CJZN-FM (''The Zone @ 91-3'') is a Canadian broadcast
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 ...
in
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...
, Canada. CJZN broadcasts a
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
format at 91.3 on the
FM band. The station can also be heard in the interior Northwest of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. The signal overpowers
KBCS from
Bellevue Community College
Bellevue College (BC) is a public college in Bellevue, Washington, United States. It is the largest of the 34 institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system and the third-largest institution of higher educatio ...
, which is a
public radio station.
The station placed 5th in the fall 2018 Numeris Diary Survey for Victoria.
History
CJZN signed on for the first time on January 18, 1950, as CKDA, initially broadcasting on 1340
AM at 250 watts under the ownership of Capital Broadcasting System Ltd. (headed by founder David Armstrong). On August 1, 1954, CKDA moved to 1280 AM and increased its power to 5,000 watts; in 1955,
CKDA-FM was signed on as a simulcast of CKDA, and was the studio transmitter link to the off-shore transmitter site. On September 18, 1957, the AM station moved to 1220 kHz and doubled its power to 10,000 watts.
In compliance with new broadcaster regulations regarding simulcasting, on March 21, 1965, CKDA-FM ended its simulcast of its AM sister and became CFMS-FM, airing 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, n ...
format from noon to midnight seven days a week. In 1966, CKDA increased its power to 25,000 watts and in 1971 to 50,000 watts, and moved to 1200 AM on July 1, 1986. The station dropped its
oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as ...
format for an all-'70s music format in 1994. CKDA and CFMS founder David Armstrong died on April 22, 1985, after which point his widow, Sheridan Armstrong, took over running the stations.
In August 1995, the OK Radio Group Ltd. purchased CKDA from Capital Broadcasting and relaunched it as CKXM in October 1995, broadcasting a country music format as ''1200 CKXM Country''. At that time, CKXM and its sister station
CKKQ-FM were located at 3795 Carey Road in Victoria. CKKQ was on the second floor while CKXM was on the first floor.
In May 1999, both CKXM and CKKQ moved to the top floor of 2750 Quadra Street, a three-storey Victoria office building purchased by the OK Radio Group Ltd. in the fall of 1998.
In March 2000, CKXM moved from the
AM band to the
FM band at a frequency of 91.3, maintaining its country music format and rebranded as ''The New X 91 Three''. The AM signal continued until May 2000.
On June 21, 2001, CKXM changed its call sign to the current CJZN and relaunched as ''The Zone @ 91-3'' with a
modern rock
Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music.
Radio format
Mod ...
format. The first song played was
Blink 182
Blink-182 (stylized as blink-182) is an American rock band formed in Poway, California in 1992. Their current lineup consists of bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though their sound has ...
's ''Rock Show''.
With the shift in format, the station introduced a Band Of The Month promotion supporting local Victoria artists. Some of those artists include:
Jets Overhead
Jets Overhead are a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 2003 and based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Band history Formation and debut
Singer Adam Kittredge conceived the name Jets Overhead while observing air traffic patterns in L ...
,
Armchair Cynics
604 Records (stylized as VIOIV Records) is a music production company. It is named after area code 604 of the Lower Mainland, where the company's offices are located.
History
The company was co-founded by Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger and ...
,
Moneyshot,
Acres Of Lions,
Leeroy Stagger
Leeroy Stagger is a Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter based in Lethbridge, Alberta. He has released a number of albums of his own music, produced albums for several other musicians, and has toured around North America.
Early life
S ...
,
Kincaide, Theset, and
Vince Vaccaro.
On December 1, 2006, CJZN and CKKQ came under the ownership of the
Jim Pattison Group.
Rebroadcasters
References
External links
The Zone @ 91-3*
*
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Radio stations established in 1950
1950 establishments in British Columbia