CHKG-FM, Multicultural – Fairchild Radio, Vancouver
Fairchild Broadcasting Ltd.
| Station | Year | Freq. | Power | Owner/Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHKG-FM | 2007 | 99.3 | 100,000 | Fairchild Broadcasting Ltd. |
| CHKG-FM | 1997 | 99.3 | 100,000 | Fairchild Radio Group Ltd. |
1996
On July 29, the CRTC awarded a licence to Thomas Fung and Roger Charest, representing a company to be incorporated (Radio One Vancouver Corp.), for a Specialty FM (ethnic) station. It would broadcast on a frequency of 96.1 MHz, and have an effective radiated power of 40,000 watts. CJVB vice-president Ed Ylanen said the new station would broadcast to 20 ethnic groups in 15 languages, with Chinese programming from 3:00 p.m. to midnight. An international mix would air between 6:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Competing applications (for English-language stations) by Telemedia and CKST-AM were denied.
The new company was to be owned 50% by Y.B.C. Holdings Limited. Y.B.C. also held indirect ownership of 100% of Great Pacific Broadcasting Ltd. (CJVB-AM). The remaining 50% of the company would be owned by O.K. Radio Group Ltd. OKR was the licensee of several radio stations in Alberta and British Columbia. OKR was ultimately owned and effectively controlled by Roger Charest of Edmonton.
1997
On September 6, CHKG FM 96.1 signed on the air. It was the first multilingual FM station in Western Canada. Bob Calder was technical director. CHKG co-sited its transmitter with the CBC on Mt. Seymour.
On November 6, Fairchild Radio (Vancouver FM) Ltd. was given approval to increase CHKG’s effective radiated power from 40,000 to 46,000 watts.
2007
On May 2 the CRTC approved application for transfer of the effective control of Fairchild Radio (Vancouver-FM) Ltd. to Fairchild Broadcasting Ltd.
2008
On November 14, 2008 the CRTC denied an application by Fairchild Radio to allow CHKG-FM to program in Mandarin between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday to Friday. Fairchild had made that Chinese-language programming restriction commitment during the original licensing process in 1996. The Commission noted that CHKG-FM’s program schedule dated 25 July 2008 indicated that eight cultural groups were served weekdays between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and under the proposal, all of those groups would be displaced from the morning drive period and scheduled in less desirable late afternoon, evening or weekend timeslots. The Commission’s denial came as part of the CHKG-FM broadcasting licence renewal from January 1, 2009 to August 31, 2015.
2009-10
George Lee was promoted to President of Fairchild Radio from his Vice President/General Manager job at Fairchild Vancouver. Lee now had the larger responsibility of overseeing the stations in Toronto and Calgary as well.
The story continues elsewhere…
Effective September 1st 2019, we will only be adding new material to these station histories in exceptional circumstances. Our intent to chronicle the early days of these radio and television stations has been achieved, and many new sources and technologies, from the CRTC website to Wikipedia, and others, are now regularly providing new information in these areas.