54 Rock Commercial 1989

The station was launched on August 31, 1982, by Standard Broadcasting at 540 AM, with the call sign CJSB and a power of 50,000 watts (daytime) and 10,000 watts (nighttime). The station was initially a mixture of MOR music and talk programming, then became an adult standards/easy listening (Music of Your Life) station, and in January 1987, evolved into a soft adult contemporary format with the brand name 54 Lite Rock.

In 1988, the station adopted a mainstream rock format and the brand name 54 Rock. In June 1989, the station's nighttime power was increased from 10,000 watts to 12,500 watts in an effort to extend their coverage area in the west-end of Ottawa. Through all the changes, the station continued to lose money hand over foot.

In 1993, after 11 years without a profit on AM, the station applied to move to the FM band using the available 106.9 frequency that had been occupied by CKO from 1977 to 1989.[3] This was the first time the CRTC had allowed a commercial station in a major market to switch from AM to FM.

The AM station signed off the air at 9 a.m. on August 31, 1994, and the FM station signed on at 6 p.m. on September 1, 1994, with the new brand name 106.9 FM The Bear and changed its call sign to CKQB-FM.