CKCE-AM

CKCE-AM, Toronto

Independent Telephone Co. (Left the Air)

StationYearFreq.PowerOwner/Info
CKCE-AM19244502000Independent Telephone Co. (Left the Air)
CKCE-AM19224502000Independent Telephone Co.

1920

August – Canadian Independent Telephone Company of Toronto (CITCO) received licence for experimental call 9AH to experiment with wireless telephony.

1921

April 18 – First traceable broadcast, the Ontario wet/dry referendum, in co-operation with Toronto Globe and Mail. The wavelength was 450 metres and the estimated radius of reception was 100 miles.

November – 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.

1922

March 28 – First concert for The Toronto Daily Star on station 9AH, under the direction of Dr. Charles A. Culver, Chief High Frequency Engineer for CITCo, who was also the announcer. The station continued running test broadcasts where listeners reported hearing Dr. Culver whispering into the “receiver” and then the ticking of his “Old Ingersoll” watch.

April 18 – Announcer Gordon Hogarth, of The Star, announced the new CITCo
licenced call sign when he said, “This is station CKCE testing”.

June 14 – CKCE completed a series of nineteen concerts for The Toronto Daily Star.

June 22 – The Toronto Star Station, CFCA, designed and built by Dr. Culver and CITCo., went on the air from The Star Building. CITCo also designed and equipped the white (Model T ?) truck that The Star used to demonstrate its broadcasts to the public

August-September – CKCE broadcast to the Canadian National Exhibition (in co-operation with The Toronto Star station, CFCA) as a special radio demonstration, a continuous flow of music and speech for eight hours each day.

CITCo supplied radio stations across Canada with its 2,000 watt transmitters – Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver.

1924

CKCE was closed down.

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.

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