CKNX 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 ...

, which broadcasts at 920 AM in Wingham,

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 a classic country music and

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

format. CKNX is also an affiliate of the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

radio network.

History

Launch

The station was originally launched in 1926 as an informal broadcasting experiment by local businessma
W. T. Cruickshank
who aired live and unscripted programming provided by customers of his repair shop. In its original incarnation, the station was simply known as Joke, but proved so popular that Cruickshank applied for an amateur broadcasting license and the station formally became 10BP by 1930. In 1935, the station was officially licensed as commercial radio station CKNX, on 1200 AM. CKNX was affiliated with

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 ...

Dominion Network The Dominion Network was the second English-language radio network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from January 1, 1944 to 1962. It consisted of the CBC-owned CJBC (AM), CJBC radio station in Toronto and a series of 34 privately owned ...

until 1962.

Frequency move

The station briefly moved to the 1230 frequency in 1941, and to its current 920 frequency a few months later. In the late 1940s and 1950s, the station's '' Saturday Night Barn Dance'' was one of the most popular and influential radio programs in Ontario.

CKNX-TV

In 1955,

CKNX-TV CKNX-TV was a television station owned by CTVglobemedia (now known as Bell Media) which served mid-western Ontario, Canada. It was part of the CTV 2, A television system. The station's offices, studios, and transmission facilities were located at ...

was also launched. On March 8, 1962, the building which accommodated the CKNX radio and television stations caught fire. Although nothing could be salvaged, CKNX was back on the air within a few hours, broadcasting from temporary facilities at the transmitter site and using the nearby high school gym as a TV studio. CKNX operations continued as such (with various temporary offices set up in Wingham) until they purchased new equipment and moved into a new building in 1963.

Acquisition

The stations were acquired in 1971 by

Blackburn Radio Blackburn Radio, Inc. is a Canadian radio broadcasting group, which owns several radio stations in Southwestern Ontario. Headquartered in London, Ontario, the company is owned by 2061302 Ontario Limited, which is majority owned by Cogent Investmen ...

, who also launched

CKNX-FM CKNX-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 101.7 FM in Wingham, Ontario. The station broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format as ''101.7 The One''. The station was formerly known as ''FM102'' before summer 2006. History The sta ...

in 1977. Blackburn sold the television station to

Baton Broadcasting Bell Media Inc. ( 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 national television ...

in 1993, but retains ownership of the radio stations to this day. Blackburn also launched a second FM station in Wingham, CIBU, in 2005.

FM application

On May 31, 2011, Blackburn Radio applied to add a new FM transmitter at Wingham to rebroadcast the programming of CKNX at 104.3 MHz. This application was denied by the

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 ...

on May 10, 2013. On March 6, 2025, Blackburn submitted an application to move CKNX 920 from the AM band to the FM band. If approved, the station would operate at 104.3 MHz with an average radiated power (ERP) of 16,700 watts (maximum ERP of 28,000 watts). Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2025-72
Call for comments on market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications to serve Wingham, Ontario, and surrounding areas, ''CRTC'', March 6, 2025

References

External links

CKNX AM920

CKNX-AM
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 ...

* Knx Knx Knx Radio stations established in 1926 1926 establishments in Ontario KNX {{Ontario-radio-station-stub