About "730 CKNW"

730 CKNW: Vancouver's News-Talk Powerhouse

730 CKNW is a commercial news and talk radio station licensed to Vancouver, British Columbia, and owned by Corus Entertainment. Broadcasting a full-time talk format with wall-to-wall local news coverage, the station is one of the oldest and most influential voices in British Columbia radio, on the air since August 15, 1944. Long known to generations of listeners as "980 CKNW," the station moved permanently from 980 AM to 730 AM on February 24, 2025, rebranding on air as 730 CKNW. Its studios are located in the TD Tower in downtown Vancouver, and its programming is closely integrated with Global BC's television newsroom. The station's tagline, used throughout its modern history, is "Vancouver's News, Vancouver's Talk."

History: eight decades on the air

CKNW signed on August 15, 1944, from New Westminster, British Columbia, broadcasting at 1230 kHz; the "NW" in the call letters stands for New Westminster, the station's original city of licence. From its earliest days it set itself apart as a news-first operation, becoming the first station in the region to offer hourly newscasts. In 1947 it became the first station in British Columbia to broadcast around the clock, twenty-four hours a day.

The station moved to 1320 kHz in 1949 and then to 980 kHz in 1958, the frequency it would occupy for nearly sixty-seven years. Through the 1960s, legendary broadcaster Jack Webster hosted his own call-in show on the station, helping define the opinionated, phone-driven style that would become CKNW's signature. In the 1970s the station began carrying Vancouver Canucks games, cementing its place as the soundtrack of the city's sporting life.

The decades that followed produced a roster of hosts whose names became synonymous with the station: Bill Good spent twenty-six years on the air, Jon McComb thirty-six, and Bryan "Frosty" Forst forty. Former British Columbia premier Christy Clark hosted a weekday talk program on the station from 2007 to 2010. Over eight decades the station covered the defining moments of the province's history: the completion of the Trans-Canada Highway, the launch of BC Ferries, Typhoon Frieda in 1962, Expo 86, the 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2011 Canucks riots, and countless major weather events and traffic emergencies. In August 2024 the station marked its eightieth anniversary, with past and present hosts sharing memories on air.

Eighty years of firsts

CKNW's anniversary year was an occasion for the station to take stock of a legacy built on industry firsts. Beyond being the region's first station with hourly newscasts and the first in British Columbia to broadcast twenty-four hours a day, the station spent decades as the training ground and proving ground for some of the country's best-known broadcasters. A press retrospective released by Global News and Corus Radio for the anniversary traced the station's arc from its 1944 sign-on through the major provincial milestones it covered live: the completion of the Trans-Canada Highway, the launch of BC Ferries, Typhoon Frieda in 1962, Expo 86, the Winter Olympics, the 2011 Canucks riots, and the region's recurring weather emergencies. The station's 2024-2025 transition from 980 to 730 AM also mirrored a parallel move at its Edmonton sister station, where 630 CHED shifted to 880 AM in October 2024 as Corus consolidated its AM news-talk holdings in each market to a single frequency.

The move from 980 to 730

The 980 frequency era ended as part of a Corus Entertainment restructuring. On June 26, 2024, Corus disbanded the all-traffic format of sister station CKGO (730 AM) and began simulcasting CKNW's programming on the 730 frequency, stating at the time that it would ultimately operate only one AM news-talk station in Vancouver. In January 2025 the company announced that the CKNW branding, programming, and call letters would move permanently to 730 beginning February 24, 2025, citing the 730 signal's better coverage in downtown Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Both signals operated at 50,000 watts, but Corus said the 730 transmitter was newer and could reach listeners more effectively.

After the move, the 980 frequency briefly carried a looping announcement advising listeners of the change before going silent. Corus returned the 980 licence to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which formally cancelled it on May 15, 2025. Listeners who had tuned to 980 CKNW since 1958 now find the same station, same voices, and same format at 730 CKNW.

Programming

730 CKNW's weekday lineup is built around long-form local talk and rolling news coverage. The weekday schedule includes Mornings with Simi from 5:30 to 9 a.m. Pacific, The Mike Smyth Show from 9 a.m. to noon, The Jill Bennett Show from noon to 3 p.m., The Jas Johal Show from 3 to 6 p.m., and The Ben Mulroney Show from 6 to 8 p.m. The format avoids music entirely, prioritizing in-depth discussion, breaking news, and community issues, with programming that blends local and national content focused on current affairs.

The station's news operation works hand in hand with Global BC's television newsroom, and the station's website lives under the Global News banner. Sports coverage remains a core part of the schedule: the station carries play-by-play of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer, alongside weekly programming and coaches' shows tied to both clubs.

The station's audience loyalty is reflected in ratings. In the December 2024 PPM ratings, reported by Broadcast Dialogue, CKNW held the number-one spot among Vancouver listeners twelve and older, with a 12.1 percent share of hours tuned, a testament to its eight-decade grip on the market.

Ownership and sister stations

730 CKNW is owned by Corus Entertainment, operating under Corus Premium Television Ltd. Its radio sisters in the Vancouver market include CFOX-FM and CFMI-FM (Rock 101), and it sits within a larger Corus news family that includes Global BC (CHAN-DT) and the Global News: BC 1 specialty channel. The close ties between the radio station and the television newsroom give CKNW one of the largest local news operations of any Canadian radio station.

Signal and coverage

730 CKNW transmits with 50,000 watts, the maximum power permitted for Canadian AM stations. It is a Class B station licensed by the CRTC, using a directional antenna system from a transmitter site on British Columbia Highway 17 in Surrey, with a three-tower array in the daytime and a four-tower array at night. The station also reaches digital listeners through rebroadcasts on CFMI-HD2 and HD3. Its broadcast area covers Greater Vancouver and much of the Lower Mainland.

A regional institution

Few Canadian radio stations have shaped their region's public conversation as consistently as CKNW. For more than eighty years it has been the station British Columbians turn to when news breaks: during storms, civic emergencies, and championship runs alike. Its alumni shaped Canadian broadcasting far beyond Vancouver, and its long-serving hosts built relationships with listeners measured in decades. The 2025 move to 730 AM changed the number on the dial but nothing about the station's mission: to be, as its branding puts it, Vancouver's news and Vancouver's talk.

How to listen

Listeners can tune in at 730 AM across Greater Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, stream the station live through its website at globalnews.ca/radio/cknw, or find it on major radio apps and smart speakers.