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CHKT

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Coordinates:43°37′03″N79°22′46″W/ 43.61750°N 79.37944°W/43.61750; -79.37944
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CHKT
Broadcast areaGreater Toronto Area
Frequency1430kHz(AM)
BrandingFairchild Radio
Programming
FormatChinese–Multilingual
Ownership
Owner
Fairchild Television
History
First air date
May 5, 1925;99 years ago(1925-05-05)
Former call signs
  • CKCL (1925–1945)
  • CKEY (1945–1991)
  • CKYC (1991–1996)
Former frequencies
  • 840 kHz (1925–1931)
  • 580 kHz (1931–1964)
  • 590 kHz (1964–1995)
Call signmeaning
CanadaHong KongToronto
Technical information
Licensing authority
CRTC
ClassB (regional)
Power50,000watts
Links
Websitewww.fairchildradio.com

CHKT(1430kHz) is acommercialAMradio stationinToronto, Ontario,Canada.The station, owned by theFairchild Groupservice, airs mainlyCantoneseandMandarin Chineseprograms as well as weekend shows in the following languages:Cambodian,Filipino,German,Hindi,Hungarian,Italian,Korean,Lao,Macedonian,Polish,Punjabi,Russian,ThaiandVietnamese.CHKT'sstudiosat 151 Esna Park Drive, Unit 26 inMarkham.

CHKT is powered at 50,000watts,the maximum for Canadian AM stations. It uses adirectional antennawith a six-tower array,to protect other stations onAM 1430.Thetransmitteris on one of theToronto Islands.[1]

Prior to being acquired by Fairchild and becoming a multilingual outlet, the station was best known asCKEYfrom 1945 to 1991.

History

[edit]
Announcer Mickey Lester at CKEY in 1955

CKCL and CKEY

[edit]

The forerunner of CKEY firstsigned onthe air on May 5, 1925. Itscall signwasCKCL,broadcasting at 840kilocycles,and owned by the Dominion Battery Company. As with many radio stations in the early years of radio broadcasting, the station changed frequencies a number of times in its first years of operation. It settled on 580kHzfrequency in 1931.

In 1945, the station was sold toJack Kent Cooke'sToronto Broadcasting Co.,and adopted the call signCKEY.It was acquired in 1961 by Shoreacres Broadcasting, a consortium that includedWestinghouseandThe Globe and Mail. CKEY changed its frequency to 590 in 1964 asCKWWsigned on at 580 that year inWindsorand CKAR, (known today asCFBK-FM), inHuntsvillehad to change its frequency from 590 to 630 kHz.

Top 40

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In the late 1950s and early 1960s, CKEY was the leadingTop 40competitor to 1050CHUM.One of itsDJswas laterCFNYstapleDavid Marsden,known as Dave Mickie at CKEY (and later at CHUM as well). Another notable broadcaster wasBryan Fustukian,broadcasting asVik Armen.The station dropped its Top 40 format formiddle of the roadmusic in 1965, now going up againstCFRB,and was successful in that arena for a time. Shoreacres, in turn, was acquired byMaclean-Hunterin 1966.

A transmitter for CKEY was once located on Midland Avenue and Eglinton Avenue East inScarborough.This site was sold to theScarborough Board of Educationin 1964 to buildTabor Park Vocational Schoolfor the area's redevelopment.[2]From 1972 until the 1990s, CKEY's and then CKYC's offices and studios were located in theToronto Starbuilding atOne Yonge Street.

MOR and Oldies

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From 1970 to 1984, CKEY featuredCharles TempletonandPierre Bertonon the commentary showDialoguewith Templeton also reading the morning news for several years. The station also hadStephen Lewisas a commentator in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Final CKEY logo
CKEY Key 590 logo

On January 1, 1984, CKEY flipped from its long runningMORformat tosoft rock/oldiesas "Solid Gold CKEY."[3][4]

On April 25, 1988, theCRTCdenied Key Radio Limited and Canada All-News Radio Ltd. permission for CKEY andall-news radiostationCKO(99.1 FM) to swap frequencies and bands, a proposal both owners thought would have benefitted their stations as music listeners were increasingly listening to FM while AM was thought better suited for talk and information and was more accessible to commuters as many cars were only equipped with AM receivers. While the CRTC agreed both stations would benefit from trading frequencies, the application was denied due to CKO failing to meet broadcast targets and CKEY asking to reduce itsCanadian contentrequirements.[5][6]

On June 20, 1988, the station becameKey 590,moving from its Soft AC and Oldies mix to all-Oldies, once again competing directly with a re-formatted CHUM.

At 7 p.m. on March 14, 1991, CKEY signed off and beganstuntingwith the sound of a heartbeat. The following morning at 9, the station adopted acountryformat, changing its call sign toCKYC.[7][8][9][10]TheCKEYcall sign was subsequently picked up by a station inFort Erie.

Frequency swap

[edit]

AfterRogers Communicationsacquired Maclean-Hunter in 1994, CKYC was sold toTelemedia.Telemedia subsequently swapped CKYC's frequency with that of its sports outletCJCL.On February 6, 1995, at 10 a.m., CKYC ceased airingcountry music,and after stunting with a ticking clock for two hours, CJCL and CKYC swapped frequencies.[11][12]

CKYC subsequently aired onlysyndicatedprogramming until it went off the air permanently in late 1996.[13]

CHKT signs on

[edit]

CHKT was launched as an ethnic, multilingual radio station byFairchild Groupin 1997, over the 1430 AM frequency that had been occupied by CKYC immediately prior to its signing off for the last time.[14][15]TheCKYCcall sign was subsequently picked up by a station inOwen Soundin 2001.

Original Fairchild Radio logo, used until 2012.

In October 2019, Fairchild Radio gained public attention when it fired a Toronto radio talk-show host allegedly because of his questions during an interview perceived as critical of the Chinese government's stance on the2019–20 Hong Kong protests.[16]

References

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  1. ^FCCdata.org/CHKT
  2. ^"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on 2019-05-23.Retrieved2020-04-22.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^Henry Mietkiewicz, "CHUM's Dick Smyth gives weather in Fahrenheit,"The Toronto Star,January 11, 1984.
  4. ^Henry Mietkiewicz, "Back to land magazine ploughs into radio,"The Toronto Star,February 1, 1984.
  5. ^Decision CRTC 88-294
  6. ^Greg Quill, "CKEY and CKO denied swap,"The Toronto Star,April 26, 1988.
  7. ^Henry Mietkiewicz, "CKEY dumps memories with 'baggage',"The Toronto Star,March 30, 1991.
  8. ^Greg Quill, "Goodbye KEY-590 just like that,"The Toronto Star,March 15, 1991.
  9. ^Greg Quill, "Bye, CKEY, howdy CKYC, y'all,"The Toronto Star,March 16, 1991.
  10. ^"Sound bite".rockradioscrapbook.ca.Archivedfrom the original on 2016-12-20.Retrieved2019-10-09.
  11. ^"Sound bite".rockradioscrapbook.ca.Archivedfrom the original on 2016-11-15.Retrieved2019-10-09.
  12. ^Peter Goddard, "Foster, Jack wouldn't be Fans of this drama on the AM dial,"The Toronto Star,February 4, 1995.
  13. ^John McHutchion, "Telemedia country station sold to Fairchild,"The Toronto Star,September 23, 1995.
  14. ^Government of Canada, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) (October 9, 1996)."ARCHIVED - Decision CRTC 96-659".crtc.gc.ca.Archivedfrom the original on October 9, 2019.RetrievedOctober 9,2019.
  15. ^Peter Goddard, "Chinese shows aim at 'underserved' market,"The Toronto Star,September 30, 1995.
  16. ^Blackwell, Tom (October 8, 2019)."Host on Chinese-language station in Toronto says he was fired for criticizing Beijing".National Post.RetrievedOctober 8,2019.
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43°37′03″N79°22′46″W/ 43.61750°N 79.37944°W/43.61750; -79.37944

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