Frequency 98.3 MHz (FM) Format public broadcasting | Branding CBC Radio 2 First air date December 10, 1962 | |
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Broadcast area Winnipeg Capital Region | ||
CBW-FM is the call sign of the CBC Radio 2 station in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The station broadcasts at 98.3 MHz on the FM dial.
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CBW-FM is one of the most powerful radio stations in Canada, operating at 160,000 watts, while most FM stations run at 100,000 watts or less. (Winnipeg is also home to the most powerful station, 97.5 CJKR-FM at 310,000 watts.)
History
CBW-FM is Winnipeg's second FM station, signing on the air on December 10, 1962. It began as a commercial classical music station with the call sign CFMW (Radio Fine Music Winnipeg). At the time it had the strongest FM signal in all of Canada at 354,000 watts, giving it a range of 200 miles. it broadcast from a studio building at 4051 Pembina Hwy. in St. Norbert, Manitoba, although some programming came from CFAM in Altona.
The CBC subsequently purchased the station in 1965. CBW-FM joined the CBC Stereo network at its start on November 3, 1975.
Today, CBW-FM has its studios and offices at 541 Portage Avenue, along with its English-language sister stations 990 CBW and Channel 6 CBWT.
Programming
CBW-FM was the originating station of the jazz program After Hours since 1993, but the program aired its final episode on March 16, 2007. Tonic, a similarly themed program hosted from Montreal by Katie Malloch on weeknights and from Calgary by Tim Tamashiro on weekends, debuted in its place on March 19.
Transmitters
An expansion of CBW-FM is in the works for other regions of Manitoba. Future rebroadcasters are planned for Dauphin (106.1), Flin Flon (89.7), The Pas (100.3), and Thompson (90.7).