# Stingray Radio

Stingray Radio Inc. is a Canadian radio broadcasting conglomerate owned by Stingray Group. It owns and operates 101 radio stations in Canada, making it the largest radio conglomerate in Canada. It also owns two television stations in Lloydminster. The majority of its stations are situated in Atlantic and Western Canada, with its largest presences being in the provinces of Alberta and Newfoundland.
The company was founded in 1986 by Harold R. Steele as Newfoundland Capital Corporation Ltd. based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, later operating under the names Newcap Broadcasting and Newcap Radio. In October 2018, Newcap was acquired by Stingray. As a result of the acquisition, the Steele family became Stingray Group's largest third-party shareholder.

## History

The company dates back to 1980. The group's Newfoundland and Labrador division, known as Steele Communications, included all but two of the full-power commercial stations in that province. In the past, Newfoundland Capital acted as a conglomerate with interests in diverse industries such as newspapers and freight transportation. The firm owns one asset unrelated to the broadcasting industry: a hotel in Corner Brook, the Glynmill Inn, which is operated as part of the Steele Hotels group which includes other properties held directly by the Steele family. The Steele family also has private holdings in other industries which are entirely outside of the Newcap corporate umbrella.
In 1986, NCCL received CRTC approval to acquire its first radio station, CHTN in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, from Northumberland Broadcasting Ltd. By 2008, Newcap would own over 70 radio stations, and flipped many radio stations from the AM band to the FM band.
In July 2008, Newcap announced a deal to trade CFDR in Halifax to Rogers Media in exchange for CIGM in Sudbury. Both stations were the sole remaining AM stations in their respective markets, and in both cases the current owner already had the maximum permitted number of FM stations in the applicable market, whereas the acquirer only had a single FM station. Both companies successfully applied to move the stations to FM as part of the trade. Newcap flipped CIGM Sudbury to FM on August 25, 2009, and Rogers flipped CFDR Halifax to FM on August 7, 2009.
On July 28, 2008, Newcap announced that it had a tentative deal to acquire 12 stations in Ontario from Haliburton Broadcasting Group, subject to CRTC approval, for $18.95 million. The company's application to acquire the Haliburton stations was formally published by the CRTC on November 13, 2008, but was subsequently withdrawn in January 2009. Newcap CEO Rob Steele indicated that in light of the credit market crisis, the company did not feel that it was the right time to increase its debt load.
In May 2011, Newcap announced that it was selling its two stations in Winnipeg, CKJS and CHNK-FM, to Evanov Communications; the sale was approved on October 24, 2011.
In January 2013, the company announced it was exploring a possible sale of its remaining broadcasting assets in Western Canada, consisting of 32 radio stations and two television stations, and six rebroadcasters associated with those stations. These stations are predominantly in Alberta (including several stations in the Lloydminster region on the Alberta/Saskatchewan border), except for two stations in British Columbia. The company announced in May 2013 it was no longer planning to sell its assets in Western Canada. If such a sale had occurred, Newcap suggested that the proceeds might be used to either fund acquisitions "closer to [Newcap's] base in Atlantic Canada", pay down debt, or return capital to shareholders.
On August 26, 2013, Newcap Radio announced it would acquire four former Astral Media radio stations in Toronto and Vancouver, including CHBM-FM, CKZZ-FM, CHHR-FM and CISL, along with Bell Media's CFXJ-FM, for $112 million. The deal was made in the wake of Bell Media's acquisition of Astral. The deal was approved by the CRTC on March 19, 2014 and the sale closed on March 31, 2014.
On April 25, 2017, Rogers Media announced its intent to acquire CISL from Newcap, who relaunched it as a Sportsnet Radio sports talk station with rights to the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.
On May 11, 2017, Newcap Radio announced its purchase of NL Broadcasting in Kamloops and its three stations, CHNL, CKRV-FM, and CJKC-FM.
On May 2, 2018, cable radio broadcaster Stingray Digital announced its intent to acquire Newcap Radio for $506 million. On October 23, 2018, the CRTC approved Stingray's application to acquire Newcap. The sale was completed just days later on October 26, 2018, with the Steele family holding the largest stake in the company besides its founders.
In 2019, Stingray began a broader strategy of networking programs, such as morning shows, across regional groups of stations. This began with the syndication of CKGY-FM/Red Deer's Vinnie & Randi morning show across various country and adult hits stations in rural Alberta, the midday show The Paul McGuire Show across Stingray country stations, and the CIGV-FM/Penticton morning show (featuring former CMT personality Casey Clarke) across Stingray's country stations in the British Columbia Interior. The morning shows are customized with contributions from a local host. In January 2021, Stingray networked its rock stations in Atlantic Canada out of CFRQ-FM/Halifax, with all of them adopting similar Q branding and airing CFRQ's morning show, in addition to the existing networked evening show Rock of the Atlantic.
In late-March 2021, the company underwent a restructuring of some of its staff and local program directors, which resulted in layoffs. On April 5, 2021, Stingray launched The Morning Breeze with Brad & Deb for its The Breeze branded soft adult contemporary stations, which is networked out of CKUL-FM/Halifax and incorporates local inserts. Stingray also introduced the networked evening program Rock of the West (modelled after Rock of the Atlantic), which is hosted by Travis Currah of CIZZ-FM/Red Deer.
In June 2023, Stingray Radio's stations joined Bell Media's iHeartRadio Canada service; it will still participate in Radioplayer Canada.

## Assets

The following list is based on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's media ownership charts as of January 26, 2013.

### Television

* Lloydminster - CKSA-DT, CITL-DT

### Radio

| City | Call Sign | Branding | Network | Format |
| Athabasca, Alberta | CKBA-FM | Boom 94.1 | Boom | Classic hits |
| Blairmore, Alberta | CJPR-FM | New Country Southwest | New Country | Country |
| Bonnyville, Alberta | CJEG-FM | Hot 101.3 | Hot | Contemporary hit radio |
| Brooks, Alberta | CIBQ-FM | New Country 105.7 | New Country | Country |
| Brooks, Alberta | CIXF-FM | Boom 101.1 | Boom | Classic hits |
| Calgary, Alberta | CFXL-FM | XL 103.1 | | Classic hits |
| Calgary, Alberta | CKMP-FM | 90.3 AMP Radio | | Contemporary hit radio |
| Camrose, Alberta | CFCW | 840 CFCW | | Country |
| Camrose, Alberta | CFCW-FM | New Country 98.1 | New Country | Country |
| Carbonear, Newfoundland and Labrador | CHVO-FM | New Country NL | New Country | Country |
| Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador | CFGN-FM | 590 VOCM | VOCM | Full-service radio |
| Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | CHTN-FM | Ocean 100 | | Classic hits |
| Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | CKQK-FM | Hot 105.5 | Hot | Contemporary hit radio |
| Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador | CKVO | 590 VOCM | VOCM | Full-service radio |
| Cold Lake, Alberta | CJXK-FM | Boom 95.3 | Boom | Classic hits |
| Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador | CFCB | 590 VOCM | VOCM | Full-service radio |
| Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador | CKXX-FM | 97.5 K-Rock | K-Rock | Classic rock |
| Drumheller, Alberta | CKDQ-FM | New Country 92.5 | New Country | Country |
| Drumheller, Alberta | CHOO-FM | Boom 99.5 | Boom | Classic hits |
| Edmonton, Alberta | CIRK-FM | K-97 | | Classic rock |
| Edmonton, Alberta | CKRA-FM | 96.3 The Breeze | The Breeze | Soft adult contemporary |
| Edson, Alberta | CFXE-FM | New Country West | New Country | Country |
| Fredericton, New Brunswick | CFRK-FM | New Country 92.3 | New Country | Country |
| Fredericton, New Brunswick | CIHI-FM | Hot 93.1 | Hot | Contemporary hit radio |
| Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador | CKGA | 590 VOCM | VOCM | Full-service radio |
| Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador | CKXD-FM | 97.5 K-Rock | K-Rock | Classic rock |
| Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador | CKCM | 590 VOCM | VOCM | Full-service radio |
| Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador | CKXG-FM | 97.5 K-Rock | K-Rock | Classic rock |
| Halifax, Nova Scotia | CFRQ-FM | Q104 | Q | Classic rock |
| Halifax, Nova Scotia | CKUL-FM | 96.5 The Breeze | The Breeze | Soft adult contemporary |
| Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador | CFLN-FM | Big Land - Labrador's FM | | News/Talk/Country/Classic hits |
| High Prairie, Alberta | CKVH-FM | New Country 93.5 | New Country | Country |
| Hinton, Alberta | CFHI-FM | Boom 104.9 | Boom | Classic hits |
| Kamloops, British Columbia | CHNL | Radio NL | | Classic hits/Talk/Sports |
| Kamloops, British Columbia | CKRV-FM | K 97.5 | | Classic rock |
| Kamloops, British Columbia | CJKC-FM | New Country 103.1 | New Country | Country |
| Kelowna, British Columbia | CKKO-FM | K 96.3 | | Classic rock |
| Kentville, Nova Scotia | CIJK-FM | Rewind 89.3 | Rewind | Classic hits |
| Lac La Biche, Alberta | CILB-FM | Boom 103.5 | Boom | Classic hits |
| Lloydminster, Alberta | CKSA-FM | New Country 95.9 | New Country | Country |
| Lloydminster, Alberta | CILR-FM | Unlicensed travellers' information station | | |
| Marystown, Newfoundland and Labrador | CHCM-FM | 590 VOCM | VOCM | Full-service radio |
| Miramichi, New Brunswick | CHHI-FM | Rewind 95.9 | Rewind | Classic hits |
| Moncton, New Brunswick | CJMO-FM | Q103 | Q | Classic rock |
| Moncton, New Brunswick | CJXL-FM | New Country 96.9 | New Country | Country |
| New Glasgow, Nova Scotia | CKEZ-FM | Q97.9 | Q | Classic rock |
| New Glasgow, Nova Scotia | CKEC-FM | 94.1 The Breeze | The Breeze | Soft adult contemporary |
| Ottawa, Ontario | CIHT-FM | Hot 89.9 | Hot | Contemporary hit radio |
| Ottawa, Ontario | CILV-FM | Live 88.5 | | Alternative rock |
| Penticton, British Columbia | CIGV-FM | New Country 100.7 | New Country | Country |
| Red Deer, Alberta | CKGY-FM | New Country 95.5 | New Country | Country |
| Red Deer, Alberta | CIZZ-FM | Z 98.9 | | Classic rock |
| Saint John, New Brunswick | CHNI-FM | Q88.9 | Q | Classic rock |
| Slave Lake, Alberta | CHSL-FM | Boom 92.7 | Boom | Classic hits |
| St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | VOCM | 590 VOCM | VOCM | Full-service radio |
| St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | VOCM-FM | 97.5 K-Rock | K-Rock | Classic rock |
| St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | CJYQ | New Country NL | New Country | Country |
| St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | CKIX-FM | Hot 99.1 | Hot | Contemporary hit radio |
| St. Paul, Alberta | CHSP-FM | New Country 97.7 | New Country | Country |
| Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador | CFSX | 590 VOCM | VOCM | Full-service radio |
| Stettler, Alberta | CKSQ-FM | New Country 93.3 | New Country | Country |
| Sudbury, Ontario | CHNO-FM | Rewind 103.9 | Rewind | Classic hits |
| Sudbury, Ontario | CIGM-FM | Hot 93.5 | Hot | Contemporary hit radio |
| Sydney, Nova Scotia | CHRK-FM | Hot 101.9 | Hot | Contemporary hit radio |
| Sydney, Nova Scotia | CKCH-FM | New Country 103.5 | New Country | Country |
| Toronto, Ontario | CFXJ-FM | New Country 93.5 | New Country | Country |
| Toronto, Ontario | CHBM-FM | Boom 97.3 | Boom | Classic hits |
| Vancouver, British Columbia | CHLG-FM | 104.3 The Breeze | The Breeze | Soft adult contemporary |
| Vancouver, British Columbia | CKZZ-FM | Z 95.3 | | Hot adult contemporary |
| Wainwright, Alberta | CKKY-FM | Boom 101.9 | Boom | Classic hits |
| Wainwright, Alberta | CKWY-FM | Hot 93.7 | Hot | Contemporary hit radio |
| Westlock, Alberta | CKWB-FM | New Country 97.9 | New Country | Country |
| Wetaskiwin, Alberta | CKJR | Sports 1440 | | Sports talk |
| Whitecourt, Alberta | CFXW-FM | Boom 96.7 | Boom | Classic hits |

### 3937844 Canada Inc.

The numbered company 3937844 Canada Inc., a partnership between Newcap and Standard Broadcasting, was the licensee for most of the Alberta stations listed above from 2002, when Standard acquired the stations from Telemedia, until 2007, when Newcap bought out Standard's share of the stations.