CIXL-FM is a Canadian

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

, broadcasting in

Welland, Ontario Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-on ...

. It uses the on-air brand name ''91.7 Giant FM'', and broadcasts a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

format at 91.7 MHz. It is one of the few commercial FM radio stations on its frequency that can be heard in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, where frequencies between 88.1 and 91.9 MHz are set aside for noncommercial stations (a stipulation not required in Canada, CIXL's originating country). CIXL's geographical position puts it in direct competition with

WGRF WGRF (96.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Buffalo, New York, branded as "97 Rock". The station is owned by Cumulus Media and has a radio format playing classic rock, mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. WGRF competes for classic rock list ...

Buffalo, CFLZ-FM Fort Erie, Stingray's

CHBM-FM CHBM-FM is a radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada broadcasting at 97.3 FM. The station currently broadcasts a classic hits format branded as '' Boom 97.3''. CHBM's studios are located at Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue in Toronto's Deer ...

Toronto and WHTT Buffalo. Giant FM's studios are located on the

Port Colborne Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after ...

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-o ...

border, on Forks Road, and its transmitter is located on Matthews Road in Wellan

History

The station originally owned by Gordon W. Burnett's "Wellport Broadcasting Ltd." and was launched in June 1957 as CHOW (known on-air as "C-How,") located at 1470 Hertz, kHz on the AM dial. A

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

when it was originally launched, the station began offering nighttime service within a few months. It offered an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

format until 1975, when it switched to

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

. In 1990, the

CRTC The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

denied Wellport Broadcasting's application for a new FM station at

. Instead, a licence was given to CJFT in

Fort Erie Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is directly across the river from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of Old Fort Erie which played a prominent role in the War of 1812. Fort Erie is one o ...

so that it could move to the FM band. In 1992, the CRTC once again denied Wellport's application for a new FM radio station at Port Colborne. In 1994, the station was purchased by Suzanne Rochon-Burnett through

numbered company A numbered company is a corporation given a generic name based on its sequentially assigned registration number. For instance, an entity incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and assigned the corporation number 1234567 would be ...

1019415 Ontario Inc., the first aboriginal woman in Canada to own a commercial radio station. Rochon-Burnett was later named to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

. The station moved to 91.7 FM in 1999. and was rebranded as ''Spirit 91.7''. In 1998, the station received CRTC approval to relocate CHOW-FM's transmitter and decreasing the effective radiated power from 27,420 watts to 25,000 watts. The station was purchased by its current owner, David Holgate, in 2004. The following year, CHOW switched to an adult hits format, adopting its current call sign and branding. In late August 2008, the station adopted its current

format, but retained the "Giant FM" branding. The call sign CHOW was recycled to " Radio Boréal", in

Amos Amos or AMOS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Amos Records, an independent record label established in Los Angeles, California, in 1968 * Amos (band), an American Christian rock band * ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray * ''Amos' ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

. It was later given permission to increase ERP to 27,420 watts, once again. On December 9, 2013, R.B Communications Ltd., the owner of CIXL, submitted an application to operate a new country music station at Welland at 89.1 MHz. The new station received CRTC approval on June 26, 2014. On May 10, 2019,

Stingray Group Stingray Group Inc. (formerly Stingray Digital and Stingray Digital Group) is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment company based in Montreal, Quebec, with offices in the United States, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, ...

announced its purchase of R.B. Communications' two stations. The sale has since fallen through, and Wellport Broadcasting remains owner, for the time being. In 2022, Wellport announced a new deal to sell CIXL and CKYY to

My Broadcasting Corporation My Broadcasting Corporation is a Canadian broadcasting company founded in 2004 by Jon Pole and Andrew Dickson. Based in Renfrew, Ontario, the company operates a number of radio stations in small to medium sized markets in Ontario. All of its stati ...

. On September 20, 2022, the CRTC approved the change of ownership from R.B. Communications Ltd. to My Broadcasting Corporation.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cixl-Fm Ixl Ixl Mass media in Welland Ixl Radio stations established in 1957 1957 establishments in Ontario