CBU
City of license	Vancouver, British Columbia
Broadcast area	South Coast
Branding	CBC Radio One
Frequency	690 kHz (AM)
First air date	1925
Format	public broadcasting
Power	50 kilowatts
Class	B
Transmitter coordinates	49°08′19″N 123°11′56″W / 49.138744°N 123.198774°W / 49.138744; -123.198774 (CBU AM Tower)Coordinates: 49°08′19″N 123°11′56″W / 49.138744°N 123.198774°W / 49.138744; -123.198774 (CBU AM Tower)
Callsign meaning	CB VancoUver
Former callsigns	CNRV (1925-1933) CRCV (1933-1936) CBR (1936-1951)
Former frequencies	1100 kHz (1925-1941) 1130 kHz (1941-1951)
Owner	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Sister stations	CBU-FM, CBUF-FM, CBUX-FM, CBUT, CBUFT
Webcast	Listen live
Website	CBC British Columbia

CBU is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts the programming of the CBC Radio One network in Vancouver, British Columbia. The station broadcasts at 690 AM. A shortwave relay, CKZU rebroadcasts CBU's signal to remote areas of British Columbia.

The station broadcasts from the CBC Regional Broadcast Centre on Hamilton Street in Downtown Vancouver.

[edit] History

The station was launched in 1925 as CNRV "The Voice of the Pacific" on AM 1100, owned by the Canadian National Railway radio network.

CNRV was acquired by the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission in 1933, becoming CRCV. In 1936, the CBC was created, taking over the CRBC's operations, and CRCV became CBR.

The station moved to AM 1130 in 1941 (see Canadian allocations changes under NARBA), and to 690 in 1952 when the call sign was changed to its current CBU. Power was increased from 10,000 watts to its present 50,000 watts in 1967 with a transmitter site move to the Steveston shoreline.

In 1947, an FM simulcast was launched on CBU-FM. Distinct programming on the FM station was aired for the first time in 1964.

In early 2008, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved CBU's application for a simulcast of its programming on the FM band.^[1] On October 10, 2008, CBU began testing its FM simulcast on 88.1 FM as CBU-2-FM with an ERP of 19.5 kW and officially signed on soon after.

It is also the largest CBC Radio One station on the AM dial ever since CBM-AM in Montreal became CBME-FM 88.5 in 1998, followed by CBL-AM Toronto's move to the FM dial back in 1999 as CBLA-FM on 99.1 FM.

[edit] Shortwave relay

By 1946, CBR operated a shortwave relay for remote areas of British Columbia using the call sign CBRX and operating on a frequency of 6160kHz (in the 49m band). The call sign changed to CBUX in 1952 when the AM station became CBU.

In 1965, the call sign changed to CKZU, recognizing that the ITU prefix CB was not assigned to Canada, but to Chile.

[edit] Local programming

CBU's local programs are Early Edition in the mornings and On the Coast in the afternoons. It also originates the lunch-hour program BC Almanac, broadcast provincewide to Radio One's stations in Victoria (CBCV-FM), Kelowna (CBTK-FM), Prince Rupert (CFPR) and Prince George (CBYG-FM) and their rebroadcasters.

[edit] Transmitters

[edit] Shortwave relay

[edit] Notes

¹ Rebroadcaster CBRU-FM Squamish originally began broadcasting at 1350 AM, until it received CRTC approval in 1984 to change frequencies from 1350 AM to 1260 AM ^[2] and changed again from 1260 AM to 1270 AM in 2002. ^[3] CBRU finally moved to its current FM frequency in 2006.

[edit] Former CBU personalities

• Anne Petrie, former host of CBU radio program 3's Company.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• CBC British Columbia
• CBU (AM) history at Canadian Communications Foundation
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CBU