City | Welland, Ontario |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Niagara Region |
Branding | Giant FM |
Slogan | Niagara's Classic Rock (primary) If It Was Big, It's Giant Now. (former and secondary) |
Frequency | 91.7 MHz (FM) |
First air date | June 4, 1957 (AM) May 1999 (FM) |
Format | Classic rock |
ERP | 25,000 watts average 50,000 watts peak vertical & horizontal polarization |
HAAT | 150 meters (490 ft) |
Class | B |
Callsign meaning | XL = Extra Large (Giant size) |
Former callsigns | CHOW (1957-2005) |
Former frequencies | 1470 kHz (1957-1999) |
Owner | David Holgate (R.B Communications Ltd.) |
Sister stations | CKYY-FM |
Website | www.giantfm.com |
CIXL-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting in Welland, Ontario. It uses the on-air brand name Giant FM, and broadcasts a classic rock format at 91.7 on the FM dial. It is one of the few commercial FM radio stations on its frequency that can be heard in the United States, where frequencies between 88.1 and 91.9 MHz are set aside for noncommercial stations (a stipulation not required in Canada, CIXL's originating country).
The station originally owned by Gordon W. Burnett's Wellport Broadcasting Ltd. was launched in 1957 as CHOW, located at 1470 kHz on the AM dial. A daytimer when it was originally launched, the station began offering nighttime service within a few months. It offered an easy listening format until 1975, when it switched to country music.
In 1990, the CRTC denied Wellport Broadcasting's application for a new FM station at Port Colborne. Instead, a licence was given to CJFT in Fort Erie so that it could move to the FM band. In 1992, the CRTC once again denied Wellport's application for a new FM radio station at Port Colborne.
In 1994, the station was purchased by Suzanne Rochon-Burnett through numbered company 1019415 Ontario Inc., the first aboriginal woman in Canada to own a commercial radio station. Rochon-Burnett was later named to the Order of Canada. The station moved to 91.7 FM in 1999. and was rebranded as Spirit 91.7. In 1998, the station received CRTC approval to relocate CHOW-FM's transmitter and decreasing the effective radiated power from 27,420 watts to 25,000 watts.