Classic CKMO ad from 1930 – Vancouver Sun
Sprott Shaw College — This radio station was called CJCE and aired news, communication, and music on AM 750 with 5 watts of power. A modest achievement today, but an important milestone in Canadian Radio History, nonetheless.
The beginning of the CJCE radio station helped mark the way for the exponential growth of radio as the first popular medium for entertainment and information in British Columbia.
From this point on, the radio receiver became a focal point of everyday family life and over 862,000 devices were owned by families across the country. This was the beginning of the mass media revolution that we are still a part of today.
In 1924, Sprott Shaw closed CJCE, but took over another radio station, CFCQ, this time using an impressive 40 watts of power!
This new radio station served the purpose of communicating with the public and at the same time, provided quality education to Sprott Shaw students at the Commerce, Radio, and Telegraphy School.
Four years later, in 1928, CFCQ was renamed CKMO, and increased its power from 100 to 1000 watts!
The station’s motto was “life happens – we talk about it,” which RJ Sprott began toying around with in the 1920s.
The Province 1955
