CINW
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| City | Montreal, Quebec |
|---|---|
| Branding | AM 940 |
| Slogan | Montreal's Greatest Hits |
| Frequency | 940 kHz (AM) |
| Translator(s) | CFCX SW 6.005 MHz |
| First air date | May 20, 1920 |
| Last air date | January 29, 2010 |
| Format | Oldies |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
| Class | A |
| Transmitter coordinates | 45°23′34.08″N 73°41′53.16″W / 45.3928000°N 73.6981000°W |
| Callsign meaning | Canada's Information and NeWs station (former all-news format) |
| Former callsigns | CIQC (1991-1999) CFCF (1922-1991) 9AM (1921-1922) XWA (1919-1921) |
| Owner |
Corus Quebec (Metromedia CMR Broadcasting Inc.) |
| Sister stations | CFQR-FM, CINF |
CINW was the final call sign used by an English language AM radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, which, along with French-language sister station CINF, ceased operations at 7:00 p.m. ET on January 29, 2010. Six years later, the 940 AM frequency resurfaced when a new station, under the callsign CFNV, launched with plans for a Francophone news/talk format.
Owned and operated by Corus Quebec, it broadcast on 940 kHz with a full-time power of 50,000 watts as a clear channel (class A) station, using a slightly directional antenna designed to improve reception in downtown Montreal.
CINW traced its origin to an experimental facility, with the call letters XWA, which began test transmissions in 1919, and whose first documented entertainment broadcast was made on the evening of May 20, 1920. Due to its heritage, the station was generally considered to be Canada's first and oldest broadcasting station.
As is true with most early broadcasting stations, some of Canadian Marconi's early Montreal activities are poorly documented. In Listening In, a 1992 history of early Canadian radio, author Mary Vipond noted that "Several different versions of the gradual transformation of XWA from an experimenter in radio telephony to a regular broadcaster (with the call letters CFCF) exist" and "the precise date on which XWA/CFCF began regular programming may be impossible to determine".
This uncertainty was evident when, in 1928, the manager of CFCF wrote to the Radio Branch in Ottawa asking "would you kindly let us know the date of our first broadcast", to which the reply was "We do not have the exact details of this on our files, but find that test programmes were carried out by your Company in Montreal during the winter evenings of 1919, and regular organized programs were commenced in December, 1920, by your Experimental Station, 'XWA' on a wavelength of 1200 metres [250 kHz]."
CINW's history was generally said to have begun with an experimental station, XWA, operated by Canadian Marconi in Montreal. XWA was issued its first licence in 1915, in conjunction with a training school, and was one of the few radio stations allowed to operate in Canada during World War One, when it was used to conduct military research.
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