I never worked there, but I know dozens of people who did. They always told me the place was chaos. Among the big names who spent time at CKO were Robert Holiday, Mike Robbins, John Gilbert, Taylor Parnaby, Jim Morris and more. 

The stories about the place, which actually had a network of stations across the country, were legendary. Here are a few: 

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A friend of mine who worked behind the scenes once complained to me that she wanted to leave but they kept replacing the person in charge and she was having trouble figuring out who it was, making one of the greatest statements in radio history. "There's no one to quit to!" she told me in a despairing voice. 

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I've told this one before here but it's so good, it bears repeating. Another friend of mine, who I'll call Mike, was one of their long suffering newscasters. He was in a semi-management position, but whenever they promised him better equipment, more money for talent etc. etc., the bosses never ever delivered. This went on for some time, and as you can imagine he got incredibly frustrated.

And then one day came the breaking point. He'd been working horrendous double shifts for weeks because they were shorthanded and had arranged to finally get away for a much needed vacation. Everything was booked and he was more than ready. And then the news director told him, "Sorry Mike, but we can't find anyone to fill the shifts, we need you to work overtime."

After all the broken promises that was the last straw and Mike finally exploded. He tore a strip off the guy, called him every name in the book and ended it with a dramatic, "I quit!" He stormed back to his office, gathered his things, and was walking out to Carlton St. when he heard John Gilbert, who then was second in command, screaming his name down the hall. 

"Mike! Mike!" Gilbert thundered, chasing him as fast as his aging legs would go.  

An angry Mike spun around on his heel with steam coming out of his ears. "What the f--k do you want?" he thundered. 

And then Gilbert said to him, "Can you at least work the weekend?"

My friend never did tell me what he said in reply, but I'm betting it's not printable.   

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CKO may have been an all news network, but it fell down on perhaps its biggest story. When it suddenly announced during a noon newscast that it had gone broke and was going off the air for good, I heard about it - on CKEY! Yes, they were scooped by a rival, who announced they were ceasing broadcasting before they could tell their own audience.

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And last but certainly least is a tale that may be apocryphal, but I like to think it's true. It concerns a guy who was working in B.C. but always wanted to make a name for himself in Ontario and tried to get a job at CKO so he could be heard in Toronto. After much persistence, he wound up at the station's Ottawa outlet and that was close enough. 

Because CKO was a national station, mostly on FM, he was able to listen to it on his trip across the country. Finally, after driving into the nation's capital with all his worldly possessions packed in his car, he turned on the CKO frequency there. And he heard the announcement that the station had gone broke and that this would be their final newscast.

I never did find out what happened to that guy. But I can only imagine what he was thinking when he heard that headline. 

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Perhaps CKO's most lasting legacy is the battle that followed it for control of the 99.1 frequency. As you can imagine, it was a hot commodity in Toronto and everyone wanted it. It finally went to the CBC, who (and yes, I know the complaint about electrical noise in the downtown core)  managed to convince the powers that be that no one could hear their clear channel 50K signal on 740 AM, despite the fact the thing could be received as far away as Florida, and they had to have the open FM frequency. The rest, along with CKO, is history. 

This should fill in a lot of the blanks

CKO at History of Cdn. Broadcasting

Davester wrote:

I was at a meeting of the London Vintage Radio Club this weekend and this month's lecture was on the CKO Radio network.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CKO

The speaker became interested in the history of the network when he found a cheap 70's office clock with the CKO - 99.1 logo. 
I guess they were the precursor to 680NEWS back in the 70's and 80's and attempted to get an entire network up and going before pulling the plug.

Any of you old timers out there do any time at CKO Toronto or one of their affiliate stations?

Davester.

Matter of fact just this weekend I was in contact with an old school,mate who worked there in sales .She told me that Erin Davis and Eva D worked there and I was not aware of that. I also remember around 1989 a new director was hired for the company I worked for and he came from CKO. A very nice and friendly gent. 

I worked there in Toronto and Vancouver, kinda followed Gilbert across the country .  It was an insane place to work, but tons of fun as long as you could roll with it.

Another great line to come out of its demise..  "At least the Titanic went down playing music.."

Just a Radio Fan wrote:

A friend of mine, and someone many posters will know worked in the Toronto office.   He referred to the station as CK-Zero, and said it was the only station that was so cheap they could not afford a 4th call letter.

ig wrote:

Erin and John Andersen did the Toronto morning show.

Fitz wrote:

Davester wrote:

I was at a meeting of the London Vintage Radio Club this weekend and this month's lecture was on the CKO Radio network.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CKO

The speaker became interested in the history of the network when he found a cheap 70's office clock with the CKO - 99.1 logo. 
I guess they were the precursor to 680NEWS back in the 70's and 80's and attempted to get an entire network up and going before pulling the plug.

Any of you old timers out there do any time at CKO Toronto or one of their affiliate stations?

Davester.

Matter of fact just this weekend I was in contact with an old school,mate who worked there in sales .She told me that Erin Davis and Eva D worked there and I was not aware of that. I also remember around 1989 a new director was hired for the company I worked for and he came from CKO. A very nice and friendly gent. 

 

Yes John Andersen is the other name brought up by my old school mate who also said the morning show was quite popular.
 

John Andersen ever work in North Bay?   ... like mid 70s?  I do remember CK0...although, obviously, not fondly.  I would think that I have proudly established a history here for not liking...in fact loathing...bla bla bla...bla bla bla bla blaaahhh' radio.  So?  When CKO happened along in the later 70s....for me it was only a matter of time before they would be spat out as ultra wet, and OFF-putting, barely warm toast.

And they were out after what ... 11-12 years?  As it turned out...they were merely and only just ahead of their 'time'.  That kind of poop is all over both dials these days...although mainly on AM in Canada.  To try that on FM...then...?  Pure folly.  FM, as it turned out, was supposed to be for music.  No wonder it c[r]apsized and sank.  Just an extra-dumb management decision.  It wasn't the fault of the talent.  Bet that cost some folks some money.  Too bad dumb ideas held good ideas in abeyance when it came to taking a chance.  ['cept for that crude king of 'thing' Howard who made his meanderings work...and earn the BIG BUCK$.]

97.5 in London. They were 50 KW mono but ran a stereo generator to illuminate the stereo lamp on FM tuners. I lived about 2 miles from their transmitter and that signal played heck with my FM reception off an outdoor antenna. If I remember correctly, they were on the air for a few years. Never listened to them very much. I do remember the audio sounded 'tinny' like the station was on a narrow bandwidth feed.

Fast forward about 15 years or so later (circa mid 1990's) now defunct CKSL 1410 ran with a partial news / talk format and put good talent behind it. That ran for about 18 months before they changed format again.

Perhaps like Titan the warehouse club (late 70's in London) these stations were ahead of their time. Great topic.