In 1933, Ottawa's
CNRO became CRCO, to reflect the recent (March 3) purchase of the CNR stations by the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC), a short-lived combination of what would eventually become the CRTC and the CBC. The studios remained in the CNR-owned Chateau Laurier Hotel. Today, the station is
CBO-FM, carrying CBC Radio One programming, having switched from 920 KHz AM to 91.5 MHz FM in 1991, with a 84,000 watt transmitter in Camp Fortune, Quebec. The station originally signed on February 27, 1924, as CKCH-690 with 500 watts -- the CNR's first radio station. The call letter change to CNRO came later that same year after negotiation with Morocco to relinquish all call letters beginning with "CNR".
The second CNR station,
CNRA in Moncton (New Brunswick), signed on late in 1924 with 500 watts, but the CNR shut it down in 1931 for economic reasons. And the CRBC, rather than reopening it when they took over in 1933, built new, more powerful facilities in Sackville to better serve the Maritimes (not including Newfoundland, which was not part of Canada until 1949).
Also in 1933, the third of the CNR's stations, Vancouver's
CNRV, became CRCV, the predecessor of today's
CBU-690. CNRV first signed on in 1925 on 1100 KHz with 500 watts.
