CHKS-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 radio ...

, which broadcasts at 106.3 FM in

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron f ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The station broadcasts a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 198 ...

format with the brand name ''Cool 106.3'' and it also serves

Port Huron Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately. Located along the St. Clair ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

. CHKS-FM broadcasts in HD.

Range

CHKS-FM can be heard in parts of Eastern Michigan, as far west as

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start ...

. The station conflicts with WGER of

Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

, in

Genesee Genesee, derived from the Seneca word for "pleasant valley", may refer to: Geographic features Canada *Genesee, Alberta, an unincorporated community United States *Genesee, California *Genesee, Colorado *Genesee County, Michigan *Genesee Co ...

and Lapeer Counties, though those with directional antennas can tune either station in these areas. The 106.3 FM signal has been heard as far south as Monroe; however, reception can be difficult due to FM translator W292DK in Oak Park which is also on 106.3 FM. This situation tends to cause interference in southern St. Clair County, as well as in Macomb County. In Ontario, interference seems minimal.

History

Dancy Broadcasting launched the station in 1969, as an AM station with the callsign CKJD and a contemporary MOR format. The station's original AM frequency was 1250 AM.

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...

acquired it in 1972, and moved to 1110 AM in 1977. In 1981, Rogers also launched an FM sister station, CJFI. CKJD and CJFI were sold to Maclean-Hunter subsidiary Blue Water Broadcasting in 1987. The following year, CKJD adopted a

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, whi ...

format with the new call sign CKTY. When Rogers acquired Maclean-Hunter in 1994, the Blue Water stations were transferred to Blackburn Radio. Blackburn converted the station to FM in 1999,Decision CRTC 99-19
Conversion of AM radio station CKTY to FM, ''CRTC'', January 21, 1999 and gave the station its current call sign, CHKS-FM and changed to an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

format under the moniker ''K106.3, Sarnia's Best Rock''. On July 1, 2020 at 1:06 pm, CHKS ended its

format with playing "

Fireworks Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...

" by

The Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassi ...

repeatedly from 12:00 p.m. until 1:06 p.m. The first song played on the new rock-oriented

-based ''Cool 106.3'' was "

Electric Avenue Electric Avenue is a street in Brixton, London. Built in the 1880s, it was the first market street to be lit by electric lights (The first street to be lit by an incandescent lightbulb was Mosley Street, in Newcastle upon Tyne). Today, Elect ...

" by Eddy Grant.

References

External links

Cool 106.3
* * Hks Hks Hks Radio stations established in 1968 1968 establishments in Ontario {{Ontario-radio-station-stub