CFFX-FM

CFFX is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at FM 104.3 in Kingston, Ontario. The station airs a soft adult contemporary format branded as Lite 104.3.

The station was launched in 1942 as CKWS, a CBC Trans-Canada Network affiliate taking over CBC responsibilities from Queen's University radio station CFRC. [http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/index3.html] Broadcasting on AM 960, the station was owned by Allied Broadcasting, a partnership of Roy Thomson and Rupert Davies, owner of the "Kingston Whig-Standard" newspaper. The call letters were derived from the newspaper's name, as was common at the time. FM sister station CKWS-FM signed on in 1947 (originally as CKWR-FM), and CKWS-TV launched in 1954. For most of the 1960s and '70s, CKWS battled local rival CKLC for listenership, since both stations had adopted a similar Top-40 music format, although CKWS always carried more news and community programming.

The stations were purchased by Paul Desmarais and Claude Pratte in 1977, and became part of Desmarais' Power Corporation in 1987. In 1987, CFFX adopted its current call letters and moved to new studios on Counter Street, as it would no longer be associated with the television station, which retained the CKWS name.

The stations were subsequently sold to their current owner, Corus Entertainment, in 2000, at which time they were "reunited" with the television station and moved back to the studios on Queen Street.

In 2005, CFFX was denied to add a low-power transmitter at Kingston to simulcast its AM programing on 93.7 FM with the effective radiated power of 50 watts. [ [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/db2005-50.htm Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2005-50] ]

In April 2007, CFFX applied to move from the AM band to the FM band, and was given approval by the CRTC on August 28, 2007. [ [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2007/db2007-334.htm Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2007-334] ] In September, CFFX began testing at 104.3 FM playing classic country music.

On October 15, 2007, CFFX moved from AM 960 to FM 104.3, adopting its current format. At 12 Midnight on the evening of Monday, January 14, 2008, the AM side began a final test of their equipment using their 10,000 watt daytime directional antenna. At the top of each hour, on both the AM and FM stations, a special announcement was broadcast, followed by special test material, including morse code and sweep tones. This lasted for several minutes before returning to regular programming. This test was repeated again at 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM. The 960 signal was turned off at 6:00 AM EST on Tuesday, January 15, 2008.

References

External links

* [http://www.lite1043.ca/ Lite 104.3 FM]
* [http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/radio/histories.php?id=434&historyID=215 CFFX History at The Canadian Communications Foundation]
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