CFXH-FM

Yellowhead Broadcasting Ltd., owner of CJYR 970 in Edson, opened CIYR-AM at Hinton. It operated on 1230 kHz with a power of 100 watts, and rebroadcast some programming from CJYR.

On January 17, CIYR was given permission to increase night-time power from 500 watts to 1,000 watts.

When CIYR Hinton had its licence renewed on September 24, it was noted as originating 32 hours of programming per week with the remainder of its schedule received from CJYR Edson.

On June 2, CJYR Edson (and rebroadcasters) and its partial rebroadcaster CIYR Hinton had their licences renewed. It was noted that CJYR broadcast 98 hours of local programming per week and 28 hours per week originating from CIYR. CIYR broadcast 28 hours of local programming per week and 98 hours per week is received from CJYR. In addition, both stations broadcast 42 hours per week of the program entitled “Coast-to-Coast” distributed by the network operated by Telemedia Communications Systems. The licensee was encouraged to increase the level of local programming in Hinton to 32 hours, the level noted in CIYR’s 1987 renewal decision.

On September 23, approval for Okanagan Skeena Group Ltd. to purchase CIYR Hinton and CJYR Edson and its transmitters CKYR Jasper, CKYR-1 Grande Cache and CFYR-FM Whitecourt from Yellowhead Broadcasting Ltd. was approved.

On October 7, approval was given for Okanagan Skeena Group Ltd. to effect an intra-corporate reorganization. OKS would transfer the assets of its television and radio stations in British Columbia and Alberta to 3537412 Canada Ltd., one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries.
On October 18, approval was granted for the transfer of ownership and control of Okanagan Skeena Group Ltd. through the transfer of all of its issued and outstanding shares to Telemedia Radio Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telemedia Communications Inc. Initially, Okanagan had applied for the transfer of its shares to TCI Acquisition Corporation. However, on August 31, by letter of authority, the CRTC approved the merger of Okanagan with TCI. The resulting company kept Okanagan’s name. Also, Telemedia advised the Commission that, effective September 1, 3581713 Canada Inc. amalgamated with Telemedia Radio. As a result of these mergers, Telemedia Radio was now the company that acquired the shares of Okanagan.

On April 19, the CRTC approved the sale of a number of radio and television stations in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia by Telemedia Radio Inc. and Telemedia Radio (West) Inc. to Standard Radio Inc. Standard was then allowed to sell certain of these stations to Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. and 3937844 Canada Inc. (subsidary of Newcap Inc.). Newcap acquired 15 Alberta radio stations and related transmitters (Newcap 76.34%, Standard 23.66%). CJYR was one of the 15 stations that would now be owned by Newcap.

On December 19, 3937844 Canada Inc. received approval to convert CIYR Hinton to the FM band. The new station would operate on a frequency of 97.5 MHz with an effective radiated power of 1,200 watts. It would provide the same Adult Contemporary music format as that currently provided by CIYR. Approximately 60% of the programming would be produced locally, while the remainder would be obtained from the station’s sister station CJYR Edson.

On May 12 at 8 p.m., CJYR and its transmitters vanished into history. From that time until 7 a.m. the following day, listeners were treated to continuous TV show themes, then the group relaunched as The Fox Radio Group, with a classic hits format. The call letters were changed to CFXE Edson, CFXG Grande Cache, CFXH Hinton, CFXP Jasper and CFXW Whitecourt.

The FOX Radio Group in Western Alberta was replaced in the summer by The EAGLE. The EAGLE would continue to “Play All Kinds of Stuff” from the 70’s to Today with a very strong commitment to local content and continuing to be the number one news source in Edson, Hinton, Jasper & Grande Cache. The station had studios in Hinton and Edson and employed 20 within those 2 markets. The Edson office would continue to be the hub for all of Newcap Radio’s North West Division stations. The cluster had been re-branding all of its FOX radio stations over the last six months to give each station its own identity and local feel. Newcap had invested millions into the group of stations with renovations, new equipment, back-up generators and transmitters along with FM conversions over the last couple years. Newcap Alberta’s North West Division also operated The RIG in Whitecourt, LAKE-FM in Slave Lake, The RIVER in Athabasca and 1370 CFOK in Westlock. The last FOX station in the group is 1020 CKVH High Prairie which will be rebranded before the end of the year when the station flips to FM.

On November 30, the CRTC renewed the licence of CFXH to August 31, 2017.

On October 23, the CRTC approved an application by Newfoundland Capital Corporation Limited, on behalf of Newcap Inc. and its licensed broadcasting subsidiaries, for authorization to effect a change in the ownership and effective control of various radio and television broadcasting undertakings in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, so that effective control of the undertakings would be exercised by Eric Boyko (Stingray Digital Group Inc.). Stingray took ownership of the stations just a few days later.