CBC opens first new radio station in Ontario in 40 years
On Monday, CBC opened a new radio station in Kitchener-Waterloo, the first one in Ontario in 40 years. The new station will have a mix of hyper-local news, current affairs, and local cultural content. Tamara Baluja reports.
By Tamara Baluja
CBC opened a new radio station in Kitchener-Waterloo, the first one in the province in 40 years. The new station, dubbed CBCKW, aired on 89.1 FM for the first time on Monday March 11 at 6 am with a brand new three-hour show called “The Morning Edition.” Previously, listeners could only tune in to the Toronto-based CBC Metro Morning show.
This is what a radio station looks like in the wee hours right before launch. #kw twitter.com/MikeCBC/status…
— Mike McCulloch (@MikeCBC) March 11, 2013
The new show will have a mix of hyper-local news, current affairs, and local cultural content, says Chuck Thompson, head of media relations at CBC English Services.
Thompson would not verify the cost of running the new eight-employee station citing “competitive reasons.” CBC last opened a radio station in Thunder Bay in 1973, Thompson confirmed.
[node:ad]The newsroom occupies a unit in a redeveloped factory building at 117 King Street West in downtown Kitchener, according to The Record.
The Morning Edition w @craignorriscbc debuts 6am tomorrow w online chat @andreabellemarecbc.ca/kitchener-wate… twitter.com/JudyL_88/statu…
— Judy Lee (@JudyL_88) March 10, 2013
The morning show is hosted by CBC veteran Craig Norris. He will work alongside a team of three producers and three reporters, and “online host” Andrea Bellemare, who will give listeners the chance to comment on the show’s content in real-time, and facilitate online chats with some of the show’s guests.
Here is CBCKW’s storify from their launch date.
Tamara Baluja is an award-winning journalist with CBC Vancouver and the 2018 Michener-Deacon fellow for journalism education. She was the associate editor for J-Source from 2013-2014.