CFLT-FM
 | |
| Broadcast area | Halifax Regional Municipality |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 92.9MHz |
| Branding | Jack92.9 |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | Adult hits |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| CJNI-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | December 5,1962(AM) August 7,2009(FM) |
Former call signs | CFDR (1962–2009) |
Former frequencies | 790kHz(AM) (1962–1978) 680 kHz (1978–1991) 780 kHz (1991–2009) |
Call signmeaning | "Lite" (former branding) |
| Technical information | |
| Class | C1 |
| ERP | 63,000watts[1] |
| HAAT | 196 meters (643 ft) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | jack929.com |
CFLT-FM(92.9MHz) is acommercialradio stationlicensedtoDartmouth, Nova Scotia,Canadaand serving theHalifax Regional Municipality.The station is owned byRogers Radio,a division ofRogers Sports & Media,and broadcasts anadult hitsformat,using thesyndicatedmusic service andtrademarkknown asJack92.9.
Theradio studiosare on Young Street in Halifax, while itstransmitteris on Washmill Lake Drive inClayton Park.
The station is the successor toNewcap-ownedAMstationCFDR(780kHz), whichsigned offthe air on July 27, 2009, eleven days before the FM station's official launch.
History
[edit]CFDR
[edit]CFDR had made its home at various locations on the dial, first at 790 kHz, moving to 680 kHz in 1978, then to 780 kHz in 1991.[2]
Originally owned and operated by Patterson Broadcasters Ltd. (consisting of PresidentC.A. (Arnie) Patterson,Senior Vice-president/National Sales Director W.L. (Bill) Patterson and Vice-president/Chief Engineer Jack Hutchison), CFDR (the "DR" standing for "Dartmouth Radio" ), also known as "CF Big 'D' R", first hit the AM dial in 1962. The studios were originally located at 66 Ochterloney St. in Dartmouth, and moved to 12 Queen St. in 1971, until the decision was made in 1981 to occupy half of the 18th floor and the entire penthouse (19th floor) of theQueen Squarebuilding (which commanded an excellent view of Halifax Harbour). CFDR andCFRQmoved their broadcasting facilities to theCIEZbuilding inBedfordin 1995.
The station's 790 kHz transmitter was on the Montague Mines Road in the suburbs of Dartmouth before relocating to Kearney Lake Road in Bedford with the change to 680 kHz. When the frequency changed to 780 kHz, the transmitter was moved to St. Margaret's Bay Road in theHRMcommunity ofLakeside.
Popular disc jockeys during CFDR's flagship easy listening era included avuncular morning man Gerry Parsons (with his signature "March Around the Breakfast Table" ), smooth-voiced Tony Beech (of Sunday night's "Candlelight and Wine" renown), Jack Hutchison's "Tartan Hour" on Saturday mornings, Program Director Gail Rice (mid-days), Clary Stubbert (afternoon drive), midnights with Dave Tramley and Paul Meagher, traffic reporter. Other popular former DJs and announcers include Colleen Jones, "Graveyard Shifter" Ron Roberts, Andrew Boyle, Cam Allen, Dale Schwartz, John Cunningham and John Kyte.
CFDR was aneasy listeningstation until 1987, when it changed its format toTop 40/CHR;around the same time, it also began broadcasting inMotorolaC-QUAMAM stereo.The format change toTop 40was protested vehemently by fans of theEasy Listeningformat in the Halifax area. It generated many complaints to theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission(CRTC), and to the station itself, but the format change stood until it switched to thecountryformat in December 1993. Ultimately, the station became known asClassic Country780 KIXX,differentiating itself from Halifax's more popular contemporary country stationCHFX-FM;in addition, CFDR became one of a handful of radio stations in Canada to air the format.
Conversion to FM and sale
[edit]AfterCHNSmoved to anFMfrequency in July 2006, only two Halifax stations, CFDR andCJCH,remained on the AM dial in a market with over a dozen FM stations. In October 2006, Newcap applied to the CRTC to move CFDR to the FM band at 88.9MHz.It was to drop itscountryformat in favour ofalternative rock,since CHFX would continue to air a country format. The station was to be brandedLIVE 88.9,patterned after Newcap's Ottawa stationCILV-FM.The move was approved in 2007, on condition that Newcap sell its 50% interest inCKUL-FM.With Newcap also owningCFRQ,as well as 50% of CKUL, converting CFDR to FM would have put Newcap in violation of CRTC regulations on radio station ownership, which limits a single company to two AM and two FM stations per market.
AfterCTVglobemediaannounced plans to convert CJCH to FM as well, it was required to divest its own 50% share of CKUL to proceed with the conversion (as it also ownedCIOO-FM). Newcap then elected in early 2008 to acquire full control of CKUL,[3]negating its own conversion plans in the process.
However, this left CFDR as the last remaining AM station in the market, with Newcap unable to move the station to FM. Thus, later in the year, the company announced it would trade CFDR toRogers Radioin exchange for Rogers'SudburystationCIGM,with both stations applying to move to FM following the trade. CIGM's situation paralleled that of CFDR: it was the last AM station remaining in the Sudbury market, where Rogers already owned two FM stations, and hence it would not be permitted to convert to FM under Rogers ownership. Rogers later announced it would move CFDR to 92.9 MHz rather than the previously approved 88.9. The applications were approved by the CRTC on November 24, 2008.[4]
CFDR went off the air permanently on July 27, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. ADT, coinciding with the final consummation of the Rogers-Newcap swap. The last two songs played were "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes"byGeorge Jonesand "Happy Trails"byDale EvansandRoy Rogers.A farewell message was posted by morning hosts Frank Lowe and Stephanie Woodin on Kixx's former (now defunct) website 780kixx.ca.
CFDR was the last remaining AM station in the Halifax area prior to the shutdown. CFDR was also the most powerful AM station in the province during the day at 50,000 watts.[5]At night, power was reduced to 15,000 watts.[6]Competing AM stations CJCH and CHNS left the air in 2008 and 2006, respectively.
Lite 92.9
[edit]
Rogers initially indicated that it would follow through with Newcap's plan to air alternative rock on the relaunched station.[7]However, they ended up adopting anadult contemporaryformat, known asLite 92.9,patterned after Rogers-ownedCHFM-FMinCalgary.
92.9 Jack FM
[edit]
On February 28, 2014, at 8 AM, CFLT-FM changed their format toadult hits,branded as92.9Jack FM.[8]The last song on "Lite" was "Forget You"byCee-Lo Green,while the first song on "Jack" was "We Will Rock You"byQueen.[9]With the change, CFLT brought back "Griff & Caroline In The Morning", previously heard onCKUL-FMbefore they dropped the show upon changing formats in August 2013.
References
[edit]- ^"CFLT-FM | History of Canadian Broadcasting".
- ^Decision CRTC 89-866
- ^Newcap press release,March 10, 2008
- ^Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-326,November 24, 2008
- ^http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/index3.html?url=http%3A//www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/radio/histories.php%3Fid%3D661%26historyID%3D476Archived2016-12-20 at theWayback Machine.
- ^"ARCHIVED - Licence amendment - NewCap Broadcasting Limited".5 December 1989.
- ^Rogers application to acquire CFDR, available via theCRTC website
- ^Jack to Launch in Halifax
- ^"CFLT-FM LITE 92.9 becomes 92.9 JACK FM".YouTube.
External links
[edit]- Jack 92.9
- CFLT-FM historyat theCanadian Communications Foundation
- CFLT-FMin the REC Canadian station database