CILK-FM

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CILK-FM is a Canadian radio station located in Kelowna, British Columbia. Broadcasting at 101.5 FM, the station airs an adult contemporary format branded as 101.5 Silk FM.

Current on-air talent include Andy & TJ (who are now engaged to be married and met as hosts of the Silk FM morning show), Chanine Carr, and Mark Jeffries.

Syndicated programming includes the The John Tesh Show every weeknight from 7 PM till 11 PM.

[edit] History

CILK-FM traces its origins to December 21, 1984 when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission awarded a new FM license for the Kelowna market to Silk FM Broadcasting Ltd., a company two-thirds controlled by veteran radio broadcaster Nick Frost.

CILK-FM signed on for the first time at 101.5 mHz with a Soft Adult Contemporary format at 10 AM, June 21, 1985, with an average effective radiated power of 11,000 watts. The transmitter had a northward-directed pattern from the 3,200 foot level of Okanagan Mountain, 7 kilometres south of Kelowna city centre.

On May 7, 1993 Silk FM Broadcasting Ltd. applied to amend its broadcasting licence by relocating the transmitter site on Okanagan Mountain approximately 3 kilometers to the south and by decreasing the effective radiated power from 11,000 to 10,300 watts. The applicant indicated these changes would improve service to the Central Okanagan area. On July 19 of the same year, the CRTC approved the application.

In 1995, Nick Frost hired a single employee whose mandate was to start up an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The work place, and all the associated equipment, was set up in the lobby of the radio station Silk FM. By the end of the first week of operation there were five brand new Internet subscribers. Within five years the subscriber list was up to about 6000. In 2000, Silk.Net ISP was sold to Pacific Coast Net Inc., which itself was subsequently sold to Uniserve Communications Inc. That same year, Silk FM Broadcasting Ltd. launched an online news and local information Web portal Castanet.net.

At the end of June, 2004, CILK-FM changed from “Soft Rock” to “All 80’s” which lasted until Labour Day of the same year, when it adopted an “80's, 90's & Now” classic rock format. On October 5, the CRTC announced that Silk FM Broadcasting had applied to add rebroadcast transmitters in the nearby Okanagan cities of Vernon and Penticton, in addition to its owned and operated rebroadcast transmitters at Big White Mountain and Magna Bay. On February 28, 2005, the CRTC denied the application to add the transmitters into Vernon and Penticton on the grounds that it would result in a significant increase to the coverage of CILK-FM into the adjacent radio markets.

On May 3, 2006, several years after Nick Frost bought out minority shareholders of Silk FM Broadcasting Ltd. and became sole owner of the company, he announced the sale of CILK-FM and its two broadcast transmitters to Standard Radio Inc. for a total purchase price of $9.25 million CAD. The sale was approved unconditionally by the CRTC in December 2006.

In the summer of 2007, Silk FM modified its format to adult contemporary, playing contemporary and modern hits and continues to be owned and operated by the Standard Radio Inc., the largest privately-held radio broadcasting company in Canada. Nick Frost, for his part, has renamed Silk FM Broadcasting Ltd. to Castanet Media Ltd. to own and operate his sole remaining business, local news and information online portal Castanet.net. Interestingly, Castanet.net switched news partners from Frost's former station CILK-FM to his former cross-town competitors, CKOV-FM (branded as "B-103 Kelowna's Best Country") and CKLZ-FM (branded as "Power 104 Modern Rock"), both of which are owned by the Jim Pattison Group.

In October 2007, Astral Media acquired Standard Broadcasting's terrestrial radio and television assets, including CILK-FM.

[edit] References

• BC Radio History - CILK
• 101.5 Silk FM | Standard Radio Information on the station.
• B.C. Interior radio station history | Canadian Communications Foundation

[edit] External links

• The Best Variety of Yesterday & Today | 101.5 Silk FM Official website.
• 101.5 CILK Player Webcast site