THE HISTORY OF CKNX
1926 Radio
10 BP Wingham, Ontario 250 metres 10 watts
CKNX 1200 Kcs 100 watts then 920 kcs 10,000 watts
Station History:
In 1926, in Wingham, a town of under 3,000 people, W. T. "Doc" Cruickshank took time out from his job in a local factory to experiment with a tiny radio transmitter he made from a drawing in Popular Mechanics magazine. It was so small, on the top of an old butter box, he could carry it from his home to his shop where he had started to sell and repair radios. There, local people would gather to entertain their neighbors who sat glued to their radios at home. This project was so much fun, "Doc" called it a "joke", and since he didn't have a turntable or records, all the programming was live and unscheduled.There was so much support and encouragement from the community that the station soon moved to amateur status as 10 BP, and then in 1935 "Doc" Cruickshank became the proud owner of a new commercial radio licence for CKNX on 1200 kcs at 100 watts.
In 1936, Harry Boyle, Harry started doing a fifteen minute "local" newscast, and CKNX was on its way to becoming an area radio station.
CKNX moved to 920 kcs on the dial in 1941, increased power to 1,000 watts in 1942, and 2,500 watts in 1959.
The CKNX radio service was greatly expanded after World War II, with former staff returning from the Services. Tory Gregg was brought in to organize another of "Doc" Cruickshank's fondest dreams - a league to bring sport opportunities to all the towns and cities in Western Ontario. This became the Western Ontario Athletic Association, soon the largest amateur sports oranization in Canada. These commitments to Agriculture and Sports continued.
In 1945, CKNX radio was broadcasting 16 hours each day with a staff of 26. On air support was given to service clubs, farm organizations and other worthwhile causes The concept was to serve the area as an electronic daily news and information service in the absence of a daily newspaper in any of the towns and villages.
On November 18th, 1955, CKNX-TV signed on the air providing a new depth of experience for many of the radio staff members.
On March 1, 1971, CKNX Radio along with Television was sold to The Blackburn Group of London, with long experience in broadcasting and newspapers. "Doc" Cruickshank died on February 28, the day before the sale was finalized. The end of an era.
In 1975, the music format for CKNX AM was changed from the traditional country and western sound to Modern Country, appealing to a wider audience and known as Country Music 920. In 1977 CKNX-FM signed on from the Formosa TV tower with a popular music format covering Huron, Bruce, Grey, Perth and Wellington counties.
In 1982, CKNX was granted a power increase to 10,000 watts.
In 2009 caught up by the digital age CKNX signed off for the last time.
I was always proud of the fact that Wingham was the smallest town in North America, some say, the World, to have its own Radio and TV station. There does some to be a bit of controversy over the exact population varying from 2700 to 5000. Still that is a small place. But Doc Cruikshanks certainly put the place on the map. The image shown with this feature shows the CKNX studios at 199-201 Josephine St. 201 was originally Doc Cruikshank’s radio shop and he is shown on the inset top left with this first home made transmitter. Just below that is the original CKNX logo. Top right we have one of the small studio control rooms. I remember doing a stint in exactly that room. I think it was singing but I am not sure. I think some of my schoolmates might have been there as well. My mum used to work at the Simpson’s order office just down the road so I passed by the CKNX building most days. I remember distinctly stopping to wonder at the beautiful (but now very old fashioned) RCA colour TV actually work
Brian Rider
