Radio This Week Back Then #52: January 19-25
New markets: Ottawa (CHR CKKL-FM 93.9) and Tallahassee (CHR WWLD 106.1)
What was on the radio this week…back then. This is a weekly visit of radio audio from this week in past years for those that enjoy radio history, those working in radio looking for promotional ideas, or stations looking to re-find lost audio of their heritage. If you enjoy these weekly audio rewinds, they take a lot of time to put together, so please do me a favor, subscribe, and share and pass it on. Thank you! A searchable and sortable index of all the audio is located on the Aircheck Index page.
This week features a couple of markets that have not yet been visited in this Substack:
Ottawa | CHR CKKL-FM 93.9 “93.9 Kool FM”
Tallahassee | CHR WWLD 106.1 “All New All Hits Wild 106”
Happy reading and listening!
After three decades running easy listening, then-CFMO-FM shifted towards soft AC in the early 1990s. At 12:40PM on 28 August 1992, CFMO-FM flipped towards a rock AC format as CKKL-FM “Kool FM.”1 The beloved CFMO-FM calls and format were picked up by rimshot country CHEQ-FM 101.1 “Q101.”2
Unlike the US FCC, Canada’s radio regulator, the CRTC, has format-specific rules. In 1992, it had allowed some stations in the country licensed to program easy listening to reduce the amount of instrumental music content to 35%. CHQM-FM 103.5 Vancouver and CJEZ-FM 97.3 Toronto complied with soft AC days and instrumental music at night. In CKKL-FM’s case, it had jazz as its instrumental requirement. In the June 1993, the CRTC relieved CKKL-FM of the instrumental obligation,3 allowing it to fully embrace its newer more current-based format, which evolved to hot AC and then to top 40 by the end of the 1990s.
The “Kool” brand seems like an odd choice for a top 40 since it is mostly attached to oldies outlets in the US (see WWLD’s format history below, for example), but it has been used on hot AC and CHR outlets around Canada, including for most of the 2010s on CKCE-FM 101.5 Calgary.
This aircheck comes from those late 1990s top 40 days, recorded on a work trip I made to Ottawa.
Since this aircheck, CKKL-FM flipped to adult hits “Bob FM” on 30 May 20034 and then to country “New Country 94” in November 20145. As part of a nation-wide rebranding of its country stations, Bell Media rebranded CKKL-FM as “Pure Country 94,” its present day format and brand.
The 106.1 facility first signed on the air in Tallahassee in May 1992 as SMN Z-Rock network affiliate WRZK6. On 23 March 1996, it flipped to top 40 WWLD “Wild 106,”7 which is the era from this aircheck.
Since this aircheck, the 106.1 facility has gone through a number of format changes. In March 1999, WWLD dropped the CHR format for rhythmic oldies “Groovin’ Oldies 106.”8 In 2002, it flipped to classic rock WUTL “U106.1” and the WWLD calls and format moved in-market to the former WSLE 102.3. Subsequent formats under the WQTL calls included classic hits “Q106.1,” AAA “106.1 the Path,” AAA “106.1 the Sound,” classic hits “Kool Oldies 106.1,” and the present day rhythmic AC “Vibe 106.1,” which it flipped to about a year ago.
As always, the logos and other intellectual property belong to the stations. The recordings were made from over the air broadcasts. Similarly, other data (charts, ratings, etc.) belong to their owners.
“CFMO Changes Tunes For KOOL-FM,” The Ottawa Citizen, 29 August 1992.
“Country Station Aims To Grab CFMO Market,” The Ottawa Citizen, 10 September 1992.
CRTC Decision 93-178.
“A Station Named BOB: How KOOL Is That?,” The Ottawa Citizen, 31 May 2003.
“Bye, BOB - Country Coming To Its Place On The Dial,” The Ottawa Citizen, 12 November 2014.
“New Rock Station On The Air,” Tallahassee Democrat, 1 May 1992.
“Z-ROCK Hopes Listeners Will Like New Lighter, ‘Popular’ Sound,” Tallahassee Democrat, 26 March 1996.
“Station’s Format Changes To Rhythm & Blues,” Tallahassee Democrat, 5 March 1999.