A Century of Sound: The History of CKRM
Celebrating 100 years in business is a rare milestone – especially in broadcasting. Despite that, this summer, Harvard Media’s 620 CKRM will officially join the centennial club. Located in Regina, Saskatchewan, it’s a station that’s been around through droughts and harvests, Grey Cup wins and Roughrider rebuilds, quiet mornings on the lake and long road trips. Over that time, CKRM’s hosts, music, and long-running shows have truly become part of daily life for listeners, not just in southern Saskatchewan, but throughout the province and beyond.
“Literally every aspect of Harvard Media is participating in marking this anniversary,” says Local Media Director Brad Bazin, who’s been steering the centennial planning committee from day one. “I’m in meetings every day and have been since we first started planning this thing a year and a half ago. It’s become a big team effort - our digital people, our news people, the radio people - everyone doing their part to help out by going through photos, content, articles, memorabilia, and so on.”
Together, the team has planned months’ worth of content leading up to a gala-style event titled “100 Years in One Night” happening July 18 at the Conexus Arts Centre.
The 100-year birthday bash will take place in the gorgeous theatre where CKRM’s current hosts will sit down with nine of the station’s “Icons” to talk about the moments that shaped them.
And while 100 years is an achievement for any business, you have to go back to the beginning to understand why CKRM is particularly noteworthy.
CKRM first went on the air July 27, 1926, in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan – about 45 minutes west of Regina. Radios were a fairly new invention at the time, but had already become an essential item for most families.
“When you think about 1926, automobiles were new, washing machines were new, but the number one thing people ran to the store for was radios,” Brad says. “Especially in rural Saskatchewan. It was the only way to stay connected. How else would you know what was going on?”
During its early years, CKRM wasn’t meant to provide entertainment to farmers in the field and company to those just waking up; it was an agriculture information station.
“These early radio stations were built to give grain prices,” explains Brad. “Look at CKRM’s sister station in Yorkton - GX94. GX means grain exchange. It’s built right into the call sign.”
Fast forward to 1933, and CKRM would move to Regina, where it became a full-fledged entertainment station. Brad says the programming at the time was nothing like today’s genre formats.
“Back then, a top-40 station would play anything and everything,” he recalls. “Doesn’t matter if it was swing, folk, or blues - formats weren’t strictly defined. Basically, if it sounded good, it made it to air.”
While today’s CKRM sits on the 620 position on your radio dial, it didn’t always occupy that space. Over the years, it moved around the AM dial as frequencies and regulations shifted. For a short time, the station even held 540 AM, which, according to Brad, is a big deal.
“It’s the most coveted dial position because of how far it reaches,” he explains. “It covers the largest area with the least amount of wattage. Eventually, the CBC took it over, and CKRM settled at 980 AM, where it stayed for many years.”
It wasn’t until the 1990s, when Saskatchewan went through a full frequency shuffle, that Harvard Media acquired CKRM’s current home - 620 AM. Brad says the impact was immediate.
“That’s why CKRM has such a large reach - 620 on the AM dial, 10,000 watts,” he says. “It covers a massive, massive area. That move was an important chapter in the station’s history, but it only happened because CKRM had already survived an even more crucial turning point years earlier.”
By the mid 1970s, CKRM was in financial trouble, and not the manageable kind.
“Ratings were low, and revenue was lower,” says Brad. “As former Program Director Willie Cole recalls, ‘We were selling stationery to try to make payroll.’”
That’s when station owner George Gallagher stepped in.
Gallagher had already done something bold in Yorkton by turning CJGX into the first full-time country station in Canada. After that change in direction proved successful, he decided to do the same in Regina. It wasn’t a popular or safe decision at the time, as country music wasn’t quite the giant it is today, but it made sense for the listeners CKRM was broadcasting to.
“That gamble to switch to country saved the radio station,” Brad says. “That was the start of the CKRM people know and love today. The talent it attracted, the listeners it connected with, the Rider Radio Network it would later build - the decision made by Gallagher and his team is the foundation the station still stands on.”
By the time George Gallagher sold CKRM and CHMX to The Hill Companies in 1981, the station had finally found its footing - and it had the talent to match. Many of those voices are now being recognized as the “CKRM Icons” - nine individuals selected by a committee of longtime CKRM staff, past and present.
Brad says he wasn’t part of the selection process, but he is closely involved in recognizing them.
“I let another group handle it - people who had long histories with CKRM,” he says. “But I am the one sitting down with each honouree to record their stories, and honestly, the reactions have been great. Some of them were absolutely shocked that they were selected.”
One of those conversations was with Jeff King, speaking about his late father, Fred King. Jeff, now a broadcaster in B.C., told Brad that his father and Willie Cole’s work on the radio show, The Flea Market, “was must-listen radio.” And that might be an understatement.
What was The Flea Market? Well, back in the 70s and 80s, most stations hosted a “swap and shop” program - a place where people called in to sell lawnmowers or bikes or anything else they might have lying around the house. But hosts Cole and King turned CKRM’s version into pure chaos.
“They couldn’t give a damn what you were selling,” Brad laughs. “It was all about the call and the person on the other end of the line. During a 90-minute show, they might only take two calls. It was absolutely brilliant, and listeners would look forward to tuning in to see what kind of mayhem they would get up to that day.”
Aside from the unhinged Flea Market, CKRM has always had deep roots in the world of news, agriculture, music, and, of course, the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
When Harvard acquired CKRM in 1981, one of the first major changes was pursuing the Riders’ broadcast rights and expanding them into a full province-wide network.
“It wasn’t just CKRM that got the Riders,” Brad explains. “It was built as a network of stations across Saskatchewan, so no matter where you were, you could catch the game.”
Today, CKRM is still the home of Rider Nation, with engagement numbers higher than ever – especially following the team’s first championship win in 12 years this past December.
“The streaming numbers last year were through the roof,” Brad says. “We recently started streaming video of our broadcasters during the pre- and post-game show, and our listeners love it. I don’t think many realize how many people from across the world actually tune in every single week.”
Then there’s the community aspect of CKRM that has allowed the station to connect face-to-face with its audience over the years.
“Things like Country Cookout, where CKRM staff literally drive into farmyards and have dinner with listeners. Hundreds of families invite the station to come eat with them every week,” Brad says. “There’s nothing more rural Saskatchewan than that.”
Be it through food, football, farm reports, or The Flea Market, CKRM has always made a point to try to connect personally with its listeners.
“It’s because of that connection we’ve built that people are walking into the station with armfuls of history - billboard photos from the 70s, anniversary pins, old bumper stickers, jackets, stories passed down through families.
"The airwaves are filled with all this celebration,” Brad says. “It’s exciting. You can feel it.”
And after months of build-up, all of that energy and excitement will come to a head at the Conexus Arts Centre in July.
“Some of these guys haven’t been together in decades,” Brad says. “It’s going to be a lot of fun, and I’m sure there will be just as much talking.”
While the big event is scheduled for July 18, the actual anniversary takes place on July 27. That day, CKRM will turn 100. It’ll play music, deliver the news, and do everything else that has allowed it to become a staple in the lives of so many Saskatchewanians.
“Whatever comes next, CKRM will adapt,” reflects Brad. “That’s how it survived the first hundred years, and it’s how it’ll survive the next hundred."
“The one thing that will stay the same, though, is that direct connection with the people of Saskatchewan.”
And that’s the real legacy.
