CKLG-FM

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CKLG-FM
City of license	Vancouver, BC
Broadcast area	Greater Vancouver
Slogan	"Playing what we want"
First air date	1980
Frequency	96.9 MHz
Format	Adult hits
ERP	75,000
Owner	Rogers Communications
Webcast	Listen live
Website	jackfm.com

CKLG-FM (identified on air and in print as 96.9 Jack FM) is a Canadian radio station in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia. It broadcasts at 96.9 MHz on the FM band with an effective radiated power of 75,000 watts from a transmitter on Mount Seymour in the District of North Vancouver. The station also operates a 1,430 watt repeater (CKLG-FM-1, 96.9 MHz) in Whistler, British Columbia. Studios are located in downtown Vancouver, and the station is currently owned by Rogers Communications.

Contents 1 Format 2 History 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Format

CKLG was the first conventional radio station in North America to adopt the Jack FM brand, officially classified as a "variety hits" or "adult hits" format. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s to 1990s hits, as well as some current adult contemporary singles. They use the slogan "Playing what we want", promoting themselves as having a larger and more varied playlist than other commercial radio stations.

[edit] History

In 1980, Selkirk Communications launched CJAZ-FM at 92.1 MHz FM in Vancouver, with an all-jazz music format, transmitting from Salt Spring Island at a power of 100,000 watts. Although overall regional coverage was very good, poor stereo reception in the key Vancouver area led the station to change frequencies and transmitter site to 96.9 MHz and Mt Seymour in 1984, transmitting at 75,000 watts. Low ratings led to a format change in 1985, when the station adopted the "adult contemporary music" format. On-air, the station was branded as "97 Kiss FM", and the call sign was changed to CKKS-FM. Four years later, the station was sold to Maclean-Hunter Ltd, and in 1994 it became a part of Rogers Broadcasting.

In 2002, the station's adult contemporary playlist was dropped in favour of the "Jack FM" format. Given the "attitude" inherent in the Jack brand, it was felt that the call sign "CKKS" would maintain an undesirable association with Kiss-FM's "soft favourites" identity. As it turned out, in 2001 Corus Entertainment had abandoned the old CKLG call sign formerly assigned to one of its Vancouver AM stations (Mojo AM 730). Rogers applied to transfer these letters to Jack FM, and the station's call sign became CKLG-FM. This was in part an attempt to trade on CKLG-AM's history as a popular Vancouver music station in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The move was successful, as Jack-FM's ratings increased dramatically, at one point briefly surpassing traditional market leader CKNW before settling into the upper rankings in the Vancouver market.

In 2005, some members of Vancouver's East Indian community accused the station of racial insensitivity with regards to its advertising strategy.^{[1] [2]} The ads in question featured Vijay Chandra, a Fijian radio engineer for the station with a strong Indian accent, singing to promote Jack-FM's "Larry and Willy show" ^[3]. The complaints stem from a perception that viewers are intended to laugh at Chandra's accent, rather than at the ad copy itself, and that similar lyrics performed without an accent would not be considered humorous.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.voiceonline.com/voice/050402/headline2.php
2. ^ http://www.voiceonline.com/voice/050416/headline7.php
3. ^ http://www.jackfm.com/jacktv/

[edit] External links

• Jack FM website