CKGL

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title: "CKGL" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["radio-stations-in-kitchener-waterloo", "rogers-communications-radio-stations", "news-and-talk-radio-stations-in-canada", "radio-stations-established-in-1949", "1949-establishments-in-ontario"] description: "Radio station in Kitchener, Ontario" topic_path: "geography/canada" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CKGL" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Radio station in Kitchener, Ontario ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]

Field	Value
logo	570 NewsRadio Kitchener.png
name	CKGL
airdate
frequency	570 kHz
city	Kitchener, Ontario
area	Waterloo Region
format	News - Talk
owner	Rogers Radio
licensee	Rogers Media, Inc.
affiliations	Kitchener Rangers
Toronto Blue JaysHamilton Tiger-CatsWestwood One Sports
power	10,000 watts
branding	570 NewsRadio Kitchener
sister_stations	CIKZ-FM, CHYM-FM
licensing_authority	CRTC
class	B
website	kitchener.citynews.ca/
callsign_meaning	Kitchener Great Lakes Broadcasting Company (former owner)
former_callsigns
former_frequencies
::

| logo = 570 NewsRadio Kitchener.png | logo_size = | name = CKGL | airdate = | frequency = 570 kHz | city = Kitchener, Ontario | country = CA | area = Waterloo Region | format = News - Talk | owner = Rogers Radio | licensee = Rogers Media, Inc. | affiliations = Kitchener Rangers Toronto Blue JaysHamilton Tiger-CatsWestwood One Sports | power = 10,000 watts | branding = 570 NewsRadio Kitchener | sister_stations = CIKZ-FM, CHYM-FM | licensing_authority = CRTC | class = B | website = kitchener.citynews.ca/ | callsign_meaning = Kitchener Great Lakes Broadcasting Company (former owner) | former_callsigns = | former_frequencies = CKGL (570 AM) is a Canadian radio station in Kitchener, Ontario, serving the Waterloo Region. It airs a news/talk radio format branded on-air as 570 NewsRadio Kitchener. The station is owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, with studios on The Boardwalk off Ira Needles Avenue.Kitchener.citynews.ca/contact

CKGL broadcasts at 10,000 watts. To protect other stations on 570 AM from interference, it uses a directional antenna with a five-tower array. The transmitter is off Brant-Waterloo Road in North Dumfries, about 20 km south of Kitchener.FCCdata.org/CKGL

Programming

On weekdays, CKGL has all-news blocks in morning and afternoon drive times. In late mornings, Mike Farwell hosts a local talk and interview show, followed by the nationally syndicated Now You Know with Rob Snow. On weekday evenings, daytime shows are repeated and the Westwood One Sports runs overnight.

CKGL carries professional baseball, football and hockey games. It is an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Radio Network and of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Audio Network. The station also broadcasts Kitchener Rangers games of the Ontario Hockey League.

History

Early years

The station was launched in 1949 on the FM dial. It was heard on 96.7 MHz and its call sign was CKCR-FM. Few people owned FM receivers in that era, so it mostly simulcast the programming of sister station 1490 CKCR.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Chym1.png" caption="CKGL 96.7 logo"] ::

In 1965, the stations were acquired by Great Lakes Broadcasting, a consortium that included the publishing company Maclean-Hunter. Both stations changed their call signs to CHYM (pronounced as "chime") that year. Among the disc jockeys heard on CHYM were Gene Scott, Vic Thomas, Sandy Hoyt, Keith Sterling, and Larry Shannon. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Ckgl4.png" caption="Original CKGL 570 logo"] ::

Easy listening

In the late 1960s, the Canadian government was encouraging FM stations to offer distinct programming from their AM counterparts. An easy listening format was launched on CHYM-FM in 1968.

In 1972, the FM outlet's call letters changed again, to the current CKGL (evidently for "Kitchener, Great Lakes"). In 1982, Maclean-Hunter took over full ownership of the stations. The format on the FM station flipped to country music. The AM station remained full service adult contemporary.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/CKGL-AM.png" caption="Original 570 News logo"] ::

AM-FM switch

Management decided the country music programming should be on the AM station and the AC format should go on the FM station. The CHYM and CKGL intellectual units (call signs, branding, and programming, but not the licences themselves) swapped frequencies on September 4, 1992, at 8:00 a.m. CKGL moved to the AM band and CHYM moved to the FM band.

CRTC approval was required. But it was treated as only a format swap between the existing stations at 570 and 96.7, not a formal exchange of frequencies.

Rogers Communications

The stations became part of Rogers Communications in 1994 when that company acquired Maclean-Hunter. Through the 1990s, CKGL had been adding more talk programming and reducing the amount of music it played. On June 19, 1997, CKGL completed its transition and became a news-talk station. In late 2005, CKGL adopted an all-news format for the morning and afternoon drive time slots.

In 2007, CKGL won the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for "Best Newscast". The winning newscast aired Friday October 6, 2006 at 7 AM and highlighted RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie's intent to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins. CKGL had a reporter live in Pittsburgh when Balsillie made the announcement. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/CityNews_570_logo.jpg" caption="Logo from 2021 until 2024"] ::

In June 2021, Rogers announced that it would rebrand CKGL and its other all-news and news-talk radio stations under the CityNews brand beginning October 18, 2021. The broadcast signal of Citytv's Toronto flagship station reaches Waterloo Region and is also available on cable, satellite, and fibre TV services, but Citytv Toronto does not cover local news in the Kitchener-Waterloo market.

References

References

1. [https://kitchener.citynews.ca/audio/ Kitchener.citynews.ca/audio]
2. "Blue Jays Radio Network".
3. [https://www.ticats.ca/listen/ Ticats Audio Network]. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
4. "Broadcasts – Kitchener Rangers".
5. [https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1977/C%20Section%20Radio%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201977%20P-6.pdf ''Broadcasting Yearbook 1977'' page C-247. Retrieved Dec. 11, 2025.]
6. [https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1991/B-Radio-All-1991-B&W-3.pdf ''Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1991'' page B-390. Retrieved Dec. 11, 2025.]
7. (1992-08-20). "Decision CRTC 92-599".
8. . (June 4, 2021). ["Rogers extends CityNews brand to five more of its news radio stations"](https://medicinehatnews.com/business/2021/06/04/rogers-extends-citynews-brand-to-five-more-of-its-news-radio-stations/). *[[Medicine Hat News]]*.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::