 | |
| Broadcast area | Greater Vancouver |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 99.3MHz (FM) |
| Branding | CFOX |
| Programming | |
| Format | Modern rock |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| CKNW,CFMI-FM,CHAN-DT,Global News: BC 1 | |
| History | |
First air date | October 15,1964 |
Former call signs | CKLG-FM (1964–1979) |
Call sign meaning | CFOX (branding) |
| Technical information | |
| Class | C |
| ERP | 51,000watts average 100,000 watts peak |
| HAAT | 368.4 meters (1,209 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 49°20′42″N122°58′23″W / 49.345°N 122.973°W /49.345; -122.973 (CFOX-FM Tower) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | cfox.com |
CFOX-FM (identified on air and in print asCFOX) is a Canadian radio station inVancouver,British Columbia. It broadcasts on an assigned frequency of 99.3 MHz on theFM band with aneffective radiated power of 100,000 watts (peak). The transmitter is located onMount Seymour in theDistrict of North Vancouver, with studios located inDowntown Vancouver, in theTD Tower. The station is owned byCorus Entertainment. CFOX has amodern rock format, as it reports toMediabase as a Canadian alternative rock station.
CFOX began broadcasting on October 15, 1964 on 99.3 MHz with 100,000 watts, under the call signCKLG-FM (not to be confused with the new "LG" in VancouverCHLG-FM on 104.3 MHz.). Transmissions originally came from the south slope of Fromme Mountain in North Vancouver.
CKLG initially began with aneasy listening format, but in the fall of 1967, it started experimenting withrock music at night. In October that year, CKLG program director Frank Callaghan hired record store owner Bill Reiter (who later went on to become part of the Dr. Bundolo's Pandemonium Medicine Show comedy troupe[1]) to host thejazz/blues programGroovin' Blue on Saturday evenings. CKLG-FM soon shifted to become Canada's first full-time FMrock station on March 16, 1968, with the expansion ofGroovin' Blue to six nights a week and the addition of tracks from rock,folk and popular albums. In 1970, CKLG-FM added a two-hour dailytalk show hosted by Allen Garr, which ran on the station until 1975. By 1973, CKLG-FM had compiled a library of 3000 albums, and all its programming was aired live except on Sunday mornings, with special programming on the station including the Allen Garr talk show, live concerts and a Saturdaysock-hop program. In 1976, under the guidance of new program director Roy Hennessy (a former morning host on CKLG-AM), the FM station made the gradual transition to aprogressive rock format.
At noon on January 6, 1979, CKLG changed toCFOX-FM, a call sign first used by adefunct AM radio station inMontreal,Quebec in the 1960s and 1970s. The switch was marked byThe Beatles song "The End", followed by "The End" byThe Doors, concluding with three minutes of the sound of a scratching record commonly referred to as "playing the label". The first song on the "new" CFOX wasSteely Dan's "FM (No Static at All)".
In 1984, CFOX moved its transmitter to the Rogers Broadcast multiplex on nearby Mount Seymour in order to reduce multipath reception problems.
On August 20, 1992, theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved the sale of CFOX and CKLG fromMoffat Communications Ltd. toShaw Communications. This was part of Moffat's sale of its radio division. Transfer of CKLG/CFOX to Shaw was completed on September 1, 1992. Shaw's broadcasting division became Corus Entertainment in 1999. WhenWestern International Communications, owner ofclassic rockerCFMI, sold its radio stations to Corus in 2000, CFOX shifted fromalbum oriented rock toalternative rock, aiming atRogers' former alternative rocker104.9 Xfm (CKVX-FM), which signed on December 31, 1999.
In 1998, the station received approval to add a transmitter atWhistler to operate on the frequency 92.3 MHz with the callsignCFOX-FM-1.[2]
Rogers changed CKVX from alternative rock to asmooth jazz/adult contemporary hybrid asCKCL on December 26,2003, making CFOX the lone alternative rocker in Vancouver. CFOX soon returned to anactive rock format, mixing in classichard rock andheavy metal music, but continues to leanalternative rock. Most alternative songs were toned down whenCKPK-FM signed on in 2008. By2011, the station returned to alternative.On July 14, 2011, the CRTC approved Corus's application to increase the average effective radiated power (ERP) from 35,200 to 51,000 watts (maximum ERP from 75,000 to 100,000 watts).[3]
Every year since 1979, there has been a competition through voting, live events and a concert with the finalists at theCommodore Ballroom and radio air play on CFOX of unsigned local bands that have entered to compete for that year. It is narrowed down to a few winners and one Platinum winner. Prizes include cars, support, agency, management, recording guidance and other items which can be instrumental to a band's career like the ones below.[4]
Winners includeNickelback,Bif Naked,Matthew Good Band,Gob, Murray Atkinson (2007),Default,Faber Drive (2005),Theory Of A Deadman, By a Thread (2003),State Of Shock (2004), Incura (2008), Goodbye Beatdown (2009), Stars of Boulevard (2010), Head Of The Herd (2011), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (2011), FIELDS OF GREEN (2012).[5]
