Ralph Robinson didn't get his Penticton radio station on the first try. He had applied for a new station in the market a full decade before he finally signed one on, and when CIGV hit the air on October 18, 1981, it was the payoff for that long wait rather than a quick business venture.
A Family Station Named for the Valley Itself
Robinson launched the station through Great Valleys Radio Ltd., a company he ran with his wife Jean, and the call sign CIGV came directly from that name, standing for "Great Valley," according to a history of the station. The station launched with two rebroadcast transmitters covering Keremeos and Princeton, extending its reach across the wider South Okanagan rather than just Penticton itself. For decades, it operated as the Okanagan Valley's only independent radio outlet, staying in Robinson family hands while larger groups consolidated stations elsewhere in the province. Robinson eventually retired in the business after 50 years, capping a career that began with that first, unsuccessful application ten years before CIGV ever signed on.
From Giant FM to a Country Rebrand
The Robinson family's run ended in 2011, when they sold the station to Newcap Radio, a deal the CRTC approved on February 15, 2012, according to a record of the transaction. Newcap had been running the station as Giant FM, but its own market research across Penticton, Kelowna, and the wider valley turned up a clear, vocal demand for a contemporary country format. The company acted on it fast, relaunching the station as Country 100.7 on April 27, 2012, opening with a stretch of 5,000 country songs played back to back without interruption. A second rebrand in February 2017 settled the station on its current name, New Country 100.7.
Serving Wine Country With a Country Format
The pairing fits the region well. The Okanagan Valley around Penticton is better known internationally for its vineyards than for music, but the area still draws touring country acts to venues like the South Okanagan Events Centre, its largest concert hall, and smaller rooms like the Dream Café that mix country into a wider local lineup of folk, blues, and rock. New Country 100.7 gives that valley a dedicated country signal in a market where the genre otherwise shares stages with everything else.
Tune In
For a station built from one founder's decade-long persistence and now carrying the Okanagan Valley's dedicated country format, New Country 100.7 is worth a stream on Radio Shuffle.