CJBQ is a Canadian radio station licensed at Belleville,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. It is owned by Quinte Broadcasting along with CIGL-FM and CJTN-FM. CJBQ broadcasts on 800

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 ...

at a power of 10 kW. The transmitter is located in Prince Edward County. The antenna is a six-tower array with differing patterns day and night, to protect Class-A clear-channel station

XEROK-AM XEROK-AM (800 kHz) is a commercial radio station in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. It is licensed to operate with a power of 150,000 watts on a carrier frequency of 800 kHz, although its new transmitter outputs 50,000 watts. XEROK is ...

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, as well as other Canadian and U.S. stations on the same frequency. Since the late 2000s, CJBQ is the only remaining Canadian AM radio station operating between

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

and the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

. CJBQ's format includes

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, ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. It is mostly locally programmed, with the exception of

John Tesh John Frank Tesh Jr. (born July 9, 1952) is an American musician and radio and television presenter. He wrote the '' NBA on NBC'' basketball theme " Roundball Rock", and hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 20 ...

's syndicated program that airs during evenings. CJBQ also carries live broadcasts of

Belleville Senators The Belleville Senators (colloquially known as the B-Sens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belleville, Ontario. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Ottawa Senators. The Senators pl ...

hockey games.

History

The station launched in 1946 on AM 1230, and moved to its current frequency in 1957. An FM sister station, CJBQ-FM, was launched in 1962. Semi-satellites in Bancroft ( CJNH) and Trenton ( CJTN) were added in 1975 and 1979 respectively; the Bancroft station was sold in 2000. In the summer of 1970 a budding young

Peter Mansbridge Peter Mansbridge (born July 6, 1948) is a British-born Canadian retired news anchor. From 1988 to 2017, he was chief correspondent for CBC News and anchor of '' The National,'' CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. He was also host of CB ...

, then at

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 ...

affiliate CHFC in Churchill,

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, answered a trade publication ad for a "Broadcast position available at CJBQ in Belleville, Ontario", only to have the station turn him down flat. He landed at CBC

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an network af ...

CBW 990 in

Winnipeg 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 ...

in 1971, crossing to television a year later and eventually taking the

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

news anchor desk. CJBQ, CJTN and CJNH were private affiliates of

. They lost this affiliation in 1984 when CBC added CBCP-FM, a

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

-based rebroadcaster of CBL

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The station subsequently adopted an

("hits of the present and past") format, which it retained until switching to a full time

format in 1993. Today the station's music format is predominantly gold-based AC spanning the 1960s through the 2010s, with some classic country and

mixed in, in addition to a continued heavy local news, talk and sports commitment; sister station CIGL-FM programs a more contemporary AC format. During the years when it was a CBC affiliate, CJBQ dayparted its music programming between

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

and

. It gained national prominence in the 1960s for its strident support of Canadian artists, programming as much as 40%

Canadian content Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (inclu ...

in the era before it was mandated by the government. This practice led the Canadian music trade paper

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

to dub Belleville "the capital of Canadian music" in 1966. In 2021, CJBQ celebrated its 75th anniversary on the air. 75th anniversary weekend for 800 CJBQ
''Quinte News'', August 13, 2021

Notable employees

Jack Devine Jack Devine is a veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a founding partner and President of The Arkin Group LLC. Biography Devine's career at the CIA spanned from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, including the fall of Presiden ...

* Jack Miller

References

External links

CJBQ 800 AM
*
CJBQ
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 for CJBQ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cjbq Jbq Full service radio stations in Canada Jbq Radio stations established in 1946 1946 establishments in Ontario