By: Kaja Antic, Staff Writer
“Gone!” reads the last tweet from the @AM730Traffic X account, sent at 7:39 a.m. on June 26 — before the station would quietly cease operations later that afternoon.
Under the call sign CKGO, AM 730 was the only 24/7 all-traffic station in the Vancouver area. Listeners now tune into AM 730 to be redirected to AM 980, a news and talk radio station with intermittent traffic updates.
Both stations are owned and operated by Corus Entertainment, which also owns Global News and other mass media assets. Corus has seen its revenue decrease recently and has responded with a plan to cut 25% of its full-time workforce by the end of August.
Corus Entertainment told Vancouver Sun, “We have made the difficult decision to reduce our AM radio programming in Vancouver and Edmonton [ . . . ] As a result, certain roles have been impacted.”
Listeners from across the Lower Mainland voiced their disappointment on X, with many describing the station as an essential public service, due to the radio’s easy accessibility and hands-free operation. Many tuned in to the station for traffic updates no matter the time, especially during snowstorms.
“On a night where #Vancouver’s infrastructure and road care failed us, people could still turn on the station and know that [we were] right there with them.” @LucasCelle on Twitter
“On a night where #Vancouver’s infrastructure and road care failed us, people could still turn on the station and know that [we were] right there with them,” former AM 730 anchor Lucas Celle noted in a X thread regarding the 2022 storm.
There is an active petition with over 400 signatures on change.org to save the station. The petition intends to put pressure on Corus and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to reinstate the traffic-based radio.
AM 730 rebroadcasting CKNW 980 is being viewed as an interim solution, as Corus eventually hopes to only operate one AM station in the Lower Mainland. Corus Entertainment’s statement noted, “Following that interim period, Corus will only operate one AM news-talk station in each of Vancouver (CKNW) and Edmonton (CHED).”
Radio stations, specifically those that broadcast on AM frequencies, are increasingly rare in Vancouver — with three shutting down in recent years. AM 730 joins AM 1040 and AM 1410, which were taken off air last year by Bell Media.
There is still intermittent traffic information on the 980 and 1130 frequencies. Excluding 730, there are now only seven active AM radio stations serving Metro Vancouver; 690 hosts CBC Radio One, 980 and 1130 are news/talk stations, and 650 is the only remaining dedicated sports station. AM 1200, 1320, and 1470 host a variety of multilingual programs.
