Vista Radio
![]() | |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Radio broadcasting |
Headquarters | Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada |
Owner | Westerkirk Capital |
Website | vistaradio.ca |
Vista Radio Ltd. (also formerly known as Vista Broadcast Group) is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. The company only owned stations in British Columbia until 2007, when it expanded outside the province by acquiring an existing station in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and launching a new one in Grande Prairie, Alberta.[1] It has since also expanded into Ontario, with the acquisition of Haliburton Broadcasting Group in 2012.
History
[edit]Vista Radio was founded by Paul Mann, Jason Mann, Margot Micallef, Barb Fairclough and Bryan Edwards in 2004.[2]
On April 23, 2012, Vista announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Westerkirk Capital. With support from the new owner, Vista announced a concurrent agreement to acquire Haliburton Broadcasting Group, a broadcast group with 24 stations in small to mid-sized markets in Ontario.[3] The deal was approved by the CRTC on October 19, 2012.[4]
On February 8, 2024, Bell Media announced that it would sell 21 of its radio stations in British Columbia to Vista Radio.[5]
Stations
[edit]Alberta
[edit]- Bonnyville - CFNA-FM[6]
- Grande Prairie - CFRI-FM
- Lloydminster - CKLM-FM[6]
- Lethbridge - CJOC-FM, CKBD-FM
- Medicine Hat - CJLT-FM
British Columbia
[edit]- 100 Mile House - CKBX
- Campbell River - CIQC-FM
- Castlegar - CKQR-FM
- Courtenay - CFCP-FM
- Cranbrook - CFSM-FM
- Creston - CKCV-FM
- Duncan - CJSU-FM
- Grand Forks - CKGF-2-FM
- Nanaimo - CKAY-FM
- Nelson - CHNV-FM
- Port Hardy - CFNI
- Powell River - CFPW-FM
- Prince George - CIRX-FM, CJCI-FM
- Quesnel - CKCQ-FM
- Smithers - CFBV
- Vanderhoof - CIRX-FM-1
- Williams Lake - CFFM-FM
Pending
[edit]The following stations in British Columbia have been sold to Vista Radio by Bell Media, pending approval by the CRTC.
- Dawson Creek, CJDC
- Fort Nelson - CKRX-FM
- Fort St. John - CHRX-FM, CKNL-FM
- Golden - CKGR-FM
- Nelson - CKKC-FM
- Osoyoos - CJOR
- Penticton - CJMG-FM, CKOR
- Revelstoke - CKCR-FM
- Salmon Arm - CKXR-FM
- Summerland - CHOR-FM
- Trail - CJAT-FM
- Kelowna - CHSU-FM, CILK-FM, CKFR
- Kitimat - CKTK-FM
- Prince Rupert - CHTK-FM
- Terrace - CFTK, CJFW-FM
- Vernon - CICF-FM
Northwest Territories
[edit]Ontario
[edit]Many of Vista's small-market radio stations in Ontario are branded as Moose FM, although the company uses a variety of other brands on its larger-market stations.
- Bancroft - CHMS-FM
- Barry's Bay - CHBY-FM
- Bolton - CJFB-FM
- Bracebridge - CFBG-FM
- Cochrane - CHPB-FM
- Elliot Lake - CKNR-FM
- Espanola - CJJM-FM
- Haliburton - CFZN-FM
- Huntsville - CFBK-FM
- Iroquois Falls - CFIF-FM
- Kapuskasing - CKAP-FM
- Kemptville - CKVV-FM
- North Bay - CFXN-FM, CFCH-FM[7]
- Parry Sound - CKLP-FM
- Prescott - CKPP-FM
- Stratford - CJCS-FM, CHGK-FM
- Sturgeon Falls - CFSF-FM
- Timmins - CHMT-FM
Former stations
[edit]- Caledon, Ontario - CFGM-FM
- Kelowna, British Columbia - CJUI (sold to Avenue Radio Ltd. in October 2017)[8][9]
- Vanderhoof, British Columbia - CIVH (discontinued March 2018 after transmitter collapse. Programming moved to CIRX-FM-1.)
- Haldimand, Ontario - CKJN-FM (sold to Durham Radio in 2016)[10]
- Niagara Falls, Ontario - CFLZ-FM, CJED-FM (sold to Byrnes Communications in January 2018)
- Medicine Hat, Alberta - CJLT-FM (sold to United Christian Broadcasters Canada in December 2023)[11][12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Vista Radio: The Big Fish in the Small Pond". Broadcast Dialogue
- ^ "A small-town start tunes the dial on the big time", The Globe and Mail, March 15, 2008.
- ^ "Westerkirk Capital Acquires Vista and Haliburton Broadcast Groups". Broadcaster, April 26, 2012.
- ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2012-577. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, October 19, 2012.
- ^ "'Not a viable business anymore': Bell Media selling 45 radio stations amid layoffs". Toronto Star. February 8, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
- ^ a b CRTC Decision 2008-323
- ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2020-165, English-language FM radio station in North Bay, CRTC, May 25, 2020
- ^ "CJUI-FM Kelowna – Acquisition of assets". CRTC. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
- ^ "Castanet buys Juice FM". Castanet. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
- ^ "Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2016-258". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ "CJLT-FM Medicine Hat - Acquisition of assets". CRTC. 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ^ Dialogue, Broadcast (2023-12-07). "Radio & Podcast News - CRTC approves UCB acquisition of CJLT-FM Medicine Hat". Broadcast Dialogue. Retrieved 2024-01-10.