CKBG-FM is one of Canada's newest local stations, and it almost did not happen. Owner Martyn Adler's Amherstburg Broadcasting Corporation applied for a broadcast licence in 2021 and was turned down by the CRTC. The identical application, resubmitted in 2022, was approved, and the station began on-air testing in April 2023 before officially launching on July 3, 2023, as a 50-watt low-power FM signal broadcasting soft adult contemporary music to the town under the name "The Burg."
A Small Signal With a Big Local Footprint
At 50 watts, CKBG will never compete with a major-market station on raw power, and it is not trying to. The station leans hard into being the town's own, running community features like a weekly "Dog of the Week" spotlight with Second Chance Animal Rescue, covering local events at the Leamington Raceway, and following the Amherstburg Admirals. In February 2024, the station brought in Mark McKenzie, a veteran host from Windsor's 89X, to anchor the morning show, adding a familiar regional voice to the young lineup.
Broadcasting From a War of 1812 Landmark
Amherstburg sits at the mouth of the Detroit River, and its history goes well beyond small-town radio. The British built Fort Malden, originally Fort Amherstburg, starting in 1796 to guard the river's entrance to Lake Erie. It became the principal British military base on Lake Erie during the War of 1812, and it was here that Major General Isaac Brock met with Shawnee War Chief Tecumseh to plan the campaign that led to Detroit's surrender. The fort still stands as a National Historic Site a short walk from where CKBG now broadcasts.
Why Tune In
CKBG is what small-town radio is supposed to be: a low-power signal built entirely around the people and places within earshot of it. For anyone in or near Amherstburg who wants easy-listening music mixed with genuinely local news and community coverage, rather than a syndicated feed piped in from somewhere else, The Burg is exactly that.