CFWH-AM

CFWH-AM, Radio One, Whitehorse

Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

StationYearFreq.PowerOwner/Info
CFWH-AM19855705,000Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
CFWH-AM19515701,000Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

1942

CFWH was set up by the U.S. Army during construction of the Alaska Highway. Regular CBC programs would be flown in to both communities.

The CBC took over operation of CFWH on November 10.

1946

CFWH was transferred by the U.S. Army to Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force units, and volunteers from the community. Public service broadcasts such as church services would air over the station. CFWH was powered with 30 watts.

1958

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation took control of CFWH Whitehorse and CFYT Dawson City. Roderick Falconer would manage CFWH, on loan from the CBC’s CFPR Prince Rupert. CBC planned to schedule more daily news, and some live programming would be piped in over CN Telegraph lines…now suited for voice only, but expected to be improved to handle music as well. For now, tapes of regular CBC programs would be flown in to both communities. The CBC took over operation of CFWH on November 10.

The CBC was now officially in the North with the takeover of CFWH and CFYT. Two 40 watt relay transmitters were to be installed at Watson Lake in the southern Yukon and Fort Nelson in northern B.C. CBC was also taking over stations at Fort Smith on the N.W.T. – Alberta border; Hay River on the south shore of Great Slave Lake; Inuvik, the new Aklavik town site on the Mackenzie River Delta; and Goose Bay, Labrador. Within a year, the CBC hoped to link Fort Nelson, Watson Lake, Whitehorse and possibly Dawson City to the Trans-Canada network. The stations would get about 50 hours a week of program tapes delivered by plane for rebroadcast about a week after the original airing. Special daily newscasts would be sent by wireless to stations not connected by landline to the network. CBC was also planning a shortwave transmitter at Vancouver.

1959

CBDB Watson Lake signed on the air on October 11.

1960

On December 25, CBDD Elsa began broadcasting.

Don Stone was manager of CFWH.

1961

CBDC Mayo was opened on March 24.

1963

On December 18, CBDM Beaver Creek was opened.

1964

CBDK Teslin began broadcasting on March 26.

1966

By this time CFWH was operating with 1,000 watts of power on a frequency of 570 kHz.

1967

CBDX Swift River opened on September 1.

1975

On April 16, CBQJ Ross River was opened.

1979

A rebroadcast transmitter was approved for Tungsten, NWT, operating with 18.45 watts on 107.1 MHz.

1983

CFWH was authorized to add a rebroadcaster at Pelly Crossing, operating with 24 watts on 105.9 MHz. 

1985


On July 16, CFWH was given approval to increase power from 1,000 to 5,000 watts. 

1986

On February 10, the CRTC approved the application for an FM station at Atlin, B.C. on 90.1 MHz with an effective radiated power of 15 watts, to rebroadcast the programs of CFWH Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. This community has been without radio service since the Atlin Broadcasting Society closed down its FM radio facilities.

1987

CBUA-FM Atlin, B.C. was opened on February 20.

On 10 August, CFWH received approval for a transmitter at Faro on the frequency 105.1 MHz, with an effective radiated power of 87 watts. The CBC would cease the operation of CBQK Faro, which currently provides the CBC English-language AM radio network service.

CBQK-FM Faro signed on the air on November 21. It had been on the AM dial. 

1988

On January 28, The CRTC administratively renewed the licence for the Faro transmitter to August 31, 1989.

1990

CFWH operated the following rebroadcasters: CBDM Beaver Creek, CBQF Carmacks, CBDE Dawson, CBDL Destruction Bay, CBDD Elsa, CBQK-FM CBDD Faro, CBDF Haines Junction, CBDC Mayo, CBQJ Ross River, CBDX Swift River, CBDK Teslin, CBDB Watson Lake and CBDG Cassiar. CFWH originatee 37 hours and 50 minutes weekly of locally-produced programming, of which approximately 1 hour was in the Gwich’in (Loucheux) language and 55 minutes in the French language.

1991

On April 17, the CRTC approved the application for an FM transmitter at Destruction Bay on frequency 105.1 MHz with an effective radiated power of 96 watts to rebroadcast the programs of CFWH Whitehorse, received via satellite.

1992

CFWH was listed on 570 kHz with 5,000 watts of power, using the same directional pattern for day and night operation.

On March 17, the following transmitters were added to the licence of CFWH: British Columbia: CBUA-FM Atlin 90.1 MHz 14 watts, CBDG Cassiar 1560 kHz 40 watts; Yukon Territory: CBDM Beaver Creek 690 kHz 40 watts, CBQF Carmacks 990 kHz 40 watts, CBDE Dawson 560 kHz 40 watts, CBDL Destruction Bay 940 kHz 40 watts, CBDD Elsa 560 kHz 40 watts, CBQK-FM Faro 105.1 MHz 87 watts, CBDF Haines Junction 860 kHz 40 watts, CBDC Mayo 1230 kHz 40 watts, CBQJ Ross River 990 kHz 40 watts, CBDX Swift River 970 kHz 40 watts, CBDK Teslin 940 kHz 40 watts and CBDB Watson Lake 990 kHz 40 watts.

On the same date, a transmitter was approved for Haines Junction, operating on 103.5 MHz with an effective radiated power of 90 watts. This transmitter would replace the low-power radio transmitter CBDF (AM) Haines Junction.

CBDF-FM Haines Junction was opened on July 13.

1993

On December 3, CFWH received approval for the addition of a transmitter at Dawson, operating on frequency 104.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 413 watts. The proposed FM transmitter would replace CBDE Dawson and improve the quality of the CBC’s radio service to the town of Dawson and outlying areas. 

1995

CBC Radio added overnight programming to its schedule on May 1, with “CBC Radio Overnight”. The programming started out on certain CBC stations and was expanded to all of its stations by September. The program aired between 1:00 and 6:00 a.m. (local time) and offered reports from public broadcasters in 25 countries, with Canadian news on the hour. The program service was provided by the World Radio Network in London, England.

On the same date, CBDL-FM Destruction Bay went on the air. 

1997

CBUA-FM Atlin, B.C. was opened on February 20.

On 10 August, CFWH received approval for a transmitter at Faro on the frequency 105.1 MHz, with an effective radiated power of 87 watts. The CBC would cease the operation of CBQK Faro, which currently provides the CBC English-language AM radio network service.

CBQK-FM Faro signed on the air on November 21. It had been on the AM dial. 

1988

On January 28, The CRTC administratively renewed the licence for NCS008FM Faro, Ontario, to August 31, 1989.

1990

CFWH operated the following rebroadcasters: CBDM Beaver Creek, CBQF Carmacks, CBDE Dawson, CBDL Destruction Bay, CBDD Elsa, CBQK-FM CBDD Faro, CBDF Haines Junction, CBDC Mayo, CBQJ Ross River, CBDX Swift River, CBDK Teslin, CBDB Watson Lake and CBDG Cassiar. CFWH originatee 37 hours and 50 minutes weekly of locally-produced programming, of which approximately 1 hour was in the Gwich’in (Loucheux) language and 55 minutes in the French language.

1991

On April 17, the CRTC approved the application for an FM transmitter at Destruction Bay on frequency 105.1 MHz with an effective radiated power of 96 watts to rebroadcast the programs of CFWH Whitehorse, received via satellite. 

1992

CFWH was listed on 570 kHz with 5,000 watts of power, using the same directional pattern for day and night operation.

On March 17, the following transmitters were added to the licence of CFWH: British Columbia: CBUA-FM Atlin 90.1 MHz 14 watts, CBDG Cassiar 1560 kHz 40 watts; Yukon Territory: CBDM Beaver Creek 690 kHz 40 watts, CBQF Carmacks 990 kHz 40 watts, CBDE Dawson 560 kHz 40 watts, CBDL Destruction Bay 940 kHz 40 watts, CBDD Elsa 560 kHz 40 watts, CBQK-FM Faro 105.1 MHz 87 watts,      CBDF Haines Junction 860 kHz 40 watts, CBDC Mayo 1230 kHz 40 watts, CBQJ Ross River 990 kHz 40 watts, CBDX Swift River 970 kHz 40 watts, CBDK Teslin 940 kHz 40 watts and CBDB Watson Lake 990 kHz 40 watts.

On the same date, a transmitter was approved for Haines Junction, operating on 103.5 MHz with an effective radiated power of 90 watts. This transmitter would replace the low-power radio transmitter CBDF (AM) Haines Junction.

CBDF-FM Haines Junction was opened on July 13.

1993

On December 3, CFWH received approval for the addition of a transmitter at Dawson, operating on frequency 104.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 413 watts. The proposed FM transmitter would replace CBDE Dawson and improve the quality of the CBC’s radio service to the town of Dawson and outlying areas.

1995

CBC Radio added overnight programming to its schedule on May 1, with “CBC Radio Overnight”. The programming started out on certain CBC stations and was expanded to all of its stations by September. The program aired between 1:00 and 6:00 a.m. (local time) and offered reports from public broadcasters in 25 countries, with Canadian news on the hour. The program service was provided by the World Radio Network in London, England.

On the same date, CBDL-FM Destruction Bay went on the air. 

1997

The CBC Radio network (CBC Radio) was renamed “CBC Radio One” on September 1.

2001

CFWH operated the following transmitters: CBDM Beaver Creek, CBQF Carmacks, CBDN-FM Dawson, CBDL-FM Destruction Bay, CBDD Elsa, CBQK-FM Faro, CBDF-FM Haines Junction, CBDC Mayo, CBQJ Ross River, CBDX Swift River, CBDK Teslin, CBDB Watson Lake, and CBUA-FM Atlin, British Columbia. CFWH broadcasts approximately 36 hours of local programming each week from Whitehorse.

2004

On August 18, CFWH was given approval to add a rebroadcast transmitter at Dawson. The new transmitter operating on 560 kHz with 400 watts day and night would replace CBDN-FM.

2006

On March 1, CBDN returned to the AM dial (was CBDN-FM) at 560 kHz.

2007

On November 8, the CBC received approval to increase the power for the CFWH transmitter at Watson Lake. CBDB would up transmitter power from 40 watts to 400 watts daytime and 165 watts nighttime.

2009

On May 12 the CRTC renewed CFWH’s licence. The renewal included the following rebroadcast transmitters: CBDB Watson Lake, CBDC Mayo, CBDD Elsa, CBDK Teslin, CBDM Beaver Creek, CBDN Dawson City, CBDX Swift River, CBQF Carmacks, CBQJ Ross River, CBDF-FM Haines Junction, CBDL-FM Destruction Bay, CBDN-FM Dawson City, CBQK-FM Faro, and CBUA-FM Atlin.

2010

On August 9, the CRTC administatively renewed the licence of CFWH (and its transmitters) to August 31, 2011.

2011

On August 25, the CRTC administratively renewed the licence for CFWH and its transmitters to March 1, 2013.

2012

On September 12, the CRTC approved an application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to amend the broadcasting licence for CFWH-FM by adding a new low-power FM transmitter at Whitehorse to improve the coverage of CFWH-FM. The new transmitter CFWH-FM-1 would operate at 95.3 MHz (channel 237LP) with an effective radiated power of 50 watts (non-directional antenna with an effective height of antenna above average terrain of 173.4 metres). In CFWH Whitehorse – Conversion to FM band, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2009 673, 27 October 2009, the Commission approved an application by the CBC to convert its AM programming undertaking CFWH, affiliated with its national Radio One network, to the FM band. The CBC stated that CFWH-FM suffered from signal degradation due to the mountainous terrain along the Alaska and Klondike Highways. The CBC submitted that the addition of a low-power FM rebroadcasting transmitter in Whitehorse would allow CFWH-FM to more closely reproduce the coverage area of the AM undertaking CFWH. Given that the technical parameters approved in this decision were for a low-power unprotected FM service, the Commission also reminds the licensee that it would have to select another frequency if the Department of Industry so required.

CFWH-AM 570 left the air as the simulcast time for the FM conversion had expired.

2013

On February 22, the CRTC administratively renewed the licences for CFWH Whitehorse and its transmitters to August 31, 2013.

On May 8 the CRTC approved the application by the CBC to amend the licence for CFWH-FM Whitehorse in order to operate a low-power FM transmitter in Mayo to replace the existing AM transmitter CBDC Mayo. The CBC also requested authorization to simulcast the programming of CFWH-FM on CBDC for a period of three months to ensure proper coverage during the transition. The licensee submitted that this change would provide better coverage for listeners to the station. The new transmitter would operate at 104.9 MHz (channel 285LP) with an effective radiated power of 50 watts (non-directional antenna with an effective height of antenna above average terrain of 17.4 metres). 

On May 28, the CRTC renewed the licence of CFWH Whitehorse and its transmitters CBDF-FM Haines Junction, CBDL-FM Destruction Bay, CBQK-FM Faro, CBUA-FM Atlin, British Columbia, CBDB Watson Lake, CBDC Mayo, CBDD Elsa, CBDK Teslin, CBDM Beaver Creek, CBDN Dawson City, CBDX Swift River, CBQF Carmacks and CBQJ Ross River, for a five year term to August 31, 2018.

On October 25, the CRTC approved the CBC’s request to delete the following transmitters for CFWH Whitehorse: CBDD Elsa and CBDX Swift River.

2016

BDC Mayo moved from 1230 AM to 104.9 FM with power of 50 watts.

2017

On June 22, the CRTC approved the application by Technology Infrastructure, Government of Yukon, for a broadcasting licence to operate a radiocommunication distribution undertaking to serve Mount Jubilee. The CBC provided a letter of support as part of the application. The RDU would rebroadcast the signal of CFWH-FM Whitehorse, and operate at 103.1 MHz (channel 276A) with an average ERP of 340 watts (maximum ERP of 482 watts with an EHAAT of 271.45 metres).

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