As FREQ 107 In 1999, Christian Solutions Group Inc. received
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approval to operate
CFEQ-FM, an
English-language Christian rock station. It was a specialty low power radio station at 93.5 FM, broadcasting at 22
watts. In 2000, CFEQ moved from 93.5 to 107.1 FM. The station branded as
FREQ-FM. A year later, the station's licence was revoked by request of the owner of Christian Solutions Group. In 2002, HIS Broadcasting—a company led by the station's previous manager Tom Hibert, and later renamed Kesitah Inc.—received CRTC approval to launch a
Contemporary Christian music station, targeted towards youth and young adults, on the same frequency as the former CFEQ. The new station retained the CFEQ-FM and
FREQ branding, as
FREQ 107, The station initially broadcast a CCM format, but it later adopted a
secular,
modern rock-leaning presentation in an attempt to become more competitive with commercial stations in the market, to downplay its status as a Christian station. As the station's CRTC license still required at least 95% of music played weekly to be "non-classic religious music", Kesitah relied on a broad interpretation of the category.
Acquisition by Golden West, flip to classical In early 2008,
Golden West Broadcasting acquired Kesitah, making CFEQ a
sister station to Winnipeg's other Christian music station,
CHVN-FM. On September 29, 2008, CFEQ-FM flipped to
Christian CHR as
Ignite 107. On February 14, 2011, Golden West applied for a major increase in CFEQ-FM's
effective radiated power, going from 920 watts to 100,000 watts. The CRTC granted approval on October 7, 2011. On April 8, 2013, the CRTC approved a request by Golden West to convert CFEQ to a specialty music format focusing on
classical music. Golden West stated that the station had continued to be unprofitable, and cited Winnipeg's position as a "cultural centre" of Canada, as well as
CBC Radio 2's shift away from classical music, as providing a potential audience. The CRTC approved the application, ruling that the new format would increase the diversity of the market, and that CHVN would be able to supplant CFEQ's former role as a Christian station. The new station, carrying the
CKCL-FM call sign and the
Classic 107 name, launched at 10 a.m. on December 5, 2013. In late 2019, the station's studio moved from its former location at 20 St. Mary's Road in St. Boniface to 1-741 St. Mary's Road in St. Vital, co-locating with sister station
CHVN-FM. ==References==