Milestones at CKUT

1960
Radio McGill is born in the basement of McGill's Shatner Building.

1966
CFRM (CKUT's call letters before going FM) goes on the air

1982
CFRM gets its cable license

1987
CFRM becomes CKUT Radio McGill and begins broadcasting at 90.3 on the FM dial.

1990
CKUT's Big Maybelle voted "Best Radio Personality" in the Montreal Mirror's "Best of Montreal" (BOM); Big Maybelle, Sound Supreme, Aack, and Dykes on Mikes all make it onto the "Best Local Radio Show" list, and CKUT is voted Montreal's number one radio station.

1991
CKUT hosts the National Campus and Community Radio Conference in Montreal.

BOM strikes again, voting CKUT the best station in town and counting CKUT's Aack and Cups&Cakes among the best in the city.

1993
Squeaky Clean, an experimental soap opera, and Neighbourhood Sounds, an exploration of sounds in the everyday environment, are recognized by the NCRA's Standard Awards for "Programming Excellence".

1994
CKUT receives an honorary mention from the NCRA Standard Awards for National Initiatives, a program exchange with the South African Student Press Union.

1995
CKUT's Spoken Word programming "Wired on Words" wins the NCRAss Standard Award for Programming Excellence.

In June CKUT moved from the basement of the Shatner building on McTavish to two floors at 3647 rue University.

1997
CKUT gets live streaming on the Internet and can now be heard internationally.

1999
CKUT's Native Solidarity News wins the NCRA's Standard Award for "Programming Excellence".

2000
BOM (Best of Montreal) rates CKUT shows as the top in the city AGAIN!.

2002
BOM voters decide Off The Hook is the city's best radio show.

2003
SSMU took over collecting student fees for CKUT from the McGill University administration.

Off The Hook, Folk Roots, Underground Sounds, Harvey Christ, and Off The Hour all get their due recognition in the BOM polls.

On February 5th, CKUT and le Groupe l'Itinéraire hosted Canada's first annual Homelessness Marathon.

2004
BOM just won't quit, Venus, WeFunk, Masters At Work, and Off The Hook are among the top ten best radio shows in the city.

2005
BOM puts the category "Best Radio Station in the City" back into its annual poll and CKUT once again claims the number one spot. Folk Roots Folk Branches, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Masters At Work, and Off The Hook are among the top radio shows in Montreal.

March, 2006
After being put to referendum, McGill students vote overwhelmingly to continue supporting CKUT through a per semester student levy.

May, 2006
CKUT maintains its position as "Best Radio Station in the City". Of course a number of CKUT shows are yet again among the top in the city: Off The Hook, We Funk, Folk Roots Folk Branches, Masters At Work, and Mind Soul Spirit.

September, 2006
CKUT begins broadcasting monthly editions of Radio Sanctuary on Off the Hour. Radio Sanctuary is broadcast from St Gabriel's church in Point St Charles and hosted by Abdelkader Belaouni who is a blind Algerian refugee who moved to the church in January 2006 after receiving deportation papers from the Government of Canada.

March, 2007
McGill University requests that CKUT Radio McGill officially drop the name "McGill".

CKUT's request to increase the per semester student fee from $4 to $6 per semester phased in over a two year period at a $.50 increase per semester is put to students in a referendum. Students voted against the increase.

May, 2007
CKUT keeps the tradition alive by once again topping BOM's charts with number one radio station. Included in the "Best Local Radio Show" category are: Folk Roots Folk Branches, Masters At Work, and WeFunk. "Best Local Radio Hosts" feature CKUT's Mike Regenstreif and Budda Blaze.

September, 2007
CKUT's members approve the official name change requested by McGill University in a General Meeting.

September, 2007
CKUT's members approve the official name change requested by McGill University in a General Meeting.

October, 2007
CKUT hosts its first annual independent media conference including a keynote talk by award-winning independent journalist Amy Goodman, two days of panels and "how-to" workshops.

November, 2007
CKUT celebrates 20 years on the fm dial with a kickass Double Decade Dance Party featuring the Ryshpan/Winters 20 piece big band orchestra, created especially for the occasion.

December, 2007
CKUT's name change is approved by the CRTC, CKUT Radio Mcgill officially becomes Radio CKUT.

February, 2008
6th annual Homelessness Marathon broadcast from the street in front of the Native Friendship Centre.

May, 2008
CKUT is at the top of the BOM list for "Best Radio Station" once again. DJ Static of WeFunk is #9 for "Best Local Radio Host," and "Best Local Radio Shows" find WeFunk at 3#, Off the Hook at #10, and honourable mentions for Folk Directions and Dykes on Mykes. Irkar Beljaars of Native Solidarity News makes his first appearance in the BOM stats at #6 for Montreal's "Loudest Activist".

June, 2008
CKUT completes the long-awaited renovations of its studios. Renovations and capitol expenses were put on hold for years while CKTU was without an MOA from McGill University and was therefore in a tenuous financial situation. Studio B moved downstairs, MCR was completely overhauled and PCR is a functioning back-up studio.

February, 2008
6th annual Homelessness Marathon broadcast from the street in front of the Native Friendship Centre.

June 14, 2008
CKUT Intergalactic Studio Chrissening. CKUT welcomes its newly renovated studios into the world with an interview with Marshall Allen, Michael Ray and Ray Scott of the Sun Ra Arkestra on Funky Revolutions. We feel that the Sun Ra experience was an important one to imbue our new studios with. The CKUT High Programmers (Sarah Fahie, Meghan, and Shelagh) performed a grand ceremony to welcome the new space and purge it of any lingering evil radio spirits, specifically the spirits of "technical mishaps," "radio feedback," and "awkward radio babble." A small gathering of garden partiers congregated outside over beverages and snacks.

If you have any milestones to add to the list, please contact promo@ckut.ca

Are you CKUT alumni? We'd like to establish a list of alumnae at CKUT, please contact promo@ckut.ca ifyou would like to be a part of this list.