ESTEVAN - CJ 1150, the AM radio station based out of Estevan, is marking 60 years of serving the people of southeast Saskatchewan, and the changes that have occurred over the years.
Lyle McGillivray, who hosts the Big Breakfast Show on CJ 1150, has been there for more than half of the local station’s history.
The station started in 1961 as CJSL under the ownership of Jim Lang with Soo Line Broadcasting. It was a sister station to CFSL in Weyburn.
“Southeast Saskatchewan has treated CJSL/CJ 1150 very well over the course of those years, and it’s just nice the longevity of those 60 years,” said McGillivray.
He came to Estevan in 1989, when it was still owned by Soo Line Broadcasting. He’s the longest-tenured employee at the station.
“Back in the 1980s, it was known as Super Country CJSL,” said McGillivray. “And I caught the tail end of that in 1989. In 1995, Golden West, of course, bought it, and it became CJ 1280 – Today’s Best Country and Your All-Time Favourites.”
In recent years, the AM station moved from 1280 to 1150 on the radio dial, which McGillivray said was a wise decision, because it strengthened the reach to the rural communities and improved the quality of the sound.
And it allowed them to further accommodate their clients in the rural areas.
While he has seen a lot of changes, technology represents the biggest one in terms of convenience. Editing is much easier with the modern software, and everything is now on computer. When he started, he would have to pop in a record.
“With the technology that I’ve seen over the years, the younger generation that has gotten into radio, probably hasn’t, won’t or ever will experience 45s or carts or CDs, for that matter,” said McGillivray. “I know I’m aging myself, but I went through them all, just like a lot of other broadcasters have in this industry.
“We have people who have been in the business a lot longer than I have. It’s amazing. You just hang onto the reigns, and keep adapting and changing, and whatever new technology comes out, you absorb it.”
Golden West Radio has done a good job of evolving with those changing times, he said.
In 2001, Golden West Radio in Estevan relocated to its present home at the intersection of 13th Avenue and Fifth Street, at the same time that Canada Post shifted its Estevan location. That same year, it launched a second radio station, Sun 102.3, for Estevan. Then in 2012, a third Estevan station, Rock 106, hit the airwaves.
The local station’s website, www.discoverestevan.com, started up in 2007.
Listeners are still happy with the work that CJ 1150 handles. Radio is about creating relationships, serving clients and growing businesses, while being involved in the community.
“We’ve been pretty solid over the course of the entire 60 years, when it comes to not only Estevan but southeast Saskatchewan, and all of the little communities.”
They’ve called Big 6 Hockey League games in so many towns and villages, and they have clients that have done business in those communities. As long as you’re serving those people, McGillivray believes you’re going to be doing things well.
And he’s confident that CJ 1150, and radio in general, will still have a positive future in Estevan.
