The History of Jack FM and Pat Cardinal

Pat Cardinal - CJRL Kenora ON 1979-81; as Brad Wilson CFRW Winnipeg 1981-87; CKXY Vancouver 1987-88; CKLG Vancouver 1988-92; CKLH-FM Hamilton 1992-93; CHED Edmonton 1993; CKNG-FM Edmonton 1993-97; CILQ-FM Toronto 1997-2002; PD Energy FM group (CING, CING, CKGE, CFHK, CHAY) ON 2002; GM/PD CKVX-FM Vancouver 2002-03; PD CKKS-FM/CKLG-FM Vancouver 2003; Station Manager CISS-FM/CJAQ-FM Toronto 2003-current - Let go in June of 2006

According to Rogers Communications, the only thing taken for the first JACK-FM radio station in Vancouver was the name and the tagline. PD Pat Cardinal says that he was unaware of the type of music on Bob Perry's American website and that "JACK" was one of several names that were considered for the format. Perry named the station after a fictitious persona, "Cadillac Jack" Garrett, "a hard-living radio cowboy" whose motto was "playing what we want." Rogers Communications licensed the trademarks from Perry for their use in Canada soon after the launch.

Beginning late in 2002, the format was adopted on Canadian radio stations owned by Rogers Communications. The first Jack station was Vancouver's CKLG, which quickly shot to the top of the city's BBM radio ratings. The format was consequently adopted on other Rogers stations in 2002 and 2003. The format proved popular in many markets where it was introduced, although its success was not always as dramatic as it had been in Vancouver.

Report On Business Television's The Wrap, Michael Hainsworth recently interviewed Pat Cardinal, general manager of Toronto's Jack-FM. Hainsworth made the perceptive observation that we live in an iPod culture, with no ads, and that's what's driving our desire for satellite radio. To which Cardinal agreed partly, and explained his philosophy: "The disc jockeys weren't particularly necessary for what the radio station was all about. When you come to Jack, you're guaranteed to be hearing two things: You're going to hear a song, or you're going to hear a commercial, which we have to play to pay the bills."

BC Radio History