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| Broadcast area | National Capital Region |
| Frequency | 93.9MHz |
| Branding | Pure Country 94 |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Country |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | |
| CFGO,CFRA,CJMJ-FM,CJOH-DT,CHRO-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | May 3, 1947 (1947-05-03) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | Former "Kool" branding |
| Technical information | |
| Class | C1 |
| ERP | 95,000watts |
| HAAT | 321.6 meters (1,055 ft) |
| Links | |
| Website | iheartradio.ca/purecountry/ottawa |
CKKL-FM (93.9MHz) is acommercialradio station inOttawa, Ontario. Owned byBell Media, it broadcasts acountryformat branded as "Pure Country 94". CKKL'sradio studios and offices are located in the Bell Media Building on George Street inDowntown Ottawa'sByWard Market.
CKKL-FM has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 95,000watts. Thetransmitter is inCamp Fortune,Quebec, withinGatineau Park.
Frank Ryan originally launched the station on May 3, 1947 asCFRA-FM. At first it largelysimulcast the programming of itssister stationCFRA 560AM (now on 580kHz). In 1959, CFRA-FM began airing some separate programming.
In 1961, Ryan sought approval to increase power from 860 watts to 146,000 watts via a new tower site atCamp Fortune.[1][2] TheRyan Tower (named after Frank Ryan) would become the area's main radio and television transmission site.
In 1961, the simulcast with CFRA ended. The FM station began a format ofbeautiful music with someclassical music at night. The station adopted thecall signCFMO-FM to give it a separate identity from CFRA. The call letters stood forFM Ottawa. Both CFRA and CFMO were subsequently acquired byCHUM Limited in 1968.
The station manager at the time was veteran broadcaster Gord Atkinson, well known to Ottawa listeners. The music director was Ray Eckford. Announcers included: John Cavill and Bryan Williams (mornings) as well as Jim Bristow and Dick Richards (whose real name was Richard "Dick" Gasparini, originally with CKWW and CKCY-FM) in the evenings. Core artists heard on CFMO-FM were orchestras conducted byPercy Faith,Henry Mancini andMantovani, as well as vocalists such asFrank Sinatra,Barbra Streisand andThe Carpenters.
As the 1990s began, CFMO began playing more soft vocal music and fewer instrumentals. CHUM, Ltd. dropped the longtimeeasy listening format on August 28, 1992. The new call lettersCKKL-FM were acquired and the brand nameKool FM was used for the station's newHot AC format. The first song wasTime, Love & Tenderness byMichael Bolton. (The CFMO call sign and format were picked up by CHEZ-FM Inc., and adopted on what is nowCKBY.)
During thehot AC days, they aired mostlycontemporary hits during the evening hours (in large part due to CRTC regulations banning FM stations for having more than 50% of hit material on their playlists to protect AM stations andFrench-language stations), as well as thedance music show "Pirate Radio" withChris Sheppard on Saturday nights. During the 1990s, CKKL competed againstTop 40 stationsCKTF-FM (which airs inFrench) and AM stationEnergy 1200 (which aired in English). Station liners during this time promoted "Hit Music on FM", directly targeting Energy 1200 listeners. After "Energy" flipped toalternative rock in 1997, CKKL was considered the default English-language hit music station in Ottawa. By February2003, whenCIHT-FM (now aCHR station) launched with itsrhythmic contemporary format, CKKL completely shifted to CHR.
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On May 31,2003, at 9:39 AM, CKKL-FM dropped itsCHR/Top 40 format, and began stunting with the audio from the movieWhat About Bob?. After the movie aired, snippets of music played, with "Bob FM" launching at noon that day, adopting theadult hits format. The first song on "Bob" was "I Want A New Drug" byHuey Lewis and The News.
Bob FM's morning show,Cub & Company, was hosted by Cub Carson and Melanie Adams, and until February 2013, Sandy Sharkey. The show was formerly hosted by "Stuntman" Stu Schwartz, who is now atCJMJ-FM.
In 2007, CTVglobemedia bought CKKL-FM along with the other CHUM Limited properties. In2011,Bell Canada acquired CTVglobemedia, renaming the company asBell Media.
On February 1, 2013, Bell Media announced that longtime Bob FM announcers Steve Gregory and Sandy Sharkey were leaving the station as a result of cuts.[3]
On November 10, 2014, Bell Media announced that the "Bob FM" format would be discontinued, citing changing "market conditions" and the need to "pursue a new opportunity". All of the station's on-air talent, including Cub Carson, were laid off, and the station began airing blocks of music punctuated by promos announcing an impending relaunch. Its website referred Bob FM listeners to the online stream of sister stationCJPT-FM.[4][5]
On November 12, 2014 at 11:45 a.m., after again playing "I Want a New Drug" (a near-bookend to the launch of "Bob"), followed by "Like a Virgin" byMadonna, CKKL went into a 15-minutestunt of a ticking clock. At Noon, CKKL flipped tocountry as "New Country 94", launching with a marathon of 10,000 songs played without commercial interruption starting with "Cruise" byFlorida Georgia Line.[4][6] After the 10,000 song marathon, the station began airing advertisements again, preceding song number 10,001 and over.
On May 28, 2019, the station was renamed "Pure Country 94" as part of a nationwide rebranding of all Bell Media country stations. The station's morning hosts Sophie Moroz and Jeff Hopper began to host theiHeartRadio Pure Country Countdown for the network as well.[7]
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