| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Vancouver |
| Frequency | 1040kHz |
| Programming | |
| Format | Comedy |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | |
| CFTE,CFBT-FM,CHQM-FM,CIVT-DT | |
| History | |
First air date | January 19, 1963 (1963-01-19) |
Last air date | June 14, 2023 (2023-06-14) |
Former call signs |
|
Former frequencies |
|
Call sign meaning | "Coast" (former branding) |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | CRTC |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 49°05′33″N122°55′57″W / 49.092431°N 122.932388°W /49.092431; -122.932388 (CKST Tower) |
| Repeater | 103.5CHQM-HD2 (Vancouver) |
CKST (1040AM) was aradio station inVancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Owned byBell Media, it last broadcastcomedy-oriented programming, includingstand-up comedy routines.
CKST's studios were located onRobson and Burrard Street inDowntown Vancouver, while its transmitters were located inDelta.
CKST went on the air for the first time on January 19, 1963, inLangley as CJJC, broadcasting on its original frequency of 850 AM with 1000watts of power and offering acountry format. The station's original owner was City & Country Radio Ltd., headed by formerCJAV andCKNW personality Joe Chesney.
CJJC was given approval by theCRTC on December 15, 1970, to change its frequency and transmission power from 850 AM and 1000 watts to 800 AM and 10,000 watts, but the station waited until June 1975 to put the change into effect. In 1977, CJJC (which had been dealing with financial trouble for some time) rehired 23 of 32 staff members who were given 30 days notice on New Year's Eve. Parent company City & Country Radio was authorized to transfer all of the station's shares to a company run by Joe Chesney and Ernie Mykyte; Mykyte would become sole owner of CJJC in 1978 when he bought out Chesney's half-interest in the station.
CJJC and parent City & Country Radio were purchased on June 26, 1985 (following CRTC approval) by an ownership consortium of Saskatoon Telecable Ltd. (72%), Sam Folstad (18%) and L.M. McDonald (10%); later in the year, CJJC changed its call letters to CJUP and dropped its country format forTop 40 withUp Radio, AM 800 as its on-air name. In 1987, CJUP majority shareholder Saskatoon Telecable was purchased by Clint Forster and his family, and the station changed call letters again to the present CKST in 1988. On July 7, 1989, CKST increased its power to 25,000 watts and began broadcasting in stereo.
CKST switched formats tomodern rock and adopted the on-air nameCoast 800 on November 9, 1990.[1] The station underwent major changes during the early part of 1992; on January 30, the CRTC authorized station owner Western World Communications (the former Saskatoon Telecable) to buy Vancouver stationCIMA (which had begun operations on September 12, 1986,[2] as CIOF, then CKXY, then CIMA) from Monarch Broadcasting Ltd., also granting permission to CKST to switch frequencies (from 800 to 1040), increase transmission power (from 25,000 watts to 50,000), relocate its transmitter fromAldergrove toDelta and move its operations from Langley to Vancouver.[3][4] CIMA 1040 signed off for the final time on February 4, and CKST moved into CIMA's facilities and becameCoast 1040 on March 9.
Plans were made to move CKST to theFM band (at 94.5 FM with 38,000 watts of power) in 1993, but were denied by the CRTC.[5] CKST ended its modern rock format at midnight on September 30, relaunching with anadult standards format under the new on-air nameQ104 (which was later dropped in favour of using the CKST calls).[6][7] The station was purchased by Ronald Dixon and Gary Mathiesen in 1994.[8][9]
CKST was in the process of being sold when Dixon was killed in a car accident in Mexico on September 15, 2000. The station was sold to Grand Slam Radio Inc., which assumed ownership on February 1, 2001, switched CKST to an all-sports format and adopted the on-air name "The TEAM 1040" on April 25, and joined CHUM's TEAM all-sports network on May 7.[10][11] The station's founder, Joe Chesney, died in Langley on November 10, 2001, at the age of 82, and CHUM purchased CKST on February 10, 2003, adding to the company's ownership ofCFUN,CHQM-FM andCKVU-DT in Vancouver.
It was a member of CHUM Limited's short-lived "The Team" sports radio network in 2001-2002, and remained loosely affiliated with those stations that retained the sports format. It competed heavily withCHMJ ("MOJO Sports Radio"), an all-sports station in Vancouver owned byCorus Entertainment, until that station dropped its sports format in May 2006.
In 2004, it acquired the radio broadcast rights forBC Lions football games, beating the longtime broadcasterCKNW. The veteran play-by-play man J. Paul McConnell stayed with CKNW, while the colour analystGiulio Caravatta moved to CKST and joined the new play-by-play announcerRick Ball. In 2006, CKST became the flagship station of theVancouver Canucks, replacingCKNW, who was the team's flagship since its first year of play in 1970.
CTVglobemedia purchased CKST and its sister radio stations in Vancouver as part of the acquisition of CHUM Limited on June 22, 2007, following its approval by the CRTC, while the former co-owned CKVU was sold toRogers Communications on October 31, 2007.
On November 5, 2009, its sister station1410 CFUN dropped its talk radio format and became Team 1410, a secondary station carrying additional sports programming as a complement to 1040.[12] It primarily featuredESPN Radio and other syndicated sports talk shows,BC Lions football coverage, replays of Canucks games and coverage of various sports events not previously available on Vancouver radio.
On August 28, 2014, it was announced that both Team stations in Vancouver would be rebranded asTSN Radio stations on September 8, 2014. The move coincided with Don Taylor's full-time return to the station after being released from rivalSportsnet.[13]
In 2017, after having CKST as their radio home for 11 years, the Vancouver Canucks moved to the Rogers-ownedCISL for the 2017-18 season.[14] With the loss of the Canucks and Toronto Blue Jays' rights to CISL, Bell's need for a secondary sports station in the area diminished and CFTE was therefore relaunched asBNN Bloomberg Radio on April 30, 2018. CKST absorbed much of CFTE's remaining live sports content.[15]
On February 9, 2021, at 9:00 a.m., CKST abruptly ceased local programming in the middle of its morning show. At 9:30, the station broadcast an announcement that TSN Radio would be discontinued on the station effective immediately, and that a new format would be launched at 7 a.m. on February 12. The station then began tostunt with music, beginning with "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" byGreen Day. It was one of three Bell Media stations that concurrently dropped TSN Radio as part of ongoing cuts by the company, which also included stations inHamilton andWinnipeg.[16] On February 12, 2021, CKST flipped toBell Media's "Funny" format asFunny 1040, primarily broadcastingstand-up comedy bits.[17][18] The cuts and resulting format change faced harsh criticism from listeners.[17]
On June 14, 2023, as part of a mass corporate restructuring at Bell Media, the company shut down six of their AM radio stations nationwide, including both CKST and CFTE. The station ended regular programming at 8 a.m. that day, replaced with a looped message about the impending shutdown, which is expected to last until the completion of the signoff.[19][20]
CKST had its license revoked on July 14, 2025.[21]
