CKDV-FM

In November the federal Department of Transport granted a license to operate a radio station to CKPG Radio Limited. The principals were brothers Cecil and Frank (Tiny) Elphicke.

Construction of the new Prince George station could go ahead as soon as the government freeze on transmitters and equipment is lifted. 

In May land was purchased for the transmitter site near the Hudson Bay Slough in Prince George.

In August construction of the transmitter began along with leasing of office space. Radio Station CKPG Limited was incorporated and capitalized at $25,000 (2500 shares at 10.00 per share). 1490 shares were issued.

In October Cecil Elphicke moved to Prince George to begin building and equipping office space and studios on the upper floor of the historic Ritts-Kifer Hall on George Street.

CKPG signed on the air on at 5:00 p.m. on February 8. It broadcast on a frequency of 1230 kHz and had a power of 250 watts. Studios were in Ritz-Kiefer Hall on George Street and the transmitter was at South Fort George. The PG in the call letters represented Prince George. CKPG was owned by Radio Station CKPG Ltd. The original staff of three consisted of Cecil Elphicke (Managing Director), Ray Tate (Engineer) and Jack Carbutt (announcer). Mayor Jack Nicholson said at the time, “CKPG will make us better and closer neighbours”.

Keith DeWitt was an announcer at CKPG. Jack Boates joined CKPG as commercial manager. He had been traffic manager at CKOV in Kelowna.

CKPG became a CBC Trans-Canada supplementary station on October 1. It had been operating as an independent station since it signed on the air. 

CKPG moved to 550 kHz with power remaining at 250 watts.  However, the listening range increased because of the lower frequency, a factor for stations operating in the mountainous British Columbia interior. 

Ralph Spencer was commercial manager.

Cliff Steele was an announcer at CKPG.

CKPG moved to a new building at 1220 – 6th Avenue, designed by Vancouver architect William Henry Birmingham.

Bob Harkins began as a copy writer at the station. 

Chuck Cawdell was a sportscaster.

Harkins was appointed general manager and president of the station at age 26.  He went on to become a City Alderman in 1986, spent more than 40 years of his life making the general public aware of the unique local history of Prince George and was presented with the Broadcaster of the Year Award from the B.C. Association of Broadcasters. 

By this time, the largest shareholder of Radio Station CKPG Ltd. was F. H. Elphicke (43.6%).

On March 1 Cecil Elphicke died and on May 26 Frank Elphicke died. 

The Board of Broadcast Governors granted CKPG a television licence for Prince George. The TV station would operate under CKPG Television Ltd. and broadcast over channel 3. The BBG went with CKPG because it felt, “in the relatively small market in Prince George, better service could be provided through the economies effected by the combined radio and television services proposed by CKPG Television Ltd.”

Ad slogan: CKPG – serving the growing market.

On August 20 CKPG-TV began broadcasting un Chanek 2, 

CKPG was given approval to increase power to 10,000 watts from a new transmitter site.

On November 2 the station began transmitting with 10,000 watts. 

Slogan: Serving North Central B.C.

R.T. (Bob) Harkins was president and manager.

In April Q Broadcasting Ltd. (Vancouver Broadcasting Associates Ltd.) agreed to purchase Radio Station CKPG Ltd. W. E. Bellman and J. E. Stark of Q Broadcasting would each also hold one common qualifying share. The CRTC approved the sale on November 19.

Gord Leighton became General Manager of CKPG Radio and TV.

Original employee Jack Carbutt retired in March.

On March 1 “Country 101” CIOI-FM began broadcasting at 101.3 MHz

On October 11, the sale of Radio Station CKPG Limited from Q Broadcasting Ltd. (99.99%) and J.E. Stark in trust for Q Broadcasting Ltd. (0.1%) to Monarch Broadcasting Ltd. was approved by the CRTC.

Gil Botelho was a creative writer at CKPG/Country 101-FM. 

Sister station CIOI-FM changed call letters to CKKN-FM. 

Ken Kilculleo left CKPG/CKNN as program director to become PD at CJOB Winnipeg.

Daryl Holien left CKPG/Country 101-FM as program director. Mike Woodworth was news director at CKPG-AM-TV.

Bob Harkins died on November 28 at the age of 69.  

On December 21 sale of CKPG Radio and TV to Jim Pattison Industries was approved by the CRTC. 

In July Ken Kilcullen became general manager of CKPG Radio & TV.

On January 21 the CRTC gave approval to convert CKPG to the FM band, operating on 99.3 MHz with an effective radiated power of 9,300 watts.  

At noon on May 30 CKPG-AM with a news-talk format became CKDV-FM “The Drive” with a classic rock format. 

On October 6, the CRTC revoked the licence of CKMK a the request of Radio Station CKPG Limited. Radio CKPG requested the revocation of the licence upon the approval of its application to amend the broadcasting licence for CKDV-FM Prince George to add a transmitter at MacKenzie. That application was approved on this date. (CKMK had ceased to originate programming so it would be used to retransmit the programming of CKDV-FM on a full-time basis.)

Over a period of months, starting in September, the stations were moved to a new broadcast centre at 1810 3rd Avenue in Prince George. 

On December 23, the CRTC approved the application by Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. (the general partner) and Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. (the limited partner) carrying on business as Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Limited Partnership, owned by James A. Pattison (the Pattison Group), for the authority to acquire the assets of all of the radio television undertakings (and their respective transmitters) currently licensed to corporate entities owned by James A. Pattison. This transaction was part of a corporate reorganization that would not affect the ultimate control of the broadcasting undertakings. The ultimate control would continue to be exercised by James A. Pattison, the sole shareholder of Jim Pattison Ltd.

Prince George’s first radio station marked its 60th birthday. The station was now known as Prince George’s Classic Rock, 99.3 The Drive. Ken Kilcullen was general manager and Ron Polillo was program director. 

On June 30, the CRTC renewed the broadcasting licence for the English-language commercial radio station CKDV-FM Prince George and its transmitter CKMK Mackenzie from 1 July 2010 to 31 August 2013. This short-term licence renewal will enable the Commission to review the licensee’s compliance with its conditions of licence at an earlier date. In Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2009-786, the Commission noted that the licensee may have failed to comply with its condition of licence relating to contributions to Canadian talent development for the 2005 broadcast year.

Shaun Peterson was the new Chief Engineer at CKPG-TV/CKKN-FM/CKDV-FM. His background was IT and he was new to broadcasting.

At 6:00 a.m. on March 7, host Doug Jones launched CKDV-FM as 99.3 The Drive, Classic Hits! This was a new sound made for adults who were looking for the familiarity of the Greatest Hits of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. The primary target for the station: adults 35-54 years age, but appealing to all. General Manager Ken Kilcullen said, “The station will be targeted more toward males, but will avoid the rough selections that irritate females and that are currently being played on the other rock station.” 

Prince George radio listeners noticed a new sound on the mid-day show at 101.3 The River. Ron Pollilo, after 13 yrs on the River moved to 99.3 The Drive. Ron had been with The River since 1999. With the move, The River welcomed it’s first ever new mid-day host, Jennifer Lee. Ken Kilcullen was general manager. 

CKPG-TV Senior Account Manager Kelli Moorhead, who’d been with the Jim Pattison operation for eight and a-half years, was promoted to General Sales Manager, responsible for CKPG-TV, 99.3 The Drive and 101.3 The River.

It was announced that Ken Kilcullen, with the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group stations in Prince George since Sept/98, and GM/GSM for the last 11 years, would become the new GM for the Bell Media B.C. Interior stations as of January 6, 2014. Based in Kelowna, he would also have day-to-day responsibility for the three stations there, succeeding Don Shafer.