CKGE-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 94.9 FM from

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

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 ...

. The station broadcasts an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

format under the brand name ''94.9 The Rock''.

History

The station was launched in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

by Lakeland Broadcasting as CKLB-FM 93.5, a sister station to AM outlet CKLB. The station aired 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. In 1966, the station changed its callsign to CKQS-FM, and moved to its current frequency later the same year. In 1979, CKLB and CKQS were acquired by Grant Broadcasting, and CKQS changed callsigns again, this time to CKQT-FM. Grant Broadcasting was subsequently acquired by Power Broadcasting in 1990. In 1993, the station moved to an

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, adopting its current callsign and branding itself ''The Edge''. In 1995, the station was rebranded ''Magic 94.9''. In 1999, the station began to more actively target audiences in

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 ...

, with a

modern 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 incorporating into some more typically

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, ...

musical selections. In late 2000, Power Broadcasting was acquired by

Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. (often simply known as Corus) is a Canadian mass media and television production company. The company was founded in 1987 as Shaw Radio Ltd. as a subsidiary of Shaw Communications and was spun-off from Shaw in 1999. It h ...

. On February 16, 2001, Corus dropped Magic's format and brand, adding the station to its

Energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

simulcast. However, in 2002, Corus' Hamilton stations swapped frequencies, and with Energy flagship CING now on a signal that more effectively covered the Toronto area, CKGE again became ''Magic @ 94.9'', with 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, on May 3 of that year. In

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, Corus sold CKGE and CKDO to Durham Radio, the owner of CJKX in neighbouring

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

. The station adopted its current format shortly after the sale on June 12. It reports as a Toronto station per

Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytic ...

and

Nielsen BDS Broadcast Data Systems (also known as Nielsen BDS, BDS or Luminate BDS) was a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts publishe ...

and is the Greater Toronto market's only

station. In 2012, Doug Elliott was hired as program director. The format execution and personalities quickly changed into a competitive Toronto

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

radio station with the addition of Craig Venn and Lucky in mornings, Lori Ann in middays, Doug Elliott in drive and longtime Toronto rock radio host from CILQ and

CHUM-FM CHUM-FM (104.5 FM) is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned by Bell Media, the station airs a hot adult contemporary format. CHUM-FM's studios are located at 250 Richmond Street West in the Entertainment District, while it ...

Lee "Beef" Eckley. In May 2018, Dean Blundell joined Craig Venn and Lucky as a contributor to "Rock Mornings". In October 2022, Christian Tanna, the drummer of 1990s Canadian rock band I Mother Earth, joined the station as host of ''Generation Next Radio'', its program devoted to new and emerging rock musicians. In May 2023, the station added

Ed the Sock Ed the Sock is a sock puppet character, created and voiced by Steven Joel Kerzner, who first appeared on Canadian local cable television in 1987. He is best known for his hosting appearances in the 1990s on MuchMusic and his own late night talk sh ...

as the host of an overnight program.Connie Thiessen
"Ed the Sock revives overnight radio format in the GTA"
''Broadcast Dialogue'', May 16, 2023.

References

External links

94.9 The RockCKGE-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 ...

* Kge Oshawa Kge Radio stations established in 1957 1957 establishments in Ontario Former Corus Entertainment subsidiaries {{Ontario-radio-station-stub