CKGB-FM (99.3

MHz 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 u ...

) is a Canadian

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 ...

that broadcasts a

hot 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

Timmins, Ontario Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population o ...

. The station uses the on-air brand ''KiSS 99.3'' and is owned by

Rogers Radio Rogers Radio is a division of Rogers Sports & Media (a subsidiary of Rogers Communications) that specializes in the radio broadcasting industry. Rogers Radio is Canada's fourth-largest commercial radio broadcaster after Stingray Radio, Vista Ra ...

, a division of

Rogers Sports & Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties. Operations Current television brands owned by Rogers include two television sy ...

History

The station was launched in late 1933 by young

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

media entrepreneur

Roy Thomson Roy Herbert Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, (5 June 1894 – 4 August 1976) was a Canadian-born British newspaper proprietor who became one of the moguls of Fleet Street in London. He first came to prominence when he was selling radios in ...

, who would later become the owner of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Thomson acquired the ''

Timmins Daily Press The ''Timmins Daily Press'' is a newspaper in Timmins, Ontario, which publishes six days a week. It is notable as the first paper founded by press baron Roy Thomson in the 1930s, who would eventually own more than 200 newspapers including ''The ...

'' in 1934, and the newspaper and radio station shared a building and ownership for many years. In the 1940s and 1950s, CKGB was operating on 94.5 FM as CKRT-FM, until it was shut down. The station broadcast on AM from its inception, periodically changing frequencies until its last AM home at 750 in 1984, and adopting a

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, ...

format in 1990. Coincidentally, Thompson hired

Jack Kent Cooke Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian American businessman in broadcasting and professional sports. Starting in sales, Cooke was very successful, eventually becoming a partner in a network of radio stations and new ...

to be a sales rep in the hungry 1930s. He went on to own the Los Angeles Kings hockey franchise. The station was an affiliate of

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 ...

Trans-Canada Network The Trans-Canada Network was the name assigned to the main English-language radio network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to distinguish it from the CBC's second network, the Dominion Network. Today, it is known as CBC Radio One. The Tra ...

until 1962 and then the CBC Radio network. In 1984, CKGB was authorized to drop its CBC affiliation as network service was now available in the area from CBC-owned CBCJ-FM. In 2001, the station received

CRTC The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

approval to move to the FM dial, retaining its legendary

call letter 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 assi ...

s as CKGB-FM but taking on the "

EZ Rock EZ Rock was a brand of adult contemporary radio stations heard primarily in Canada. The branding was originally created by Telemedia in the mid-1990s for its AC stations, and based on the call sign of its former Toronto flagship CJEZ-FM (now ...

" brand 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 ...

format, giving the small Timmins radio market its first direct competition, as the

Haliburton Broadcasting Group The Haliburton Broadcasting Group was a Canadian group of FM radio stations, located primarily in smaller markets in Ontario. The company was purchased by Vista Broadcast Group in 2012.CHMT-FM had launched as AC/ CHR hybrid just a few months before. Less than a year after EZ Rock's Timmins launch, CHMT flipped to fill the void in

radio as ''Moose FM''. In July 2011, the station altered its musical format to present a more contemporary version of its AC Mainstream Plus blend. With this shift, the station cancelled ''The '80s Lunch'' program and ''Sunday at the '70s'' ''Solid Gold Saturday Night'' was replaced by ''The Saturday Night Show'', a program featuring music from the 1970s to present. Scott Turnbull remains as host. The station also adopted a new logo as well as the positioning statement, "Today's Best Music". CKGB was one of four EZ Rock-branded stations owned and operated by Rogers Media, all of which are located in Northern Ontario (the others being

CJMX-FM CJMX-FM (105.3 MHz) is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format in Sudbury, Ontario. The station uses the on-air brand ''KiSS 105.3''. The station is owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media. ...

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...

, CHUR-FM North Bay, and

CHAS-FM CHAS-FM (100.5 Hertz, MHz) is a radio station licensed to and serving Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format branded as '' ...

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...

); as of July 2013, Rogers is in the process of rebranding all 4 stations, and is entertaining listener input through surveys on the stations' websites and through social media."Rogers Preparing To Rebrand Four Ontario EZRock's,"
from Radio Insight, 7/8/2013 On August 29, 2013, all "EZ Rock" stations rebranded to "

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

", discarding the "EZ Rock" branding now 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 ...

. In 2020, CKGB changed its moniker to "The New KiSS 99.3", but kept the same slogan and format. The station began carrying the ''Roz and Mocha Show'' from

CKIS-FM CKIS-FM (92.5 FM, ''Kiss 92.5'') is a radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts a contemporary hit radio format. The station was founded on January 26, 1993, ...

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 ...

which also airs on other Rogers-owned "Kiss" stations across Canada.

Contributions to Canadian Music

Canadian country musician

Stompin' Tom Connors Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, Order of Canada, OC (February 9, 1936 – March 6, 2013) was a Canadian country music, country and folk music, folk singer-songwriter. Focusing his career exclusively on his native Canada, he is credited wi ...

recorded his first 45-RPM

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

s at the CKGB radio station in the mid-1960s. They were pressed by Quality Records in

, and paid for (and sold) by Tom personally. Each of these singles features the CKGB logo.

Logos

File:Ez rock timmins.svg, EZ Rock Timmins logo used from 2001-2011.

References

External links

KiSS 99.3

CKGB-FM
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 ...

Timmins station histories
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ckgb-Fm Radio stations established in 1933

Kgb The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

1933 establishments in Ontario