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CBC Radio One

Country	Canada
Ownership
Owner	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
History
Launch date	1936
Former names	CBC Radio (1936–44, 1962–97) Trans-Canada Network (1944–62)
Coverage
Availability	AM and FM frequencies across Canada Bell Satellite TV Shaw Direct Sirius XM
Links
Website	cbc.ca/radio

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CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly ownedCanadian Broadcasting Corporation. It iscommercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available onAM andFM to 98 percent of Canadians and overseas over the Internet, and through mobile apps. CBC Radio One is simulcast across Canada on Bell Satellite TV satellite channels 956 and 953,^[1] and Shaw Direct satellite channel 870.^[2]A modified version of Radio One, with local content replaced by additional airings of national programming, is available on Sirius XM channel 169. It is downlinked to subscribers viaSiriusXM Canada and its U.S.-based counterpart, Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

In 2010,^{[needs update]} Radio One reached 4.3 million listeners each week. It was the largest radio network in Canada.^[3]

CBC Radio began in 1936, and is the oldest branch of the corporation. In 1949, the facilities and staff of theBroadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland were transferred to CBC uponNewfoundland's entry intoCanadian Confederation.

Beginning in 1944, the CBC operated two English-language radio services: the original network became theTrans-Canada Network, and a second network, theDominion Network, was established withCJBC in Toronto as its flagship. With the exception of CJBC, all 35 stations on the CBC Dominion Network were privately owned affiliates. Its programming tended to be lighter than that of the Trans-Canada Network, carrying more American programming in its schedule. The Dominion Network operated only in the evenings, freeing affiliates to air local programming during the day.

Until 1958, the CBC was both a broadcaster, and the principal broadcast regulator in Canada. It used this dual role to take most of Canada'sclear-channel frequencies on the AM band.

In 1962, the Dominion Network was dissolved and within a few years CJBC became a French-language station broadcasting the programming ofRadio-Canada.

In 1960, the CBC began running distinct programming on its three existingFM English-language stations, which had been providing simulcasts of programming on its AM stations. The stations, located in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, broadcast a monoaural FM signal. Programming consisted mostly of classical music. The stations were linked by CN/CP Telecommunications via land-line and microwave. This service was discontinued in 1962, but resumed in 1964 in stereo. Eventually, a national satellite-distributed network of stereo FM stations was established. In 1975, the FM network was called CBC Stereo, and the AM service was designated CBC Radio.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, CBC Radio increased its current affairs and documentary content with an initiative known as the "Radio Revolution", using more ambitious, live coverage of news and current affairs including listeners as well as experts. The change began with national shows such asAs It Happens.^[4] The change spread to CBC regional morning shows which developed three hours of live radio combining "survival information", about news, weather and traffic, with interviews and documentaries about local and national issues. CBC RadioWinnipeg was the first to embrace the format followed byInformation Morning in Halifax, a move which increased audience and attracted coverage inTime magazine.^[5]

CBC Radio stopped runningcommercials in 1974. Until 1995, the network signed off the air between 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. daily (5:00 a.m. weekdays on itsToronto flagship station,CBL)– in that year, it launched an overnight program,CBC Radio Overnight, which airs international news and documentary programs.

In the early 1990s, the CBC began offering selected programs on theInternet.^[6] In September 1996, the network formally launched liveaudio streaming of both CBC Radio and CBC Stereo.^[6]

Since the 1980s, many of the CBC'sAM stations moved to FM in response to complaints of poor AM reception. This meant that the old distinction between the AM "Radio" network and the FM "Stereo" network was no longer accurate, even though many of the FM "Radio" stations broadcast in mono only. As a result, on September 1, 1997, CBC Radio became CBC Radio One and CBC Stereo becameCBC Radio 2 (it is now CBC Music).^[7] Although some Radio One stations still broadcast on AM as of 2018, because of issues with urban reception of AM radio signals many of the remaining AM stations have added FM rebroadcasters in major urban centres within their broadcast area.

From 2004 until early 2007, CBC Radio One promotional spots were announced by Canadian actressShauna MacDonald, also known as "Promo Girl". Toronto-born Jeremy Harris took over from MacDonald. Until fall 2005, promos ended with one of two slogans: either "Because sometimes a picture needs a thousand words" or "Hear the big picture". Until early 2015, the slogan was "Canada Lives Here." The slogan was not replaced.

In the fall of 2021, CBC Radio One's weekend evening programing was reorganized. With the removal of two-hour programs, withVinyl Tap cancelled andSaturday Night Blues relegated toCBC Music, Saturday night programming features various music programs from CBC Music. In contrast, the Sunday night programming has the network's various spoken-word narrative programs concentrated from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. (Eastern).

Some CBC Radio One programs, such asAs It Happens, air in the United States on some stations associated withPublic Radio International.Definitely Not the Opera,Quirks & Quarks,The Vinyl Cafe, andQ are heard on some public stations in the northern United States. Some CBC-SRC programs were relayed on Radio Canada International for listeners abroad and others, such as the 2010 summer programPromised Land, have aired onSirius Satellite Radio 169.

Only stations licensed by theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission as separate broadcast undertakings are listed below.^[8] Most—though not all—of these stations produce at least onelocal program. Most stations also have numerousrebroadcasters in smaller communities within their service areas; rebroadcasters are listed in each primary station's article.

Severalshortwave radio relays of CBC Radio One once existed to provide coverage to remote areas that could not otherwise receive radio broadcasts. The only such operation still licensed is CKZN, relayingCFGB-FM fromHappy Valley-Goose Bay,Newfoundland and Labrador with a 1 kWERP signal on a fixed frequency of 6.16 MHz.

Former shortwave relays includeCKCX, providing a relay ofCBC North programming, and CKZU, relayingCBU fromVancouver. CKCX and CKZU ceased operations in 2012 and 2017, respectively.^[9][10]

Most schedules include hourly news readings that run from 4–10 minutes on the top of the hour except for major programming like the 6:00 p.m. news show,Your World Tonight, and the Sunday afternooncall-in show,Cross Country Checkup. Some mid-day programs include only brief 90-second "information updates".

Onstatutory holidays, local programming, particularly the morning shows, is replaced by special provincial programming or regional programs are broadcast province-wide on a rotating basis. Typically for the noon and late afternoon time slots, national programs in the form of documentary specials are aired as well. In the summer months of July and August, some programming is temporarily shortened and/or replaced by special summer series. ForChristmas Day, the majority of the programming, beginning at 8:00 PM onChristmas Eve, is replaced with predominately holiday music showcases.

Stations in the Canadian territories air a significantly different schedule with expanded local programming that includes a number of programs in localIndigenous languages. They air most of the core CBC Radio One schedule, although some programs may air in abbreviated versions (seeCBC North for further information).

The network also airs some programming syndicated from American public broadcasting services such asNational Public Radio andPublic Radio Exchange, including programs from the now defunctPublic Radio International which merged with PRX in 2019,This American Life,^[11]Radiolab and the news seriesThe World and, previously,The State We're In. With the exceptions ofThis American Life, which airs on Sunday nights at 11:00 p.m. andSnap Judgement which airs on Monday nights at 11:00 p.m., all other non-Canadian content airs after 1:00 a.m. as part of theCBC Radio Overnight programming block.^[12]

The Radio One feed onSirius XM Satellite Radio largely follows theEastern Time schedule, and has no local programming, with repeats of other shows in time slots that would normally be occupied by local programming. As a consequence of using a single feed, most national programming outside the Eastern Time Zone is heard earlier or later than the regional outlet on terrestrial radio - for example:The World at Six is heard on Sirius XM as early as 3:00 p.m.Pacific Time in Vancouver, and as late as 7:30 p.m.Newfoundland Time in St. John's.

Programs produced by NPR and PRX are not heard on CBC Radio One's Sirius XM service, as these are covered by channels programmed by NPR and PRX. In addition, the programs featured onCBC Radio Overnight are not heard on the Sirius XM feed. In these cases, as with the regional programming slots, repeats of earlier national programs are heard, as well as some CBC Music programming (such asDeep Roots).

Many CBC Radio programs are also distributed inpodcast versions. In addition, the service has also created several programs which are distributed exclusively as podcasts. Original podcasts includeCampus, a program devoted to stories about college and university student life;Someone Knows Something, which presents information about criminalcold cases;Uncover, an investigative journalism project;Missing and Murdered, which delves into stories ofmissing and murdered Indigenous women; andBack Story, in whichforeign correspondents talk about the news stories they have covered.^[13]

Selected episodes from the podcasts may also sometimes air terrestrially on CBC Radio One as substitute programs, or rerun material for regular programs such asThe Current, such as during the summer season or when a regularly scheduled program is preempted due to astatutory holiday.

While all CBC Radio stations today are owned and operated by the network there previously were a number of privately ownednetwork affiliates of what is now CBC Radio One and its predecessors, theTrans-Canada Network, and the original CBC Radio network. Some were affiliates of the original CBC radio network prior to 1944, several of which had previously been affiliates of the CBC's predecessor, theCanadian Radio Broadcasting Commission.^[14] Some were affiliates of theTrans-Canada Network (1944–1962) and either disaffiliated from TCN or became CBC Radio affiliates when TCN became CBC Radio in 1962. Some transferred their affiliation to CBC Radio when theDominion Network dissolved in 1962. Most affiliates disaffiliated as the CBC built new owned and operated stations, expanded coverage by other stations, or built transmitters to rebroadcast existing CBC Radio stations. Other affiliates were purchased from their owners by the CBC and are listed under CBC Radio One stations above or atList of defunct CBC radio transmitters in Canada if they are no longer operating.^[15][16]

Stations that have disaffiliated:

• CFAC,Calgary - lost affiliation in 1948 with the launch ofCBX.^[17]
• CFAR,Flin Flon - disaffiliated in 1984 after CBC launchedCBWF-FM.^[18]
• CFCH,North Bay - disaffiliated in 1976 with the launch ofCBCN-FM.^[19]
• CFCY,Charlottetown - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliated in 1977 with the opening ofCBCT-FM.^[20][21]
• CFGP,Grande Prairie - disaffiliated in 1981 after the opening ofCBXP-FM.^[22]
• CFJC,Kamloops - disaffiliated in 1977 with the launch ofCBYK-FM.^[23]
• CFNB,Fredericton - disaffiliated in 1964 with the launch ofCBZ.^[24][25]
• CFOB,Fort Frances - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962 as CKFI. Disaffiliated after the opening ofCBQ in 1973.^[26][27]
• CFOM,Quebec City - as CJQC transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Became CFOM in 1964. Closed in 1975, replaced byCBVE-FM.^[28][29]
• CFOR,Orillia - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliated in 1964.^[30]
• CFOS,Owen Sound - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliated and replaced byCBCB-FM, a rebroadcaster ofCBL, in 1983.^[31][32]
• CFPA,Port Arthur - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliated in 1972 with the launch ofCBQ.^[33][27]
• CFPL,London - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliated, replaced byCBCL-FM in 1978.^[34]
• CFRC,Kingston - owned and operatedQueen's University in partnership with theKingston Whig-Standard newspaper. Affiliation transferred to the more powerfulCKWS when the newspaper opened that station in 1942.^[35]
• CFRN,Edmonton - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliated in 1964 whenCBR launched.^[36]
• CFVR,Abbotsford - established in 1962 as a semi-satellite of CHWK. Disaffiliated in 1981 with the launch of a repeater ofCBU.^[37]
• CHAT,Medicine Hat - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliated in 1994 with the launch ofCBRM-FM.^[38]
• CHSJ,St. John - was an affiliate of theTrans-Canada Network until 1962 when that network was merged with the Dominion Network to become CBC Radio. CHSJ remained a CBC Radio affiliate. The CBC openedCBD in 1964 but CHSJ is listed as remaining a CBC affiliate until at least 1980.^[39]
• CHWK,Chilliwack - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliated in 1981 with the launch of a repeater ofCBU.^[37]
• CJAT,Trail - disaffiliated in 1977 as a result of the launch ofCBTA-FM.^[40]
• CJCA,Edmonton - disaffiliated in 1962 with the dissolution of theTrans-Canada Network. CFRN, the formerDominion Network affiliate, remained as an affiliate of the combined CBC Radio network.^[41]
• CJIC, -Sault Ste. Marie - disaffiliated in 1981 with the launch ofCBSM-FM.^[42] Closed in 1992.
• CJOC,Lethbridge - disaffiliated in 1978 asCBRX-FM had signed on.^[43]
• CJVI,Victoria - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliated in 1991 with the launch ofCBCV-FM.^[44]
• CJWA,Wawa - disaffiliated in 1985 with the opening of CBLJ, a retransmitter ofCBCS-FM.^[45]
• CKCK,Regina - remained aTrans-Canada Network affiliate until 1962 when the network was merged with the Dominion network to become CBC Radio.^[46]
• CKCR,Kitchener - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliation granted in 1966 byBoard of Broadcast Governors over CBC's objections.^[47]
• CKCV,Quebec City - disaffiliated in 1962 with the merger of theTrans-Canada Network and theDominion Network and went from being a bilingual to a French-only station, withCFOM continuing as a CBC Radio affiliate.^[48]
• CKGB,Timmins - disaffiliated in 1984 with the launch ofCBCJ-FM.^[49]
• CKLN,Nelson - remained a CBC affiliate until at least 1968.^[50]
• CKOC,Hamilton - was allowed to disaffiliate in 1962 as Hamilton was in range ofCBL Toronto's signal.^[51]
• CKOR,Penticton - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliated in 1977 as a result of the launch ofCBTP-FM.^[52]
• CKOV,Kelowna - disaffiliated in 1977 with the opening of a CBC repeater.^[53]CBTK-FM was launched in 1987.^[54]
• CKPR,Fort William - disaffiliated in 1962 with the merger of theTrans-Canada Network andDominion Network. Former Dominion affiliate CFPA, in neighbouring Port Arthur, continued as the affiliate of the consolidated CBC Radio network.^[55]
• CKSO,Sudbury - disaffiliated in 1978 withCBCS-FM signing on.^[56]
• CKWS,Kingston - disaffiliated in 1978 with the opening ofCBCK-FM.^[57]
• CKX,Brandon - transferred from the Dominion network in 1962. Disaffiliated in 1978 with the opening ofCBWS-FM.^[58]

For former Dominion Network affiliates, seeDominion Network#Stations

• Ici Radio-Canada Première, the CBC's French language equivalent to CBC Radio One

Wikimedia Commons has media related toCBC Radio One.

• Official website
• CBC Radio on Sirius XM Canada
• CBC Radio Networks chronological history from theCanadian Communications Foundation's website.^[1]

• CBC Player

• CBC Radio One
• Radio stations established in 1936
• SiriusXM Radio channels

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