Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
CKOV
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1928-
History
CKOV Kelowna was established in 1928 by George Dunn, Bobby Johnston, Harry Blakeborough and James William Bromley Browne with the original call sign 10AY. The station broadcasted church services, plays, and performances by the Ogopogo Concert Club and was known as the Kelowna Amateur Radio Club. Significantly, it is recognized as one of British Columbia’s first radio stations. By 1931, it received a commercial license and 10AY switched to CKOV with the slogan “The Voice of the Okanagan.” The station had a firm grip on media in the Okanagan. It was a CBC Trans-Canada Affiliate by 1946 and it even began CHBC-TV in 1957, alongside CKOK Penticton and CJIB Vernon, although CKOV sold their shares in the late 1970s. Further, CKOV became the first licensed private radio network in Canada through obtaining CKCQ Quesnel in 1957, CKWL Williams Lake in 1960 and CKBX 100 Mile House in 1971.
Okanagan Broadcasters Ltd. (owned by the Browne family for 50 years) sold CKOV to Seacoast Communications Group Inc. in 1988, and by 1998, Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. acquired the assets for CKOV Kelowna from Seacoast. CKOV Kelowna moved to the FM band at 103.1Mhz in 2007 and as a tribute to the Browne family who aided in launching CKOV, the new station continued with the official CKOV call sign but identified on air as “B-103.” In 2010, the call letters were changed to CKQQ-FM and by 2017, the station was rebranded as Beach Radio 103.1 which provided Classic hits from the 80’s and 90’s.