The station operated in downtown Winnipeg Lindsay building where they baroadcast at 1340 on the dial from 1946 to 1957. They de-camped to 930 Portage Avenue in 1962 into the basement of what once was a Sun Life insurance office built in 1956. The 10th floor of the Lindsay was pricey and also too small for the growing station.
By 1957 the station was operating at 680 on the dial and Winnipeg was booming. Polo Park was built in 1959 and the second span of the St. James Bridge was complete in 1962. The feeling must have been that all of Portage Avenue was becoming a High Street for the city. The location at 930 Portage in a building still very new must have seemed like a no-brainer even if Postal Station D got the main floor and the windows.
The station grew from its crowded basement surroundings and moved upstairs when Postal Station D moved. From 1948, CJOB always had its sister station with it. It was western Canada's first private FM station. It initially just simulcast the AM signal but eventually came to have its own identity and programming. In 1960 it changed from 103.1 to 97.5 on the dial and took on the Town and Country format. In 1965, the sister station became Canada's first true country station. However, by the late 1970s the format became rock and has been soft to hard to classic as the times dictated.
Peggy FM joined the group of two as a jazz refugee from Canwest in 2007. It went through various incarnations from smooth jazz to Christmas music but currently is a soft rock station. If there is one true-ism it is that radio is a dog eat dog world. Big money can be made and lost. And private radio has felt the influence of satellite, Internet and loss of certain types of advertising as much as any in the entertainment business.
In 2011, all three Corus stations moved to the site of the former CKY TV and radio building. The move was instigated by the need for space and to bring the whole operation into the digital world. At 17,000 square feet and a full floor it was larger than their old site at 930 Portage Avenue
Why the move to 201 Portage? It is likely the space open that can been shared with sister TV broadcaster CKND Global Winnipeg. As part of the Corus Network, the 30th floor of the former TD/Canwest building might bring about a new synergy between radio and TV. Once part of the Asper group of companies, the top floors had Canwest executive offices, newspaper offices and CKND Global Winnipeg.
In 2020, can there by synergy between TV and radio companies? They are different animals and attempts have been made with varying degrees of success. A clever company might be able to utilize the talent they have for commercial success. A dumb company might attempt to gouge and forget that the whole thing falls apart if you don't work on content.
In the end it is very interesting that not since near the end of World War II, media is beginning a slow but steady return to downtown Winnipeg.
1 comment:
When I was a kid, my dad used to take me to Ken’s barber shop at 976 St. Mary’s Road. The radio in Ken’s was always locked on the “Country-wide Sound” of 97.5 CJOB-FM. Back then, l was more of a CKRC fan, but the country music on ‘OB-FM” seemed to fit well with the general atmosphere of the place.
Post a Comment