Vista to buy Revelstoke’s 106.1 Bounce Radio from Bell Media

Revelstoke’s 106.1 Bounce Radio is among 21 radio stations Vista Radio is looking to acquire from Bell Media. The sale is pending approval from the Canadian Radio-Televison and Telecommunications Commission. 

For many in Revelstoke, news of the potential sale of Bounce Radio better known to some as CKCR or the Big R, came via a social media post from former morning show host Shaun Aquiline. In a post to the Revelstoke Community Facebook page, Aquiline said he believes the sale to Vista will be a positive for small town radio stations.

Vista Radio announced its intention to purchase the radio stations in a post to its LinkedIN page. Founded in 2004, and head quartered in Courtney, BC Vista has said it will not layoff any of the 80 employees currently working at the 21 stations it is hoping to buy. 

Bell Canada Enterprises, the parent company of Bell Media, announced in early February that it would cut 4,800 jobs at all levels of the company and divest 45 of its 103 radio stations. It is the company’s largest restructuring in 30 years. 

In a letter addressed to team members, Bell Canada president Mirko Bibic blamed a difficult economy and government, and regulatory decisions for failing to support its media business. Bibic said Bell Media’s news operations incur more than $40 million in annual operating losses. 

Bell also pointed to Canada’s online news act being part of the problem with the company’s chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcomson also laying blame on the federal government, as well as the CRTC for the cuts at Bell Media. 

Government officials hit back with BC Premier Dave Eby calling Bell’s actions reprehensible, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau referring to them as “garbage decisions.”

However, in a podcast interview with Broadcast Dialogue Vista Radio president Bryan Edwards said he agrees with Bell, saying the piece given to those in the broadcast industry as part of the Online News Act is disappointing. 

Revelstoke’s CKCR first hit the airwaves in 1965. Owned by Hall-Gray Broadcasting at the time, the station originally played as a rebroadcaster of CKXR in Salmon Arm at 1340 on the AM dial. The station has gone through a number of ownership changes over the years, with Bell Media acquiring the station from Astral Media in 2013.