 | |
| Broadcast area | Greater Vancouver |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 650kHz |
| Branding | Sportsnet 650 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports |
| Affiliations | Vancouver Giants Radio Network Vancouver Canucks Radio Network Toronto Blue Jays Radio Network[1] Seattle Mariners Radio Network Infinity Sports Network[2] Abbotsford Canucks Radio Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| CJAX-FM,CKKS-FM,CKWX,CHNM-DT,CKVU-DT,Sportsnet Pacific | |
| History | |
First air date | May 1,1980 |
Former frequencies | 940 kHz (1980–1985) |
Call sign meaning | "Island" (reference toLulu Island) |
| Technical information | |
| Class | B |
| Power | 20,000watts day 4,000 watts night |
Transmitter coordinates | 49°09′59″N123°00′59″W / 49.16638889°N 123.01638889°W /49.16638889; -123.01638889 (CISL Tower) |
| Repeater | 96.9 CJAX-FM HD3 (Vancouver) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | sportsnet.ca/650 |
CISL (650kHz) is acommercialAMradio stationlicensed toVancouver, British Columbia, and serving theGreater Vancouverradio market. It is owned byRogers Radio, a division ofRogers Sports & Media and airs asportsformat branded asSportsnet 650. It is theflagship station of theVancouver Giants,Vancouver Canucks,Abbotsford Canucks, and is the Vancouveraffiliate of theToronto Blue Jays,Seattle Seahawks andSeattle Mariners.[3][4] On weekdays, local hosts are heard most of the day, while theInfinity Sports Network is heard late nights and weekends.
CISL'sradio studios are located at 2440 Ash Street in theFairview neighbourhood ofVancouver. By day, CISL is powered at 20,000watts; to avoid interference at night to other stations on 650 AM, it reduces power to 4,000watts. CISL uses adirectional antenna at all times with a three-tower array. Thetransmitter is on Nelson Road offBritish Columbia Highway 91 onLulu Island.[5]
CISL originallysigned on the air on May 1, 1980, at a frequency of 940 kHz and a power of 2,500watts. Thecall letters were pronounced "C-Isle". The licence was granted to South Fraser Broadcasting, a group controlled by Michael Dickinson.[6] Dickinson's previous broadcast experience included a stint at Vancouver radio stationsCHQM-AM-FM.
The original music content was primarilymiddle of the road songs, branded asAM Gold Music Radio. Theplaylist consisted of titles released from 1955 to the-then present with the newscasters and announcers placing an emphasis on the community of Richmond (the ISLand in CISL).
About 1985, the frequency was changed to 650 kHz (CFML's former frequency) and the daytime power increased to 10,000 watts, still at the same Richmond transmitter site. The antennatower array was changed from four to three towers).[7][8]
On December 27, 1988, CISL shifted to a full-timeoldies format, with its playlist featuring music from 1955 to 1975. The new format helped CISL become a major player in the Vancouver radio scene. The original Richmond community programming expanded to include all of the Lower Mainland. CISL enjoyed its greatest ratings and sales success from 1986 to 1989. In 1990, South Fraser Broadcasting was issued an FM license, which went on the air asCKZZ-FM the following year. CISL and CKZZ were sold toStandard Broadcasting in May 1996.[9]
In September 2007, CISL stopped using theOldies 650 CISL name and rebranded asSuperHits 650 CISL. The format remained similar. On October 29, 2007, CISL, along with the rest of the Standard Broadcasting stations, were sold toAstral Media.
On November 10,2008, at 9 a.m., after playing "Kiss and Say Goodbye" byThe Manhattans, CISL flipped fromoldies tosoft adult contemporary. Theclassic hits/oldies format moved toRogers-ownedCKKS-FM in September (that station has since moved to amodern rock format). The move was a result ofJim Pattison Group flippingCKBD from itsadult standards format to anadult album alternative (AAA) format and switching to FM on November 13. The first song on "All Time Favourites" was "We've Only Just Begun" byThe Carpenters.
On December 23, 2009, CISL filed an application with theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requesting permission to broadcast up to 20% of its programming inRussian during the2010 Winter Olympics.[10] The programming was to be supplied byMoscow radio stationAvtoRadio.[11] This application received approval on January 26, 2010.[12]
In March 2013, theCompetition Bureau approved a proposal byBell Media to acquire Astral Media, under the condition that it divest itself of several television services and radio stations. Following the closure of the merger in July 2013, CISL was placed in ablind trust pending its eventual sale.[13][14][15]
On August 26, 2013,Newcap Radio announced it would acquire CISL along with four other former Astral Media radio stations held under Bell Media's blind trust for $112 million.[16] The deal was approved by the CRTC on March 19, 2014, and the sale closed on March 31, 2014.[17][18]
On April 8, 2014, Newcap applied to move the CISL transmitter site to the former CKBD site, due to the imminent expiration of the lease on the transmitter site in August, and the unstable ground at that location.[19] The application was approved on August 14.[20] The move included a boost in the daytime power to 20,000 watts, coupled with a reduction in CISL's nighttime output to 4,000 watts. On August 25, 2014, CISL changed its branding toSmooth & Easy, CISL 650 AM.
On April 25, 2017,Rogers Media announced that it would acquire CISL, and switch the station to asports format branded asSportsnet 650 later in the year. The move came as Rogers had acquired the radio rights to theVancouver Canuckshockey team beginning in the 2017–18 season. The station would also assume theToronto Blue Jays radio rights in Vancouver in the 2018 season. Both teams were previously broadcast by Bell Media'sTSN Radio stationsCFTE andCKST.[21]
Rogers unveiled the station's programming lineup on August 23, 2017.[22] The sale of the station was completed on August 27, 2017, with CISL ending music programming at 10 p.m. that evening. The final song on CISL was "American Pie" byDon McLean; by coincidence, the song was cut off right on the beginning of the titular lyric, specifically cutting off on the words "Bye bye". After a week off air, the station re-branded asSportsnet 650 on September 4, becoming the first station from theSportsnet Radio group to not use "The Fan" branding.[23][24]
On August 28, 2017, CISL began digitally rebroadcasting on theHD Radio signal of co-ownedCJAX-FM, using its third subchannel.
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| –2007 | 2007–2008 | 2008–2014 | 2014–2017 |
