CJBK went on the air January 25, 1967 as CJOE. "JOE" in the call letters stood for H. J. McManus, the founder of the station. The station originally featured a Beautiful Music format. Eventually CJOE began to supplement the easy listening music with soft rock and then Top 40 music during the evening hours, but the station remained unprofitable. In 1972, McManus sold the station to Rick Richardson. On September 6, 1972, Richardson took control of CJOE and changed the call letters to CJBK and the format to full-time Top 40 hit music. Richardson wanted a "CJ" call sign to distinguish the new AM 1290 from its competitors CFPL and CKSL, but it has also been suggested that the CJBK calls were a personal tribute to former Detroit Top 40 station WJBK-AM, which had been a favourite station of Richardson's while he lived and worked in Windsor. CJBK's main catchphrase in the 1970s was "Have a Good Day!" In 1980, CJBK added an FM sister with country-formatted CJBX-FM 92.7. In 1987, CJBK and CJBX were acquired by Middlesex-Lambton Broadcasters Ltd., and CJBK shifted from its CHR format to adult contemporary in August of that year. The station began broadcasting in AM stereo in 1989. In early 1992, the station changed format from AC to oldies. London Communications, Inc. acquired CJBK and CJBX in September 1993 and shifted CJBK from oldies to the current news/talk format on August 12, 1996. The stations were sold again in 1999 to Telemedia, which already owned AC CIQM-FM and would purchase CKSL the following year. Standard Radio acquired Telemedia's London stations in 2002. In October 2007, Astral Media acquired Standard Broadcasting's terrestrial radio and television assets, including CJBK. As part of Astral's merger with Bell Media on June 27, 2013, CJBK is owned by Bell Media. Morning host Steve Garrison had been a fixture on CJBK since the late 1970s. After a stint as station promotion manager, Garrison became a mid-day DJ in January 1984, and began co-hosting a morning show in 1990 with future CBC News anchorHeather Hiscox. After moving back to middays for a few years, he began hosting his current morning show when the news/talk format was adopted in 1996. In December 2015 Bell Media let the London radio icon go as part of a company-wide restructuring. Starting in mid-2014 after the Bell Media purchase, CJBK began airing newscasts from the CTV London newsroom and simulcasting the audio from the flagship 6pm CTV News. The station currently features live local talk shows with Ken Eastwood and Stephanie Vivier in the morning, Tom McConnell between 9 and noon, London Lunch from 12pm to 12:30 pm, and Ask The Experts from 12:30 pm to 1pm and TKO with Kara Ro from 1pm to 2pm from sister station 800 CKLW AM in Windsor. CTV News Room from 4pm to 5pm. Power Play with Don Martin from 5pm to 6pm and CTV News London from 6pm to 7pm and other syndicated shows at night CJBK also broadcasts live sports, Western Ontario Mustangs football and NFL Football. On evenings and weekends, the station carries a variety of news-talk programming from other Bell Media stations including CFRB in Toronto, CJAD in Montreal, and CFRA in Ottawa.
