Rock 101 didn't start as a rock station, or even a New Westminster station in spirit. CFMI-FM signed on March 22, 1970 as a sister station to Vancouver's CKNW 980 AM, launched by Radio NW under Frank Griffiths, and it began life with a brief country format before settling into easy-listening programming branded "Pop for Adults." The station that Vancouver now knows as Rock 101 took years to become the format it's remembered for today.
A Station That Helped Invent Its Own Tools
In its early years, CFMI became a genuine technical innovator rather than just a music outlet. The station's engineers developed the Aristocart, a stereo-compatible cartridge broadcast system that gave programmers more flexibility than the competing automation technology of the era. That same engineering culture produced Discumentary, a one-hour musical documentary format built around a single artist or theme, written by Paul Wiggins and distributed nationally via satellite, an ambitious project for a station most listeners associated with background music.
From Easy Listening to Classic Rock
CFMI's shift into rock programming eventually gave Vancouver one of its defining classic rock stations, now branded Rock 101 and airing hits from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The transformation from "Pop for Adults" into a full classic rock identity reflects a pattern common across North American FM radio, stations built for one demographic in the 1970s often ended up rock stations by the 1980s and 90s as format wars reshaped the dial.
The Morning Host Who Built an Afternoon Following First
Rock 101's on-air identity has been shaped by hosts like "Bro" Jake Edwards, who moved to Vancouver from Moncton, New Brunswick in 1996 and landed part-time work at the station. His edgy style caught on quickly, and within fifteen months he had taken over the afternoon slot before eventually moving into mornings, a rare case of a host earning the top shift by building an audience in a secondary timeslot first.
Corus Ownership, Downtown Studios
Rock 101 now operates under Corus Entertainment, broadcasting from studios in the TD Tower in downtown Vancouver rather than its original New Westminster home, another marker of how much the station's footprint has shifted since 1970 even as its call letters and frequency have stayed the same.
A Format Built Through Reinvention
Rock 101's history isn't a straight line from launch to today's classic rock identity, it's a station that tried country, tried easy listening, built its own broadcast technology, and eventually landed on the rock format that made it a Vancouver institution. That willingness to keep changing format until something stuck is part of what kept CFMI on air across more than five decades.