Vista Radio says its True North FM commercial radio station in Yellowknife and Hay River will be rebranded as Go FM starting Monday, October 20.
Go FM is an existing Vista Radio brand used for stations in Kelowna, Penticton and Fort St John.
“This one is going to be tailored for Yellowknife,” said Ken Kilcullen, Vista’s vice-president of talent and Okanagan regional manager.
“There’s some unique and pretty cool ideas that are going to serve the market, profiling the people that live and work there, and the community news and the community itself. So it’s going to be a cool alternative.”
Kilcullen told Cabin Radio the revamped station will target young families with a “music-based pop format that’s upbeat.”
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“We’re pretty excited about what we’re offering because as we look ahead, the audience will have clear alternatives for listening now that there should be two over-the-air radio stations serving the marketplace,” he added, referring to Cabin Radio’s upcoming FM launch in the city.
Cabin Radio and Vista Radio were each applicants for a new licence in the city. Broadcast regulator the CRTC eventually chose Cabin Radio’s application in July this year, ending what had been a six-year quest for the Yellowknife-based company to earn a licence.
True North FM, 100.1 on Yellowknife’s dial, also serves Hay River. It was established in 1979 under the callsign CJCD.
Vista bought CJCD in 2007. It became Moose FM before being rebranded as True North FM in 2020.
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Introducing that rebrand five years ago, Vista said its service in the NWT had “gotten away from what CJCD was intended to be.”
“We learned that we needed to focus more on being a true voice for the area, a true representation of the territory, and a true reflection of the people who call the North home. This is why we have introduced True North FM,” the company said at the time.
True North had a classic hits format, which is generally taken to mean rock and pop from the 1960s to the 2000s. Existing Go FM stations in the south have what Vista has called a “feel good pop” format of hits from the 1990s and 2000s, though Vista is free to alter that for the North.
Cabin Radio’s application to the CRTC featured an AAA or adult album alternative format – internally nicknamed “absolutely anything audio” – that reflects its current online output, which mostly features rock, pop and indie but also spans K-pop and metal to classical and jazz.
Of the switch to Go FM, Kilcullen said: “I think people should tune in and give us their feedback. It’s something that we’re excited about – I’m really excited about, to be honest.
“It’s going to be targeted primarily for young families that we think are really important in Yellowknife.”
