CBU is a Canadian

non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of Profit (economics), profit. The opposite is Commerce, commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on bu ...

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

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 ...

, in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

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. It carries the programming of the

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

network. The station broadcasts on 690 AM (a clear channel frequency) and on 88.1 FM as CBU-2-FM. CBU's newscasts and local shows are also heard on a chain of CBC stations around the Lower Mainland. CBU's studios and offices are in the CBC Regional Broadcast Centre at 700 Hamilton Street in

Downtown Vancouver Downtown Vancouver is the central business district and the city centre list of neighbourhoods in Vancouver, neighbourhood of Vancouver, Canada, on the northwestern shore of the Burrard Peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. ...

. The AM

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is in the Steveston section of Richmond and the FM transmitter is on Mount Seymour. CBU's AM transmitter power is 25,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, using a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

. The FM station has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 36,900 watts (97,600 watts maximum), broadcasting from a tower at in height above average terrain (HAAT), also using a directional antenna.

History

Cnrv, Crcv, Cbr

The station was launched in . The original

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

was CNRV, using the slogan "The Voice of the Pacific." It broadcast on 1100 AM and was owned by the Canadian National Railway radio network. CNRV was acquired by the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission in 1933, becoming CRCV. In 1936, the CBC was created, taking over the CRBC's operations, and CRCV became CBR. The transmitter was located on No. 4 Road in Richmond. This site was in use from 1938 to 1976. The station moved to 1130 in 1941 after the enactment of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA). In 1947, an FM simulcast was launched on 105.7 MHz. Distinct programming on the FM station was aired for the first time in 1964 when it joined the "CBC FM Network."

CBU

The frequency was moved to 690 AM in 1952 when the call sign was changed to its current CBU. In 1967, a new transmitter was erected in Steveston, on the shoreline along the Strait of Georgia. The station began broadcasting at 50,000

s, the highest power authorized by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), allowing it to be heard throughout the Metro Vancouver Regional District and around the

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. Among Radio One stations on the AM dial around Canada, CBU covers the largest area of population, since Montreal and Toronto are served by FM stations. CBM

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moved to CBME-FM in 1998, and CBL

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moved to CBLA-FM in 1999.

FM simulcast

In early 2008, the CRTC approved CBU's application for a new simulcast of its programming on the FM band. On October 10, 2008, CBU began testing its FM simulcast on 88.1 FM as CBU-2-FM with an effective radiated power of 19,500 watts, and it officially signed on soon after. Around the same time, the CBC also applied to broadcast on separate transmitters into Nanaimo, as well as the Sunshine Coast, with the intent to shut down the AM transmitter on 690 kHz if approved. The CRTC denied these other two transmitters due to the lack of available frequencies in the region. In 2011, the CBC applied to the CRTC to increase the coverage area of CBU-2-FM's transmitter. The CBC proposed increasing the height of the antenna and raising the ERP to 36,900 watts (97,600 watts maximum). The ability to increase the signal coverage area was made possible when CHEK-DT in Victoria moved from VHF TV channel 6 to 49, as part of the over-the-air digital television transition. (TV channel 6 is heard on the FM band at 87.75, which puts it close on the dial to 88.1, the frequency for CBU-2-FM.) This CBC transmitter application was approved September 13, 2012.

Fire damages AM transmitter

In November 2018, CBU reduced its AM transmitter power from 50,000 to 25,000 watts. A fire at the Steveston transmitting facilities destroyed part of the station’s equipment in 2017. It was decided repairs to restore the full 50,000 watts would have been too costly.

HD Radio

CBU-2-FM transmits using HD Radio technology on 88.1 MHz. , this signal provides simulcasts of CBU-FM on digital subchannel HD2 and CBCV-FM on subchannel HD3.

Shortwave relay

In 1941, CBR established a shortwave relay for remote areas of British Columbia using the call sign CBRX and operating on a frequency of 6.16 MHz (in the 49m band) with a power of 150 watts. The call sign changed to CBUX in 1952 when the AM station became CBU. In 1965, the call sign changed to CKZU, recognizing that the ITU prefix CB was not assigned to Canada, but to Chile. The station was given permission to increase its power to 1,000 watts in 1986. The transmitter was adjacent to CBU's AM transmitter. The 2017 fire that destroyed part of the AM transmitter also damaged the shortwave broadcasting equipment. In February 2017, the CBC announced that CKZU was unlikely to return to shortwave. The CBC stated that the transmitter was in a state of disrepair with no replacement parts available due to aging equipment. Purchasing a new transmitter would be too costly due to the minimal number of listeners who tune into the facility.

Local programming

CBU's local programs are ''The Early Edition'', hosted by Stephen Quinn, in the morning; and ''On the Coast'', hosted by Gloria Macarenko, in the afternoon. CBU also originates the lunch-hour show ''BC Today'', hosted by Michelle Eliot and simulcast over CBUT-DT,https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/community/watch-bc-today-now-1.6873575, as well as the weekend programs ''North By Northwest'', hosted by Margaret Gallagher, in the morning; and ''Hot Air'' on Saturday afternoons. These shows (except for ''The Early Edition'' and ''On the Coast'') are broadcast province-wide to Radio One's stations in Victoria,

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley in the British Columbia Interior, southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna ...

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North Thompson River, North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the ad ...

, Prince Rupert and Prince George, as well as their respective rebroadcasters.

Transmitters

CBU's signal on 690 AM also can be heard in

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

and Gibsons.

Current on-air staff

* Amy Bell, weekday morning traffic reporter * Michelle Eliot, host of weekday noon-hour program ''BC Today'' * tbd, host of Saturday afternoon music program ''Hot Air'' * Gloria Macarenko, host of weekday afternoon program ''On the Coast'' * Margaret Gallagher, host of weekend morning program ''North By Northwest'' * Stephen Quinn, host of weekday morning program ''The Early Edition'' * Robert Zimmerman, morning news editor

Former CBU personalities

* Rick Cluff, former host of ''The Early Edition'' * Anne Petrie, former host of CBU radio program ''3's Company''

References

External links

*
CBU-AM
at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the Canadian Communications Foundation * *
Bureau of Broadcast Management; PPM Top-line Radio Statistics, Vancouver CTRL
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cbu (Am) BU BU Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission Radio stations established in 1925 1925 establishments in British Columbia CNR Radio