CKBL-FM (92.9 FM, ''92.9 The Bull'') is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. Owned by 629112 Saskatchewan Ltd. trading as Saskatoon Media Group, it broadcasts a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

format.

History

The station originated on the AM dial as CFQC, which began broadcasting in 1923. It was founded by electrical supply shop owners A. A. "Pappy" Murphy and David Streb. Murphy bought out Streb in 1932. The station was an affiliate of the

Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC/CCR; ), also referred to as the Canadian Radio Commission (CRC), was Canada's first public broadcaster and the immediate precursor to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Origins The CRBC was est ...

from 1933 to 1936 when it affiliated with the newly formed

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

. It lost that affiliation in 1939 when the CBC signed on CBK as its outlet for all of southern and central Saskatchewan. In 1944 it became an affiliate of the CBC's

Dominion Network The Dominion Network was the second English-language radio network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from January 1, 1944 to 1962. It consisted of the CBC-owned CJBC (AM), CJBC radio station in Toronto and a series of 34 privately owned ...

until 1962 when the network was reabsorbed into the main

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

network and CFQC became independent. In 1954, CFQC-TV was established by the Murphy family and became Saskatoon's first television station; initially a CBC affiliate, in the early 1970s it switched to the

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...

. Both the TV and radio stations shared some on-air personnel such as newsreaders. Pappy Murphy died in 1959. His family sold CFQC-AM and TV to

Baton Broadcasting Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include national television ...

in 1972, earning a handsome return on its original investment of 49 years earlier. Baton exited radio in 1991, selling CFQC to George Gallagher, at which point the radio station's ties to its TV namesake all but ended. However, only two years later, Gallagher was forced into receivership. Clint Forster, owner of CJWW, bought CFQC in 1994 and announced plans to move it to the FM band. On February 6, 1995, at 6:06 a.m., CFQC left its longtime AM position at 600 and was replaced by CJWW, which moved from 750 AM. The last song played on "Hits 600" was " Stand Tall" by Burton Cummings. At 7:00am that day, CFQC-FM signed on at 92.9 FM, where it was rebranded ''Hot 93'' and switched from

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

, complementing CJWW's classic country format. Current owner Elmer Hildebrand bought the station in 2001. CFQC and its brand were retired at 6:00am November 1, 2007. The final song played under the old call letters at 5:58am was Michelle Wright's version of " Rock Me Gently", ending an 84-year era (though the TV station would officially continue using "CFQC", although its on-air branding by this time had become CTV Saskatoon). At 7:00am, the station changed its call letters to CKBL-FM and its branding to ''92.9 The Bull''. The first song played under the new callsign was

Big & Rich Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich, both of whom are songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists. Before the duo's foundation, Rich was bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar, while Kenny was a sol ...

's " Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy". It also adopted a New Country format under the direction of program director and morning show co-host Steve "Hurricane" Huber. In January 2020, the station announced that it would give equal airplay to female musicians.

References

External links

92.9 The Bull

CKBL-FM
at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the

Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) was a Canadian nonprofit organization which documented the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television networks, programs and broadcasters. The organization was established in ...

* {{coord, 52, 10, 54, N, 106, 23, 14, W, type:landmark_region:CA, display=title KBL KBL Radio stations established in 1923 1923 establishments in Saskatchewan KBL CNR Radio Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission