Yukon's oldest commercial radio station marks 50 years
'Our belief is that radio stations should serve a community,' said CKRW founder Rolf Hougen
Yukon's oldest commercial radio station is marking a milestone this week — 50 years on the air.
CKRW began broadcasting from Whitehorse at 6 a.m. on Nov. 17, 1969. It began as an independent, locally-owned station, and it still is today.
Whitehorse businessman Rolf Hougen, who founded the station, said he knows that a lot of smaller radio stations in Canada have been absorbed into larger media conglomerates over the years. He says CKRW has had offers — but turned them all down.
"Our belief is that radio stations should serve a community," Hougen said.
"If someone's deciding in Edmonton or Vancouver what it should be, it wasn't any longer serving the community the way it should be served."
Hougen had already been involved in broadcasting in Yukon for a decade, as the owner of the WHTV cable system, when he decided the territory needed a radio station.
"I travelled from here to Vancouver, and I stopped at every radio station on the route and met the management and talked and looked at what they were doing … so I got a feel for what was needed in radio," he said.
He even had a location in mind for the station — the building that is now the Yukon Commissioner's office.
"I thought that would be ideal for a radio station, partly because of atmosphere in a log building, and so on," he recalled.
The consultant he'd hired to help get CKRW off the ground felt differently.
"He went and looked it over. He said, 'Uh-uh, every step you take it squeaks,' and he said that's not good for a radio station. So I back off buying that."
Today, "The Rush" occupies a building on Second Avenue, less than a block from Main Street. A mural on the back of the building depicts a who's-who of popular music over the decades — Elvis, John Lennon, Madonna, Bryan Adams.
Tune in these days and you might hear the latest from Billie Eilish or Post Malone, or a classic from U2.
Hougen says the station has been working in recent years with an Ontario-based consultant to keep its format relevant and consistent.
He's hopeful that CKRW has many years ahead of it — but knows that an independent, commercial radio station can be at the mercy of the local economy.
"So long as the economy stays strong, the radio station will stay strong. If the economy were to collapse, we might have to struggle."
With files from Christine Genier