Branding Easy 101 First air date October 1, 1965 | Frequency 101.3 FM | |
CKOT-FM is a Canadian radio station licensed to Tillsonburg, Ontario, broadcasting on 101.3 FM. Owned by the Lamers family via the Tillsonburg Broadcasting Company, the station broadcasts a soft adult contemporary/easy listening format branded as Easy 101. Its transmitter is located near the interchange of Highway 19 and Highway 401 (Exit 218), close to Ingersoll.
History
CKOT-FM is the second radio station to serve Tillsonburg, Ontario, and is the sister station to the now defunct CKOT (AM) and the current operating CJDL-FM.
The station's history dates back to 1964. Its owner was the late John B. Lamers (1905- April 17, 1994). His application for a radio station on the FM dial at 106.7 FM was accepted, but he was advised to use the frequency of 100.5 FM instead. The station first aired on October 1, 1965. Its ERP was 1.135 kW. Its studios were in Tillsonburg, while its transmitter was located to the northwest of the town. CKOT-FM originally acted as a simulcast transmitter while CKOT (AM) was on the air (the FM transmitter was able to operate from 6 a.m. to midnight, even though the AM station could only air from sunrise to sunset, as it was a daytimer station). Since the FM station was on the air longer, it proved to be successful.
By January 1970, CKOT-FM and CKOT (AM) had adopted different programming. CKOT-FM adopted "The Sound of Music" easy listening format, while the AM station became known as "Active, Lively, Community Information Radio."
In 1974, the station was granted permission to move from 100.5 MHz to 101.3 MHz, to increase its power from 1,135 watts to 50,000 wats, and to move its transmitter to a new site (its current location). This went into effect in December 1974.
In 1996, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved a change of ownership of Tillsonburg Broadcasting Co. Ltd., resulting in John D. Lamers, Jr. increasing his ownership interest from 36.8 to 50.3%. This gave him a controlling interest in his Tillsonburg Broadcasting (also known as the "John D. Lamers Group"), and its two radio stations (CKOT-AM-FM). Other shareholders are Robert Lamers and Joanne Fenton.
On February 17, 2013, CKOT operating at 1510 kHz on the AM band left the air and was one of Canada's last daytime-only radio stations.
On September 27, 2016, Tillsonburg Broadcasting Company announced that it had sold its stations to Rogers Media pending CRTC approval, ending over 50 years of local ownership.