CKPK-FM

CKPK-FM (102.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2012, the station is owned by the Jim Pattison Group and airs an alternative rock radio format branded as "102.7 The Peak". Founded in 1923, the station has broadcast numerous formats on several frequencies, under the call signs CFXC, CJOR, CHRX and CKBD.
CKPK's studios are located on West 8th Avenue in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver, while its transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour.
History.
Early years.
In 1923, the station was originally launched by the electrical store Hume and Rumble as experimental station CFXC. It broadcast on 440 metres with a power of 10 watts. It switched to the frequency of 1030 kilocycles in 1925. The following year, the station was acquired by George Chandler. Under Canadian broadcast policy at the time, CFXC was shut down. A new license was issued to Chandler for CJOR. The station subsequently increased power to 50 watts in 1928 and shared time with CNRV, then moved its frequency to 1210 AM and the studios relocated to 840 Howe Street (with another boost in power to 500 watts) in 1930, and then to 600 in 1933.
CJOR increased its transmission power to 1,000 watts in 1941, moving its transmitter site to Lulu Island. (After the station switched to FM in 2008, CISL moved to the Lulu Island location, making it the oldest broadcasting site in the Vancouver radio market in continuous operation.)
CBC Dominion Network.
In 1944, CJOR became the Vancouver network affiliate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) Dominion Network. It increased power again in 1947, this time to 5,000 watts, using two 280-foot towers at a site in Richmond. That same year, Chandler established "CJOR Ltd." to run the station.
In 1961, CJOR further increased power to 10,000 watts, using a three tower array. It became an independent station the following year after CBC ceased the Dominion Network's operations.
New ownership.
Following George Chandler's death in 1964, the Jim Pattison Group acquired the station the following year. The Board of Broadcast Governors (predecessor of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC) had decided not to allow the station parent CJOR Ltd. to renew the license. CJOR Ltd. was then owned by Chandler's widow Marie. The Board of Governors requested that a new buyer for CJOR be found. By the 1970s, the station shifted its focus away from music to talk radio.
On October 31, 1983, with the pending demolition of the Grosvenor Hotel on Howe Street, CJOR relocated from the Hotel's basement to its present studios at 1401 West 8th Avenue. On September 2, 1988, at Noon, CJOR dropped its talk radio format, flipping to classic rock under new call letters CHRX. The first song was Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock & Roll". (The former CJOR call sign currently belongs to a radio station in Osoyoos.) The station was very popular during the late 1980s, but started experiencing declining ratings by the early 1990s.
Sports and Christian programming.
To remedy the ratings loss, in 1993, the station added sports talk shows to its programming. However, this did not boost the ratings. On January 7, 1994, at 6 p.m., after signing off with Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven", the station began stunting with the sound of ocean waves.
On January 9, at Noon, it switched formats and call signs again, becoming CKBD with the on-air brand "The Bridge" as Canada's first Contemporary Christian music station. The first song on "The Bridge" was "Awesome God" by Rich Mullins. On July 31, 1998, the station changed to an adult standards format as "600 AM" with the slogan "Unforgettable Adult Favourites".
Switch to FM.
On May 30, 2008, CKBD was given approval by the CRTC to move to 100.5 MHz on the FM dial. As part of its move to FM, CKBD planned to switch from adult standards to adult album alternative (AAA) with a new call sign, CKPK-FM. On October 23, 2008, the FM station signed on for testing. The transmitter on 600 AM was shut down on November 13, 2008. The last program was a 25-minute summary of the station's 84-year history on the AM band, followed by "Thanks for the Memory" by Bob Hope. The adult standards format moved to Astral Media's CISL (formerly oldies) just days before. At 7:20 that same evening, at a live party at the Seasons in the Park restaurant, "100.5 The Peak" launched with U2's "Elevation."
CKPK-FM got a new competitor on Canada Day, 2009. CHHR-FM began airing a AAA format, similar to CKPK. CHHR (now CHLG-FM) changed formats to classic hits on June 20, 2014.
Move to 102.7.
On December 9, 2010, the Jim Pattison Group applied to exchange frequencies with non-commercial community radio station CFRO-FM, which then operated at 102.7 MHz. The application was approved on September 9, 2011. The swap took place almost a year later on September 10, 2012.
During the summer of 2015, CKPK began evolving towards a more modern rock format. Eventually, CKPK began reporting on the Mediabase Canadian alternative rock panel. By August 2016, CKPK completed its shift to the format, and changed its slogan to "Vancouver's Modern Rock", while still retaining the "Peak" moniker. The station now competes with CFOX-FM, also an alternative rock outlet, owned by Corus Entertainment.