City Calgary, Alberta Frequency 1060 kHz | Branding Funny 1060AM Repeater(s) CFVP | |
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Slogan "The Best Stand-Up Comedy 24/7" First air date May 18, 1922 (experimental 1921–1922) | ||
CKMX is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 1060 AM in Calgary, Alberta owned by Bell Media. The station broadcasts a comedy format branded on-air as Funny 1060AM. CKMX's studios are located on Centre Street in Eau Claire, while its transmitters are located near Southeast Calgary. At night it can be heard as far west as Snohomish, Washington.
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History
The station dates back to 1921, when W. W. Grant set up an experimental station in High River, which aired the first radio concerts in western Canada. In 1922, Grant moved the station to Calgary and adopted the calls CFCN. He was granted a commercial license—the second in Calgary, after CFAC—on May 18. It was a phantom station affiliate of the Canadian National Railway radio network and later of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Dominion Network. In 1947, the station moved to its current AM frequency at 1060 kHz. It can be heard on shortwave on 6030 kilohertz (via its repeater CFVP, reaching western North America.
It became CKMX in the Fall of 1994 when Maclean-Hunter sold it to Standard Broadcasting while retaining ownership of sister station CFCN-TV, and switched the format to hot adult contemporary (which would shift to alternative rock in mid-1993) under the name Mix 1060 from contemporary hit radio as AM106. On December 1, 1995, the station adopted an adult standards format; this ended in 2005, when the station adopted a classic country music format. It had the distinction of being the last radio station in Canada to broadcast a continuous classic country format (other stations in Canada carry classic country, such as CJDL and CFCW, but their formats are more properly described as "traditional country," since those stations also carry contemporary hits in their playlists). According to the Fall 2011 PPM data report, released by BBM Canada, Classic Country AM 1060 was ranked #15 for the Calgary market. Standard Broadcasting would be acquired by Astral Media in 2007, and in turn by Bell Media in 2013. The Bell purchase reunited CKMX with its former television sister.
On September 12, 2013, at 6 AM, CKMX flipped from classic country to an all-comedy format as Funny 1060AM, which features stand-up comedy bits performed by major stand-up and improvisational comedians. The station is one of several Bell-owned stations to air programming from the U.S. syndicated radio network 24/7 Comedy—which was first launched in Canada by sister station CKSL in London, Ontario by Astral Media's syndication arm Orbyt Media (now a part of Bell) in 2012.