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1926 Radio

10 BP Wingham, Ontario 250 metres 10 watts

CKNX 1200 Kcs 100 watts then 920 kcs 10,000 watts

Station History:

In 1926, in Wingham, a town of under 3,000 people, W. T. "Doc" Cruickshank took time out from his job in a local factory to experiment with a tiny radio transmitter he made from a drawing in Popular Mechanics magazine. It was so small, on the top of an old butter box, he could carry it from his home to his shop where he had started to sell and repair radios. There, local people would gather to entertain their neighbors who sat glued to their radios at home. This project was so much fun, "Doc" called it a "joke", and since he didn't have a turntable or records, all the programming was live and unscheduled.

There was so much support and encouragement from the community that the station soon moved to amateur status as 10 BP, and then in 1935 "Doc" Cruickshank became the proud owner of a new commercial radio licence for CKNX on 1200 kcs at 100 watts.

In 1936, Harry Boyle, (later to become CRTC Chairman) was in Wingham covering a murder trial as a free lance newspaper correspondent. He heard the station and went to see "Doc" Cruickshank to tell him he should be covering local happenings as well as material from the big city newspapers. Harry started the next night doing a fifteen minute "local" newscast, and CKNX was on its way to becoming an area radio station.

Soon Boyle became a full-time staff member and was broadcasting a noon hour program that as well as local news, included an agricultural report with the local Ag reps, entertainment notices, upcoming meetings in the area, births, deaths and any other information that was important to this large rural area. The station became known as Ontario's Farm Station and featured a variety of live and recorded music.

CKNX moved to 920 kcs on the dial in 1941, increased power to 1,000 watts in 1942, and 2,500 watts in 1959.

The CKNX radio service was greatly expanded after World War II, with former staff returning from the Services. New people included Bob Carbert who headed up a new Farm Department dealing with news of importance to the areas largest industry. Tory Gregg was brought in to organize another of "Doc" Cruickshank's fondest dreams - a league to bring sport opportunities to all the towns and cities in Western Ontario. This became the Western Ontario Athletic Association, soon the largest amateur sports oranization in Canada. These commitments to Agriculture and Sports continued.

In 1945, CKNX radio was broadcasting 16 hours each day with a staff of 26.

Soon, live musicians began to gather at CKNX, with two country groups, The Ranch Boys and the Golden Prairie Cowboys, and a modern dance band led by Bert Worth.

These, and an unknown number of other musicans became the backbone of "The Saturday Night Barn Dance", which, for the next 20 years, packed halls from Sarnia to Owen Sound to Stratford and every place in between for the weekly broadcast and dance.

New and innovative ways were developed to make personal contact with the large widespread audience over the five counties of Western Ontario. News correspondents were hired in a dozen key locations to feed news happenings by phone. Loud speaker systems were made available to area meetings, trade fairs, Fall Fairs, complete with operator and often an announcer as well. On air support was given to service clubs, farm organizations and other worthwhile causes

The concept was to serve the area as an electronic daily news and information service in the absence of a daily newspaper in any of the towns and villages.

On November 18th, 1955, CKNX-TV signed on the air providing a new depth of experience for many of the radio staff members.

On March 1, 1971, CKNX Radio along with Television was sold to The Blackburn Group of London, with long experience in broadcasting and newspapers. "Doc" Cruickshank died on February 28, the day before the sale was finalized. The end of an era. The new President was Murray Brown of London, and the General Manager of the CKNX complex was long time staff member Ross Hamilton.

In 1975, the music format for CKNX AM was changed from the traditional country and western sound to Modern Country, appealing to a wider audience and known as Country Music 920.

In 1977 CKNX-FM signed on from the Formosa TV tower with a popular music format covering Huron, Bruce, Grey, Perth and Wellington counties.

In 1982, CKNX was granted a power increase to 10,000 watts.

In 1992, when CKNX-TV was sold to Baton Broadcasting System of Toronto, CKNX-AM & FM continued to be part of the Blackburn Group of companies. Jack Gillespie was appointed General Manager.

Source: Ross Hamilton - former General Manager

Audio: Harry Boyle interview - CCF Library

updated to April, 1996

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