CKLW is a 50,000 watt AM radio station broadcasting at 800 kHz located in Windsor, Ontario. In the late 1960s and early 1970s it was one of the top radio stations in the world, using a very tight Top 40 format devised by legendary radio programmer Bill Drake. During that period it was the top-rated radio station not only in Windsor, but across the river in Detroit, Michigan, and even in cities as far away as Toledo and Cleveland in Ohio. The watt (symbol: W) is the SI derived unit for power. ... }|135px|City of Windsor, Ontario Official Flag]]|Coat Image=[[Image:{{{Coat Image}}}|135px|City of Windsor, Ontario Coat of Arms]]}} {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: {{Canadian City/Location Image is:{{{Location Image Type}}}|[[Image:{{{Location Image}}}|thumbnail|center|250px|City of Windsor, Ontario, Canada location. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Loyal it began, loyal it remains) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Area 1,076,395 km² (4th)  - Land 917,741 km²  - Water 158,654 km² (14. ... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... Top 40 is a radio format based on frequent repetition of songs from a constantly-updated list of the forty best-selling singles. ... His real name is Philip Yarbrough, but he is known by his on-air name, Bill Drake. ... This article refers to the largest city of Michigan. ... State nickname: Wolverine State or Great Lakes State Other U.S. States Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) Official languages English Area 250,941 km² (11th)  - Land 147,255 km²  - Water 103,687 km² (41. ... City nickname: The Glass City Location Location in the state of Ohio Government County Lucas Mayor Jack Ford (D) Physical characteristics Area      Land      Water 217. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... State nickname: The Buckeye State Other U.S. States Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Governor Bob Taft (R) Official languages None Area 116,096 km² (34th)  - Land 106,154 km²  - Water 10,044 km² (8. ...

CKLW had actually been playing top 40 music since 1959, but it took Drake's format and a roster of legendary personalities such as Tom Shannon, Dave Shafer, Mike Rivers, Ted "The Bear" Richards, "Super" Max Kinkel, Pat Holiday, Dick Purtan, and newsman Byron MacGregor (who had a million-selling single, "Americans", in 1974) to raise "The Big 8", as the station referred to itself on the air, to number one in the ratings starting in 1967. Long-time music director Rosalie Trombley was also legendary for her ability to spot a potential hit record, and became the subject of a song by Bob Seger titled "Rosalie."

Some say that the station started to decline in popularity after Canadian content regulations went into effect, but probably the biggest reason for the decline was because listeners were abandoning AM radio in favor of the clearer audio available on FM radio stations like WDRQ and WHYT. CKLW finally abandoned its top 40 format in 1984 in favor of an adult standards "Music of Your Life" format. Today CKLW focuses mostly on local news and information, which some people consider a waste of a high-powered station with a signal that reaches far beyond its immediate local area. Canadian content or can-con refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requirements that radio and television broadcasters (including cable TV networks) must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from Canada. ... Mediumwave radio transmissions (sometimes called Medium frequency or MF) are those between the frequencies of 300 kHz and 3000 kHz. ... FM radio is a broadcast technology invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong that uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity broadcast radio sound. ... WDRQ is the callsign for the former Detroit, Michigan (USA) FM radio station 93. ...

In 1948, CKLW started CKLW-FM on 93.9 MHz (now CIDR). Despite a powerful 100,000-watt signal, CKLW's FM sister has never been able to attract a sizeable audience, at least not on the American side of the border, although the station did make a few attempts to recapture CKLW-AM's glory days with an oldies format and some of the classic "Big 8" jingles and personalities, most notably as "93.9 The Legend" in the early 1990s. There was an attempt to put the AM's top 40 format on the FM station as "94 Fox FM" in 1984, but it failed when the CRTC refused to approve the format change from big band music. Over the years, the station has also featured country, classic rock, urban, and adult alternative (as "93-9 The River" in the late 1990s) formats. CIDR-FM currently runs a hot adult contemporary format as "93.9 FM, Today's Best Music". CIDR is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 93. ...

The operation also included CKLW-TV, Channel 9. When the Canadian government requested RKO General divest itself of its Canadian holdings, the stations were sold to a consortium of the CBC and Baton Broadcasting. Baton ran the radio station for several years, before selling to CHUM. When the CBC took full ownership of the television station, it changed its call letters to CBET. CBET is the television call sign for the CBCs television station in Windsor, Ontario. ... The classic logo of RKO Radio Pictures. ... The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known by the abbreviation CBC, is Canadas government-owned radio and television broadcaster. ... The Baton Broadcasting System (BBS) was a Canadian system of television stations located in Ontario and Saskatchewan. ... Chum can mean: a friend (chiefly a U.K. term but also fully understood in U.S.) a type of salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), native to the northern Pacific and adjacent waterways a mixture of fish parts and blood used to attract sharks any foods used to attract fish or other... CBET is the television call sign for the CBCs television station in Windsor, Ontario. ...

CHUM continues to own CKLW and CIDR today, along with alternative rock station CIMX (88.7 FM, "89X") and oldies/nostalgia station CKWW (580 AM, "AM 580 Motor City Favorites"). CIMX is the call sign of a radio station based in Windsor, Ontario. ...

External links

• Official AM 800 CKLW site
• The Classic CKLW Page