band with an effective radiated power of 75,000 watts from a transmitter on Mount Seymour in the District of North Vancouver. The station also operates a 1,430 watt repeater (CJAX-FM-1, 96.9 MHz) in Whistler, British Columbia.[1] Studios are located in downtown Vancouver, and the station is currently owned by Rogers Communications.
Format
CKLG was the first conventional radio station in North America to adopt the Jack FM branding, officially classified as a "variety hits" or "adult hits" format. Most Jack FM stations play a wide mix of music from the late 1960s through the 90s, as well as some current adult contemporary/hot adult contemporary singles. It formerly used the slogan "Playing what we want", promoting itself as having a larger and more varied playlist than any other commercial radio stations. In the early years when the station was on AM in North Vancouver - Don North who later went on to become a famous war correspondent for a large US national TV network was the sound engineer. Jack Ammon has a weekly radio show as a keyboards accompanist for singers Gary Lee and Bob Stone.
History
In 1980, Selkirk Communications launched CJAZ at 92.1 FM in Vancouver, with an all-jazz music format, transmitting from Salt Spring Island at 100,000 watts. Although overall regional coverage was very good, poor stereo reception in the key Vancouver area led the station to change frequencies and transmitter site to 96.9 MHz and Mt Seymour in 1984, transmitting at 75,000 watts. Low ratings led to a format change on September 15, 1985, when the station adopted an urban adult contemporary format (the first in Canada), rebranded as FM 97 and the call sign was changed to CKKS-FM. This was followed about a year later by a switch to the "adult contemporary music" format and another on-air rebranding as "97 Kiss FM". Four years later, the station was sold to Maclean-Hunter Ltd, and in 1994 it became a part of Rogers Broadcasting. The adult contemporary format would also arrive on CHQM-FM, which dropped its easy listening format in 1992, and surpassed CKKS as Vancouver's leading AC station, becoming Vancouver's most-listened-to FM station later on.
In 1988, West Coast Community T.V. Association received CRTC approval to add a very low-power transmitter at 102.7 MHz in Ucluelet to rebroadcast the programming of CKKS-FM.[2] The call sign for the Ucluelet transmitter (currently dark) is CIWC-FM.
In December of 2002, the station's adult contemporary format was dropped in favour of Christmas music, this was then followed by the adult hits format as Jack FM on Boxing Day at 8 AM. This ended the 10-year adult contemporary war in Vancouver, which meant that CHQM-FM is now the only AC station in the Vancouver market. Given the "attitude" inherent in the Jack brand, it was felt that the call sign "CKKS" would maintain an undesirable association with Kiss-FM's "soft favourites" identity. As it turned out, in 2001, Corus Entertainment had abandoned the old CKLG call sign formerly assigned to one of its Vancouver AM stations (Mojo AM 730). Rogers applied to transfer these letters to Jack FM, and the station's call sign became CKLG-FM shortly thereafter. This was in part an attempt to trade on CKLG-AM's history as a popular Vancouver music station in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The move was successful, as Jack-FM's ratings increased dramatically, at one point briefly surpassing traditional market leader CKNW before settling into the upper rankings in the Vancouver market. The CKKS callsign was subsequently given to a Sechelt rebroadcaster of CISQ-FM in Squamish, British Columbia.
Coincidentally, the Jack FM format was cloned on a Calgary radio station April 1, 2003, on the same frequency as CKLG, and also owned by Rogers Communications. That station was formerly urban CHRK (Kiss FM), as the station changed calls to CKIS-FM and later to CJAQ-FM (after swapping callsigns with Toronto's Jack FM as that station flipped back to top 40 as KiSS FM). As a result, Jack FM Toronto was the third Jack FM outlet in Canada.
In July 2012, the station adopted the "Playing whatever! Whenever!" slogan. The station also added in more current adult contemporary/hot adult contemporary songs from artists such as Carly Rae Jepsen, Rihanna, fun., and LMFAO.
On May 22, 2013, the CRTC approved Rogers' application to relocate its Whistler transmitter, CKLG-FM-1, from its current location to the CBC-owned tower in Whistler. This relocation will result in a decrease in the average effective radiated power (ERP) from 586 to 474 watts (directional antenna with a decrease in the maximum ERP from 1,430 to 1,000 watts) as well as an increase in the effective height of antenna above average terrain from -306.2 to -238.3 metres.[3]
In August 2014, the stations changed its call sign from CKLG-FM to CJAX-FM. The CKLG-FM call sign was transferred to Rogers-owned CIEG-FM Egmont (rebroadcaster of CISQ-FM Squamish).
Controversy
In 2005, some members of Vancouver's Indo-Canadian community accused the station of racial insensitivity with regards to its advertising strategy.[4][5] The ads in question featured Vijay Chandra, a Fijian radio engineer for the station with a strong Indian accent, singing to promote Jack-FM's "Larry and Willy show".[6] The complaints stem from a perception that viewers are intended to laugh at Chandra's accent, rather than at the ad copy itself, and that similar lyrics performed without an accent would not be considered humorous.
References
- ↑ Decision CRTC 2000-405
- ↑ Decision CRTC 88-18
- ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2013-259, CKLG-FM Vancouver and CKLG-FM-1 Whistler – Technical change, CRTC, May 22, 2013
- ↑ http://www.voiceonline.com/voice/050402/headline2.php
- ↑ http://www.voiceonline.com/voice/050416/headline7.php
- ↑ 96.9 jackfm.com
External links
- Official website
- CKLG-FM history - Canadian Communications Foundation
- Query the REC's Canadian station database for CKLG-FM
- Query the REC's Canadian station database for CIWC-FM
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