Origins

  CKLW began its life as CKOK on 2. June 1932. with 5,000 watts of power at 540 kilohertz. CKOK was owned by the Western Ontario Broadcasting Company, whose president and general manager until 1947 was M.G. Campbell. In 1933 the signal changed to 840 kilohertz and the call letters became CKLW. (The "LW" stands for London-Windsor, the Canadian towns it was licensed to serve.) The following year the signal moved to 1030 and finally came to rest at 800 kilohertz in 1941. In 1949 CKLW's power was raised to 50,000 watts. At night, because of the nature of the sky wave propagation of AM signals, CKLW could often be heard in 2.8 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces.

The station began as a network affiliate of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). In 1935 CBS was dropped and an affiliation began with the Mutual Broadcasting System that lasted until 1960. A dual affiliation with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a government-supported network, began in 1936 and lasted until 1950. Local programming during the 1930s and 1940s included Vignettes of Melody (light classical pieces from the station's staff) and the big band sound of Make Believe Ballroom. At one time in the 1950s different dayparts were dedicated to diverse genres of music, including classical, rock and roll, and country.

In the early 1960s program director John Gordon allowed his on-air talent considerable freedom in operating their shows. For instance, disc jockey Tom Shannon played and introduced many rhythm-and-blues records. The hodgepodge of music ended, however, with Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) general ownership in 1963 and subsequent use of the Drake consultancy (Drake-Chenault was a major industry consulting firm). The use of consultants coincided with the hiring of Paul Drew as program director in 1967. Drew is credited for establishing the tight Top 40 format that led CKLW to dominate regional ratings. CKLW became known as the "Big 8" for its booming sound at 800 kilohertz. Popular disc jockeys Tom Shannon and Dave Shafer hosted neighborhood record hops at which local celebrities such as Stevie Wonder or Bob Seger occasionally would appear to lip-sync one of their current hit songs.

Changing Roles

  In 1970 a 20 percent foreign ownership interest limit established by the CRTC in the late 1960s forced RKO to sell the station to Baton Broadcasting, owned by John Bassette, who already was a force in publishing and television in Canada. The popularity of the station continued to rise with its contemporary sound, however, and CKLW made its own playlists available at record stores as a clever marketing ploy to instill listener loyalty.

CKLW was well known for its news, but its reputation for newscasts fluctuated between critical acclaim and disapproval. In 1967 it won the Radio Television News Directors Association international award for coverage of the race riots in Detroit. Also in the late 1960s, the Drake consultancy established "20-20 News" at CKLW and other RKO stations. This resulted in a sensationalistic presentation of news 20 minutes before and after each hour-a format that had its critics. Newscaster Byron McGregor read everything intensely and quickly, emphasizing the tragic and sensational. Weekly cash prizes were given to listeners who called in stories and a $1,000 prize was awarded for the story of the year. In addition, Jo Jo Shutty-McGregor reported on traffic conditions from a helicopter in the busy Detroit area during the newscasts.

In the 1970s, in an attempt to appeal to an older demographic (ages 25 to 49 instead of its previous focus on the 12 to 35 age group), CKLW would drop the 20-20 format and deliver the news in a more conversational style. With FM taking away much of the younger audience from AM stations, program director Bill Gable created a type of adult contempo­rary/Top 40 hybrid. Dick Purtan from WXYZ-AM in Detroit joined CKLW in 1978 as their drive-time personality. He was famous for his comedy, including (with sidekick Tom Ryan) "put-on" calls to unsuspecting listeners. In 1979 Purtan won Billboard's disc jockey of the year award.

In 1980 Gable left and disc jockey Pat Holiday became program director, taking a Top 40 approach. CKLW changed ownership a number of times throughout the 1980s as AM stations continued to seek their niche in the FM-dominated radio business. By the time a cable company in Toronto was ready to purchase CKLW, the station had changed to a big band format. After 1970 CKLW and all Canadian outlets had to contend with the content regulations of the CRTC, which undertook to ensure a place for Canadian artists and culture in media increasingly dominated by the very popular U.S. music and influence. Initially the CRTC established that at least 30 percent of broadcast music must be by Canadians. CKLW music director Rosalie Trombley became known for her ability to pick both U.S. and Canadian hits in the 1970s (Bob Seger wrote about her in his song, "Rosalie"), as it was important for CKLW to be able to compete with the unrestricted U.S. stations across the river. By the late 1990s the percentage of required Canadian music was 35 percent with a 40 percent requirement looming on the horizon.

CHUM Limited, a Toronto-based company with multiple radio and television stations throughout Canada, bought CKLW in 1993. Its ownership of another AM radio station in the Windsor area made it a test case-the first duopoly in Canada. With CKLW's new ownership came a common format for AM stations: news/talk. Because of the Detroit market's importance to their survival, at the end of the 20th century the CHUM stations in Windsor (two FM and two AM, including CKLW) were required to play only a minimum of 20 percent Canadian music between 6:oo A.M. and 12:00 midnight.

Co-owned FM radio and television stations in Windsor have also used the call letters CKLW. CHUM owns the former CKLW-FM, now broadcasting as CIDR at 93.9 megahertz. CKLW television (Channel 9) was purchased by CBC in the 1970s. But the story of the original CKLW could be the story of the rise and fall of many AM stations, with its own subplot as a successful Canadian station in a major U.S. market.