CKLG On February 3, 1955, CKLG, owned by Lions Gate Broadcasting Ltd., began transmitting at 1070 kHz on the AM band with a 1,000-watt transmitter. Originally, studios and transmitter were both located in
North Vancouver. The radio station was controlled by the
Gordon Gibson Sr. and his family, who were involved in the logging business. (Gordon Gibson, Sr, was known as "The Bull of the Woods"). In 1958, the station changed frequencies from 1070 kHz to 730 kHz and increased power to 10,000 watts. The transmitter site was moved from North Vancouver to Delta. The station was sold to Moffat Broadcasting Ltd. in 1961, and in 1964, launched an FM sister station, the original CKLG-FM (now
CFOX-FM), at 99.3
MHz. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, CKLG (also known as
LG73) played a variety of
contemporary music, at times ranking as one of the most popular radio stations in the Vancouver
radio market. In 1975, the station once again increased power, raising it to the current 50,000 watts. In 1984, CKLG began broadcasting in
AM stereo using the
Kahn-Hazeltine C-QUAM system. Later it switched to the
Motorola system. The station's popularity declined in the early 1990s, as listeners switched to FM radio for music listening. In 1992, Shaw Radio (now
Corus Entertainment) purchased Moffat's Vancouver radio properties. Shaw tried a brief and unsuccessful attempt at a
talk radio format from September 1993 until February 23, 1994. The station flipped to a
hot adult contemporary format, which lasted for the next seven years, despite new competition from station
CKZZ-FM. CKZZ originally began as a
rhythmic contemporary station in 1991 before moving towards a more mainstream
contemporary hit radio format in 1996.
All-News CJNW On February 1, 2001, CJNW flipped to
all-news radio, and the station stopped broadcasting in AM stereo. Carrying the new call letters CJNW and the on-air branding "NW2", Corus marketed the station as a
brand extension of its new sister station, news/talk
CKNW (which Corus had acquired from
Western International Communications in 2000). However, the new format was unsuccessful in the ratings, and abandoned after approximately 14 months.
Mojo Radio On May 28, 2002, at 5 a.m., CJNW discontinued the all-news format and began a nearly -month-long
stunt of
modern rock music, which also included a month of downtime for a transmitter site upgrade. On August 6, at 6 a.m., the station changed call letters once again to CHMJ, and flipped to a
hot talk format branded as
MOJO 730, Talk Radio for Guys, which was based on sister station
CFMJ in Toronto. When that format failed to attract a large enough audience, the station changed to a
sports radio format in February 2004, branded as
MOJO Sports Radio, AM 730. The station would compete primarily with
CHUM's
CKST Team 1040. It was the radio home of the
Vancouver Giants junior hockey team, the
Vancouver Whitecaps soccer team and other local sports events including
UBC Thunderbirds and
SFU Clansmen football and basketball games. It also carried
Seattle Seahawks games from Seattle's
KIRO. It was an
ESPN Radio network affiliate and also shared some sports content with CKNW.
AM 730 On May 30, 2006, CHMJ terminated its sports radio format, switching to a stunt of a series of promotional content. The station re-launched at 7:30 a.m. on June 5, with a new format described as "continuous drive-time
traffic and the best of talk". Programming consisted of continuous traffic reports during the morning and afternoon
drive times and rebroadcasts of talk radio programming from CKNW. CHMJ also continued to provide play-by-play coverage of
Vancouver Giants WHL hockey,
Vancouver Whitecaps, and
Seattle Seahawks NFL football. On November 26, 2006, CHMJ dropped the CKNW encores and began carrying traffic programming at all times, along with brief news and weather segments. On July 3, 2016, CHMJ was knocked off the air temporarily by a fire that broke out in
Burns Bog, where the station's transmitter site is located. The station was broadcast temporarily on the
HD3 digital signal of sister station 101.1
CFMI-FM. On April 8, 2021, Corus Entertainment announced it had acquired the radio broadcasting rights of the
BC Lions of the
Canadian Football League, and
Vancouver Whitecaps FC of
Major League Soccer, following Bell Media's decision to reformat
CKST from sports to comedy. CHMJ will air games while sister station CKNW will air weekly programming related to the Whitecaps and BC Lions, in addition to an exclusive coaches' show. On April 1, 2022, the station's call letters were changed to CKGO.
CKNW simulcast and closedown On June 26, 2024, amid ongoing cuts by Corus Entertainment, CKGO ended its all-traffic format and flipped to a simulcast of CKNW. Corus stated that the simulcast was an interim measure, and that it would ultimately only operate one news-talk AM station in Vancouver. On January 21, 2025, Corus announced that CKGO would close, and that the branding, programming, and call letters of CKNW would move to 730 beginning February 24, 2025. Corus stated that the move would improve CKNW's coverage in
Downtown Vancouver and the
Lower Mainland. The move echoes a frequency swap performed by Edmonton sister station
CHED in 2024, whose sister station
CHQT had been closed down in a similar manner to CKGO the same day. Corus returned the 980 licence to the CRTC on March 11, and the CRTC formally canceled it on May 15, 2025. ==References==