Branding 89.9 The Wave First air date May 12, 1926 | Frequency 89.9 MHz (FM) Format Classic hits | |
Slogan Halifax's Greatest Hits! ERP 100 kilowatts
horizontal polarization only | ||
CHNS-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting from Halifax, Nova Scotia at 89.9 FM. The station offers a classic hits format branded as "89.9 The Wave". CHNS-FM is owned and operated by the Maritime Broadcasting System which also owns sister station CHFX-FM. CHNS-FM's studios are located on Lovett Lake Court in Halifax, while its transmitter is located on Washmill Lake Drive in Clayton Park.
History
CHNS was Nova Scotia's first radio station, first hitting the airwaves on May 12, 1926 on 930 AM. In 1930, it switched to 910 AM but switched back to 930 four years later. In 1941, it switched to its final position on the AM band, 960 kHz. It was the host of Canadian National Railway radio "phantom station" CNRH until that network was disbanded. CHNS was an affiliate of the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission from 1933 to 1936 when the network became the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It acted as a CBC outlet until 1945 when CBH was launched as a CBC-owned station and CHNS became an affiliate of the CBC's Dominion Network until 1960. From the 1940s to the 1980s, CHNS played host to many of Canada's top broadcasters, including: Knowlton Nash, Mike Duffy, Mike MacNeil, Bob Oxley, Jessie Coade, Gerry Parsons, Frank Cameron, Stan Carew, Don Tremaine, and Ian Hanomansing.
CHNS had an intense Top 40 ratings war with rival station CJCH-FM during the 1970s.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, the station played an adult contemporary format before flipping to oldies in February 1992 and branding itself "Oldies 96 CHNS", broadcasting in C-QUAM stereo. CHNS also simulcasted first on 6135, then on 6130 kHz on the 49 meter shortwave band with the call letters CHNX until 2001.
The station received CRTC approval to move to FM in April 2006 and moved to its current frequency at 89.9 FM in July of that year adopting a classic rock format as "89.9 HAL FM". CHNS was given permission to simulcast the FM programming for 90 days on the AM signal and on October 19, 2006, the AM signal was shut down for good, putting an end to 80 years of broadcasting on the AM dial.
The old transmitter house was demolished in 2008.
On August 30, 2013, at 8 am, CHNS flipped to classic hits, branded as "89.9 The Wave". The move comes 4 days after CKUL-FM flipped to AAA.