CFRW (1290 AM) is a silent

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 ...

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Canada. Owned by

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, 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 nati ...

, it was co-located with its sister stations

CKMM-FM CKMM-FM (103.1 MHz) is a Top 40/CHR radio station owned by Bell Media, branded as ''103.1 Virgin Radio''. The station broadcasts from 1445 Pembina Highway, Winnipeg, Manitoba, with sister station CFWM-FM, while its transmitter is located at D ...

and CFWM-FM on 1445 Pembina Highway. Its

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 ...

was located near Oak Bluff along Road 54 off McGillivray Boulevard. The station was taken off the air by Bell Media in June 2023. On January 24, 2025, regulatory filings revealed that Akash Broadcasting, owner of multilingual stations CKER-FM Edmonton and CJCN-FM Surrey, was seeking to acquire the station's assets from Bell Media.

History

Early years

On November 1, 1963, the station first signed on as CJQM. At the same time, FM

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

CJQM-FM also came on the air. The two stations simulcast an

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

format. CJQM-AM-FM were owned by Winnipeg Broadcast Associates Ltd. (a division of Vancouver Broadcast Associates, the original owners of CHQM and CHQM-FM 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 ...

). CJQM originally broadcast on 1470

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

with 5,000

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. Winnipeg Broadcast Associates sold both stations in 1965 to QM Winnipeg Ltd., which was later purchased by Radio Winnipeg Ltd. The call signs changed to CFRW and CFRW-FM (94.3 MHz) in 1969. Jim Pattison's CJOR Ltd. (the owner of Vancouver station CJOR) bought CFRW-AM-FM from the bankrupt Radio Winnipeg in 1970.

Top 40 CFRW

CFRW-AM-FM were purchased by CHUM Ltd. in 1974. CHUM got CFRW's frequency changed on June 13, 1977, to 1290 AM, and branding itself 13CFRW. The move provided a better signal, doubling the power to 10,000 watts. CHUM management also had the studios and office relocated. The station moved from the Confederation Building at 457 Main Street to the same studio across the street previously used by CKY. Meanwhile, CKY relocated to new studios in Polo Park. CFRW re-branded itself as ''13 CFRW'' on June 13, 1977, airing a Top 40/CHR format. Some notable personalities during the CHUM ownership years include Ron Able,

Gary Christian Gary John Christian (born 7 August 1971) is an English professional golfer who has played on the Web.com Tour and the PGA Tour. Early life and amateur career Christian was born in Carshalton, England. He is named after Gary Player. As a juni ...

, Dick Reeves, Tim "Trucker" Bradley, KC Foxxe, Ralph "Racoon" Carney, Franc Cappozolo, Lee Marshall, Stu Ferguson, Pat Cardinal, and Steve Jackson. Al Gibson was News Director with notables such as

Byron Scott Byron Antom Scott (born March 28, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a role player, Scott won three NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers during the ...

, George Gordon (formerly at CFTR Toronto), Tom Mark (formerly at CKNW Vancouver), and Jeff Murray (Feldman) as sports director. Bob Laine (popular disc jockey in CHUM's heyday, now deceased) was transferred to CFRW from CHUM to be station manager. Other notable on-air staff included Dan Williams, Larry Hennessey, Roger Kelly, Al Stewart, Frank Roberts (Traffic), and Brian Stone (News). From 1983 to 1991, the station was the radio broadcaster for

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

football, with play-by-play voices Ron Oakes, Mike Inglis, and Robb Glazier. From 1985 until 1987,

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40'', as well as the weekly syndicated televi ...

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...

was heard on CFRW.

1980s and 90s

CFRW played a contemporary music format until 1987, when it switched to

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

, with a call sign and branding change to ''1290 Fox'' CIFX. The station changed formats several more times, including to

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

on May 8, 1995, and to

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

in 1999. On May 7,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, the station flipped to an all-sports format. It was one of several CHUM Ltd. stations in the now-defunct network known as " The Team", which only lasted one year.

Oldies

The CFRW call sign and

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format returned in August

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, competing with CKY in the format before that station moved to the FM dial and changed to a

soft 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 ...

format in 2004 as

CKY-FM CKY-FM (102.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, branded as '' KiSS 102.3''. The station airs a hot adult contemporary format, switching to Christmas music for most of December. It is owned by Rogers Radio, a division ...

. CFRW aired all games of the

Winnipeg Goldeyes The Winnipeg Goldeyes are a professional minor-league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Goldeyes play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which they joined in 2011. Previously, the Goldeyes were members of ...

baseball team from 2005 to 2013. In

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, CFRW, along with the other CHUM stations, were sold to CTVglobemedia.

Return to sports

CFRW returned to an all-sports format as ''Sports Radio 1290'' on September 27,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. Much of its programming at the outset was provided by

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

, though it also carried the syndicated ''Jim Rome Show''. However, since the station's relaunch, the station has progressively added original programming, including shows that originated from other Canadian sports radio stations, such as the ''Illegal Curve Hockey Show'' and ''Hustler & Lawless''. Three months later, CTVglobemedia relaunched the

/ classic hits format on co-owned CHIQ-FM. CTVglobemedia was merged into

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, which put CFRW under Bell Media ownership. TSN 1290 Winnipeg

On July 21, 2011, the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

'' reported that Bell Media had reached a deal for broadcast rights with the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

for both television and radio coverage of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

team. TSN became its television broadcaster and CFRW became the official

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

radio station of the Jets. Since 2015, CFRW had also been the radio and online broadcaster for the

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre. The fran ...

, the Jets'

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

affiliate. On October 5, 2011, CFRW was re-branded as part of the

TSN Radio TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media.CJOB and CJKR-FM. On February 9, 2021, Bell Media ended the TSN Radio formats at CFRW and sister stations CKOC in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, and CKST in

. After stunting with music for three days, the station flipped to Bell Media's "Funny"

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

format on February 12, 2021. On March 4, 2021, the station announced a return of sports content by assuming rights to the

Winnipeg Ice The Winnipeg Ice (officially stylized as ICE) were a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Founded as an expansion Western Hockey League team in 1996 as the Edmonton Ice, the team played in Cranbrook, British Colum ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

beginning with the 2021 season, rescinding a five-year deal with CJOB. On June 14, 2023, two days before the Ice announced their relocation to the United States as the Wenatchee Wild and as part of a mass corporate restructuring at Bell Media, the company shut down 6 of their AM radio stations nationwide, including CFRW. The station ended regular programming at 10a.m. that day, replaced with a looped message about the impending shutdown, which lasted until the completion of the signoff.

References

External links

CFRW
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 ...

*
Radio Locator information on CFRW
{{coord, 49.7994, -97.2750, type:landmark_region:CA-MB, display=title Frw Frw Radio stations established in 1963 1963 establishments in Manitoba Radio stations disestablished in 2023 2023 disestablishments in Manitoba FRW