Red Deer’s seventh FM station hits the airwaves in early August.
CKVI, located at 100.7 on the FM dial, will play mainstream contemporary music aimed at the 25 to 54 year aged market. “If you like Michael Buble and Celine Dion, we’ll be the station to listen to,” says Daryl Holien, general manager and program director of the station. The station has been testing on air since July 5, so listeners can get an idea of the music the new station will be playing.
“I think Red Deer is a great radio market,” says Holien, who’s worked in radio for 36 years in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. “There’s lots of good listening competition for the people of Red Deer and we want to give them another choice. We’re a real western Canadian broadcaster and we aim at the contemporary adult market, with an emphasis on the female segment, the working women, of the market. We feel there’s an opportunity there.”
The station will be live from six a.m. till midnight Monday to Friday and noon to six p.m. on the weekend and will provide hourly news, weather and sports as well as music. The station’s name will be unveiled today during the Westerner Days parade on a float the station put together. Signs with the new name will also go up at the station’s location at 3617 50 Ave. at the same time.
“Red Deer is a great city. I really like the walkways and parks. It’s fabulous. We just bought a house here and I’ve no intention of moving for a long time.”
The station is owned and operated by Harvard Broadcasting, based in Regina. The Red Deer operation is part of recent expansion moves by Harvard, which now has stations in Calgary, Ft. McMurray, Saskatoon and Yorkton, as well as their three original stations in Regina. Later this year it will open a new station in Edmonton.
