1990
Brad Phillips joined the yet to go on the air CKZZ-FM. He had been program director at CKLG-AM.
1991
CKZZ-FM 95.3 signed on at 8 a.m. Thursday May 23, running commercial-free until Monday May 27. South Fraser Broadcasting, operators of CISL in suburban Richmond, founded the station. The studio was shared with its sister station in Richmond. The transmitter was located on Mount Seymour, northeast of Vancouver, and operated with a horizontal peak power of 71,300 watts. Its format was authorized by the CRTC as “Dance Music”. “Zed 95.3” became immediately successful with a younger audience, due mostly to an exceptionally strong promotional presence at local high schools, its unique blend of music and a general movement of listeners from AM to FM.
1993
CKZZ hired Canada's funniest female comic, Janice Ungaro. The stand-up comic joined Clay St. Thomas, Valerie Ambrose and Joanna Mileos on the Z Breakfast Jam effective August 23.
1995
Michael Dickinson agreed to sell CKZZ-FM and CISL to Standard Radio. Dickinson said he needed a rest from radio. He put CISL on the air in 1980 and
Z-95 in 1991.
In September Rhona Raskin left CKZZ-FM to host "Sex, Lies and Audio Tape" on the Satellite Radio Network. KISS-FM and at least seven other stations would carry the program, which runs for two hours daily, five days a week.
1996
On May 8th the CRTC announced approval of the application by Standard to acquire the assets of CKZZ-FM and CISL for a purchase price of $18 million. Standard committed to create, for each week over a six-year period commencing in 1998, 30-second commercials promoting current or newly released Canadian albums. Z-95.3 moved from its originally mandated Dance format to a much more mainstream Contemporary Hit Radio.
2000
In December, program director Eric Samuels was named PD at CKFM-FM in Toronto and vice president of programming for Standard Radio.
2001
Rob Mise was named program director for CKZZ and CISL. He had been with Power 107 in Calgary.
Erin Davis joined Z95 as morning news voice. She had been with CFOX-FM.
Z-95.3 showed continued success, as Bureau of Broadcast Measurement placed the station at number two overall in the Vancouver market during much of the year. In October, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters recognized the station by awarding a Gold Ribbon for “Promotion–Audience Building”. In November, the U.S. trade publication “Radio Ink” named it to its list of the “50 Best Radio Station Websites in the World”, ranking it 28th.
2002
In March, Canadian Music Week named CKZZ-FM “Station of the Year”. In mid August, the station edged away from its purely Contemporary Hits format and started using the slogan “The Best of the Nineties and Today”.
2004
In late February the station started playing an uninterrupted stream of hit music from its 13-year history, in preparation for another format tweak. In early March, Canadian Music Week named Z-95.3 “CHR Station of the Year”. Ironically, the award was made just a few days after it moved to a “Hot Adult Contemporary” format with the slogan, “Zed Ninety-Five Three, Your Music Your Z, with the Best of the 80s, 90s and Now”.
2007
On June 2, it was announced that morning, midday and afternoon show hosts had been released from the station. At midnight Sunday, June 3, it ceased operating as Z-95.3, stating that a new radio station would emerge the following Tuesday. After running mostly comedy cuts over the weekend, it re-launched at 7 a.m. on June 5 as “95 Crave - Music That Moves You”, with the first song played, “Music” by Madonna. Station management announced that the new format generally targeted 25-45 year old women and had lowered current music offerings from 75% to 30%, with the remainder from the 1980s and ‘90s.
On September 27, Astral Media Radio G.P. received CRTC approval to acquire the assets of the radio and TV undertakings owned by Standard Radio Ltd., subject to certain conditions. The purchase included CKZZ-FM.
2009
On January 8 at 4:00 p.m., CKZZ-FM returned to a Hot Adult Contemporary format under the banner "Virgin Radio 953".
In the summer Virgin FM announced its new fall line-up: Breakfast with Nat and Drew (5-9), Taylor Jukes (9-noon), Kevin Lim (noon-3), Kiah and Tara-Jean (3-6) and On Air with Ryan Seacrest (6-9).
On August 28, the CRTC renewed the transitional digital radio licence of CKZZ-DR-1.
Written by Gord Lansdell , Bill Dulmage - Updated September, 2009
