Editing CBEW-FM (section)

==History==
The station first broadcast on February 14, 1935 as a [[Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission|CRBC]] station CRCW 600 AM, which broadcast until 1938 (changing its call sign to CBW in 1937 after the CRBC became the CBC).<ref>{{cite news |title=CRCW On Air Tonight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star-crcw-on-air-tonight/169447837/ |access-date=April 3, 2025 |work=[[Windsor Star|The Border Cities Star]] |date=February 14, 1935 |location=[[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]], Ontario, Canada |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Between 1938 and 1950, CBC Radio programming was aired on private affiliate [[CKLW]]. A CBC-owned station was subsequently relaunched in 1950 using the CBE [[call sign]] and 1550 frequency. Regional FM rebroadcasters were added in 1977.

On May 9, 2008, the CRTC approved the station's application to launch a low-power nested FM [[rebroadcaster]] (CBE-1-FM) in Windsor, at 102.3 FM.<ref>[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2008/db2008-102.htm CRTC Decision 2008-102].</ref> Six months later, on November 13, 2008, the CBC applied to the [[CRTC]] to convert CBE from the AM band to the FM band at 97.5 FM, to revoke its previous request for CBE-1, and to include a new FM rebroadcaster in [[Leamington, Ontario|Leamington]] on 91.9 FM (which was originally planned for 91.5 FM but was moved due to conflict with Windsor station [[CJAM-FM]] which, until October 2009, was also on 91.5).<ref>[https://windsorstar.com/Entertainment/CJAM+risks+losing+licence/1274166/story.html "CJAM-FM risks losing licence"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113042107/http://windsorstar.com/Entertainment/CJAM+risks+losing+licence/1274166/story.html |date=2010-01-13 }}. ''[[Windsor Star]]'', February 10, 2009.</ref> The new 97.5 FM main signal would broadcast with a directional antenna to the southeast, to avoid interference with two other stations at 97.5, [[London, Ontario|London]]'s [[CIQM-FM]] and [[Lansing, Michigan]]'s [[WJIM-FM]].<ref>[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2008/n2008-14.htm#31 Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing CRTC 2008-14]</ref><ref>[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2009/2009-36.htm#31 Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2009-36]</ref>

On June 16, 2009, CBE received approval for its conversion to 97.5 FM and for its Leamington repeater.<ref name=fmswitch>[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2009/2009-349.htm Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2009-349]</ref> Originally, no time frame was given for the AM to FM transition, though after the new FM signal would sign on, the AM signal was to go silent after three months of simulcasting, with the repeater signal at 102.3 to close within thirty days of the start-up of the 97.5 signal. That decision came following the CRTC approval for CJAM to relocate to 99.1 in March 2009.<ref>[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2009/2009-160.htm CRTC Decision 2009-160].</ref> The 97.5 facilities began testing on December 1, 2010,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mibuzzboard.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32247 |title=Michigan Radio & TV Buzzboard: "the new 97.5 Windsor", December 1, 2010 |access-date=December 2, 2010 |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714082634/http://mibuzzboard.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32247 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the start of a 7-month testing stage that also included resolving issues between the new signal and second-adjacent stations in [[Detroit]] ([[WXYT-FM]] 97.1 and [[WJLB]] 97.9).<ref>[http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadian-Radio-News/191081700931187 Canadian Radio News (Facebook): "SIMULCAST TIME EXTENDED FOR CBC RADIO ONE IN WINDSOR", May 20, 2011.]</ref>  The station officially launched on July 1, 2011<ref name=fybush>[http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2011/110704/nerw.html#can "Nassau Exits New England"]. ''NorthEast Radio Watch'', July 4, 2011.</ref><ref name=cbewblog>[http://www.cbc.ca/windsor/community/mt/2011/07/follow-us-to-fm.html Follow Us To FM] (CBC Windsor Community Blog)</ref><!-- Blog states "(t)his change (to FM) will be effective October 1, 2011"; since CBEW-FM is already on-air that can only mean CBE will go off-air *on* September 30, consistent with the preceding reference which says it *must* go off-air *by* September 30. --> under the [[call sign]] of CBEW-FM (which was the call sign for a [[List of defunct CBC radio transmitters in Canada#Ontario|defunct CBC radio transmitter]] in [[Fraserdale]]).

In accordance with the original transition plans,<ref name=fmswitch /><!-- Counting 3 months from official launch of CBEW-FM, *not* start of testing --> the CBC announced that CBE would close down on September 30, 2011.<ref name=cbewblog /> Sometime after midnight on October 1, 2011, without fanfare, CBE's 10,000-watt Class-A 1550 [[AM broadcasting|AM]] signal was either powered down or shutdown.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/watch-cbc-radio-1550-am-moves-to-fm-1.1064970 WATCH: CBC Radio 1550 AM moves to FM] ''CBC Windsor'', September 30, 2011</ref> According to Scott Fybush's Northeast Radio Watch, CBE 1550 AM's sign-off happened without fanfare; indeed, the scheduled midnight end to CBE was extended out for a bit as the station came back on and off the air several times before finally dropping audio at 12:25&nbsp;a.m. October 1, leaving just a dead carrier on 1550 AM.<ref>[http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2011/111003/nerw.html#can It's been a week of big radio changes in CANADA], ''Scott Fybush/NERW'', October 3, 2011</ref>

In May 2012, the CBC filed a request with the CRTC to move Windsor's [[Ici Radio-Canada Première|Première Chaîne]] station [[CBEF]] to CBE's former frequency and transmitter, owing to potential issues with the age of the facilities and [[rust]] found on its tower in August 2011.<ref>https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/DocWebBroker/OpenDocument.aspx?AppNo=201206318 {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2022}}</ref> The move was approved by the CRTC on October 16, 2012. The move would bring programming back to 1550 for the first time since CBE's sign-off.<ref>[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2012/2012-568.htm Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2012-568] CBEF Windsor – Technical change and new transmitter in Sarnia, ''CRTC'', October 16, 2012</ref>