CFJL FM

History

The station was originally launched in 2002 as CHNR-FM, a nostalgia station owned by CKVN Radiolink System Inc. It was acquired by Newcap Radio in 2005. The station was branded as Cafe 100.7 and adopted an adult album alternative format on December 26 of that year with the call sign CKFE-FM. On December 28, 2006, the station became CHNK-FM and was rebranded as Hank 100.7 playing a classic country format.

In September 2007, CHNK-FM successfully applied to the CRTC for a power increase, citing reception difficulties in the market. On December 6, the station was granted the power increase, taking 100.7 FM from 1,300 watts to an average effective radiated power of 60,200 watts.

On July 6, 2010 the station became K-Rock 100.7 and switched to a blues-leaning classic rock format retaining its CHNK call sign. By 2011, CHNK-FM began shifting towards a mainstream rock direction by adding newer live versions of classic rock songs.

In May 2011, Newcap announced that it was selling CHNK-FM and CKJS to Evanov Communications, pending CRTC approval. On October 24, 2011, the CRTC approved Evanov Communications' acquisition of CHNK-FM and its sister station CKJS.

On November 26, 2011, CHNK-FM became CFJL-FM and was branded as The Lounge 100.7, "Winnipeg's Christmas Music Station", playing non-stop Christmas music. The CFJL-FM call sign was previously carried by sister station CHWE-FM, which received its new call sign the same day.

On December 26, 2011, CFJL-FM re-branded as 100.7 The Breeze, with a soft adult contemporary and adult standards format. Like all AC stations owned by Evanov, CFJL is a reporter to the Mediabase and Nielsen BDS Canadian AC panels. In early November 2013, the station dropped its "Breeze" branding and rebranded as simply 100.7 Lite and Refreshing. On January 1, 2014, the station rebranded as Jewel 101 FM, becoming the sixth station owned by Evanov to adopt the branding.

Beginning in 2014, CFJL-FM became the broadcaster for Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball games. In the press announcement for this broadcasting agreement, the station was referred to as 100.7 FM, suggesting a possible rebrand of the station in the next year. [1] Indeed, in October 2013, the CRTC approved a change to CFJL-FM's broadcast licence releasing the station from operating in a specialty format. This allowed the station to remove much of the adult standards material from its playlist and become a straightforward Soft AC station. CFJL had requested this change because the soft AC/nostalgia hybrid format was not economically viable.

In August 2014, the CRTC approved a request by Evanov to move CFJL to the frequency of 100.5 FM, and increase its power to 100,000 watts. Evanov felt that the 100.7 frequency had attracted a poor stigma among advertisers and listeners due to the station's failed attempts to "generate audience interest" under specialty formats. As such, the company believed that moving CFJL would improve the station's viability by providing improved reception, and the opportunity to re-launch the station. The CRTC approved the request.

On the evening of May 25, 2015, the station went off air to allow technicians to install the new, more powerful transmitter. It came back on air on May 26 at 10:00 a.m., and rebranded as Jewel 100.5 FM. Despite the move to the new frequency, the station continued to have poor advertising revenue and ratings (in the Fall 2016 Numeris Ratings Report, CFJL held a 2.9 share of the Winnipeg market).

On February 17, 2017, at 3 p.m., CFJL flipped to a Hot AC format, branded as "Hot 100.5". The first song on "Hot" was "Wannabe" by The Spice Girls. The station's new format focuses on pop, pop-rock and dance-pop hits from the 1990s & 2000s, but also has some rock, R&B, and hip-hop material, as well as some current pop-rock hits.