CKOC Canada's Second Oldest?

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CKOC Canada's Second Oldest?

Postby jon » Sun May 04, 2008 11:45 am

RockRadioScrapbook.ca is reporting that Hamilton's CKOC is Canada's second oldest radio station:
"CKOC just celebrated its 86th birthday! The Hamilton, Ont., station signed on May 1, 1922, and is Canada's second-oldest radio station."

I have not checked any other sources at this point, but I did want to open up the subject for discussion. CFCF Montreal is certainly Canada's oldest radio station. And, of course, there are many definitions of just when a radio station "started" because of that fine line between testing, experimentation, officially on the air, and, of course, when the government issued licenses.

The floor is open for discussion.....
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Postby jon » Sun May 04, 2008 6:30 pm

From the CCF site, I found the following stations broadcasting regularly before May 1, 1922:

- XWA/CFCF Montreal (Marconi) http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/list ... toryID=243

- CHCB Toronto (Marconi) May 31, 1921 "Permission granted to broadcast every evening, except Sunday" but the station appears to have left the air shortly after May 15, 1922 http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/list ... toryID=514

- CFCA Toronto (Toronto Daily Star) April 10, 1922 "The first of The Star’s daily programs were broadcast from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m. on 450 metres. The format included a financial bulletin, sports, a guest speaker or musician, a children’s bedtime story and a political bulletin telegraphed from The Star’s correspondent in Ottawa." The station left the air September 1, 1933, when management was convinced that the federal government was going to outlaw private stations. http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/list ... toryID=518

- 9AH Toronto (Canadian Independent Telephone Company of Toronto (CITCo)) November 1921 "CITCo gave regular wireless concerts over 9AH each Monday and Thursday evening from the station in the new General Electric factory at Wallace Avenue and Ward Street, Toronto." Call letters CKCE first used April 18, 1922. Station left the air in 1924. http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/list ... toryID=515

- CKZC Winnipeg (Lynn V. Salton) February 1922 "Broadcast on Sunday and Tuesday evenings, with a good selection of gramophone records." There is no record of what became of the station. http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/list ... toryID=532

There is no enough information available to determine when CJCG and CJNC Winnipeg actually began regular broadcasting, but both were testing in April 1922, and were heavily motivated by competition with each other, to begin regular broadcasting.
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Postby jon » Sun May 04, 2008 6:45 pm

Here are some more:

- CFYC Vancouver (Vancouver Daily World newspaper) March 23, 1922 "the third Vancouver station , from studios and transmitter in the David Spencer department store. The programming consisted mostly of music from the Spencer music department. The daily schedule was ambitious starting with eight hours..." Left the air in 1928. http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/list ... toryID=892

- CJCE Vancouver (Vancouver Sun) March 15, 1922 "For the first few weeks, both The Sun and The World had eight hours of programming a day". Went off the air in 1924.

- CKCD Vancouver (Vancouver Province) March 13, 1922. It is not clear if they were doing regular programming immediately after the initial signon broadcast, which was done on Long Wave; the station was not actually licensed as CKCD until 1923. Left the air in 1940 after the CBC asked them to give up their license because the Vancouver radio market was too crowded.

But, perhaps the most interesting of all is this from the CFCN Calgary history:

1919
In early May, W. W. Grant, recently returned from the war, in which he was decorated for his radio accomplishments, constructed a small radio station in Halifax, over which voice and music were broadcast (may have been the first scheduled radio programs in the country).

1920
Grant started a station at Morely, Alberta, a few miles west of Calgary. Station CYAA was set up for the federal government, in connection with the Canadian Air Force Forestry Patrol.

1921
Grant constructed a 50 watt station at High River, Alberta, over which Western Canadians heard their first broadcast concerts.

1922
In the spring, Grant moved the station from High River to Calgary and the call sign was changed to CFCN. The government issued a commercial licence to Grant, after The Herald's CFAC received its licence. CFCN had the distinction of being the first station in Canada to receive compensation for commercial broadcasting. CFCN broadcast over a frequency of 1010 kHz with a power of 750 watts and shared time with station CKCX.
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Postby jon » Mon May 05, 2008 8:08 am

The CKOC claim has now been removed from rockradioscrapbook.ca. It came from CKOC's own web site, in the History section: "At the time, Hamiltonians could only receive two radio stations locally... KDKA PITTSBURGH and CFCA TORONTO (that debuted in 1919 but would later cease broadcasting... leaving CKOC as Ontario's oldest radio station and second only to CFCF Montreal in all of Canada.)".

CFUN actually has two claims to a longer history. CJCE signed on March 15, 1922, but Sprott-Shaw closed them down in 1924, and took over CFCQ. But even CFCQ itself gives them a head start on CKOC, opening April 20, 1922. CFCQ changed call letters to CKMO in 1928 and CFUN on February 14, 1955. CFUN was CKVN from 1969 to 1973.

So, to sum up, there is no doubt that CFCF Montreal and CFUN Vancouver have been on the air longer than CKOC. CFCN Calgary began in High River in 1921, and moved to Calgary in May or June 1922, so they also qualify as on the air longer. Unless we can find another Canadian station still on the air that signed on before May 1, 1922, that makes CKOC the 4th oldest station in Canada, and Ontario's oldest. And that is nothing to dismiss. It is nice to see a station celebrating its history.
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Postby cart_machine » Mon May 05, 2008 11:58 pm

jon wrote:CFUN actually has two claims to a longer history. CJCE signed on March 15, 1922, but Sprott-Shaw closed them down in 1924, and took over CFCQ. But even CFCQ itself gives them a head start on CKOC, opening April 20, 1922. CFCQ changed call letters to CKMO in 1928 and CFUN on February 14, 1955.


Just to be technical, as revealed here, CFCQ became CKWO which then was told to change call letters and became CKMO.

cArtie.
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