CHBN-FM

For the radio station in the Halifax Regional Municipality that uses the same logo and format, see CJCH-FM.

CHBN-FM

City of license	Edmonton, Alberta
Branding	91.7 The Bounce
Slogan	Edmonton's #1 Hit Music Station
Frequency	91.7 MHz (FM)
First air date	February 17, 2005
Format	contemporary hit radio
Power	100,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates	53°27′47″N 113°20′6.5″W
Callsign meaning	BouNce
Owner	Rogers Radio
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	91.7 The Bounce

CHBN-FM (91.7 The Bounce, stylized as 91.7 THE BOUNCE) is a contemporary hit radio station based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The station, which is jointly owned by Rogers Radio, operates at 91.7 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW.

CHBN is ranked #13 in the Edmonton market according to the Fall 2011 PPM data report released by BBM Canada.

History

91.7 The Bounce (CHBN) signed on the air on February 17, 2005.

When the station first signed on, the Bounce was portrayed as a rhythmic top 40 format, but moved to the current contemporary hit radio format in December 2005. They became the only contemporary hit radio station in the Edmonton market when CKRA (96X) shifted their format to play a hot adult contemporary format in August 2005, and then later to country music four months later. After this surprise development, The Bounce shifted more to pop music. It is now common to hear today's biggest pop stars like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Britney Spears.

Every year in October, in an event called "Bras Across the Bridge", for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Bounce collects bras from listeners. For each bra donated, CHBN donates $1 to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. At the end of the month, they then tie all the bras together, to see how many times they can span the string of bras across the Edmonton High Level Bridge.

At the time of their launch, the Bounce was jointly owned by CHUM Limited and Milestone Radio. In June 2007, all of CHUM's assets, including its share of CHBN-FM, were sold to CTVglobemedia. On June 23, 2010, it was announced that CHBN would be sold to Rogers (which also owns Edmonton's World FM and Sonic), along with its sister station in London, Ontario, CHST-FM, pending CRTC approval. See also CRTC Broadcasting notice from September 27, 2010.

When CFMG-FM flipped from AC to contemporary hit radio as "Virgin Radio, it marked the first three-station FM top 40 battle in Edmonton as of February 2011 (the other competitor being CJNW-FM). Following suit of The Bounce, Virgin has a similar playlist and even uses the the same station slogan as The Bounce. Since the launch of Virgin Radio, The Bounce has been playing fewer commercials, as seen with the introduction of Commercial Free Mondays, and playing more currents and higher-charting songs than its competition. CHBN-FM will continue to report on Mediabase & Nielsen BDS' Canadian contemporary hit radio panel.

Contests

The Bounce airs numerous contests for concert tickets, trips, money, and other prizes. The most popular contest held by the Bounce is the semiannual "Beat the Bank". In Beat the Bank, the on air DJ takes a caller after a cue to call. The caller then opens a series of "bank vaults", each time with the option to leave with the money won, or risk it by opening the next vault, which may contain the bank alarm. Each time the contest has been played, the highest potential winning amount has been $50,000, until 2011, when it was raised to $100,000.

Bounce Showdown

The Bounce has held seven singing contests, named the "Bounce Showdown", it has been called Canada's most successful talent competition. The winner of the Bounce Showdown is signed to record two songs with a record label, and their songs played on the Bounce. The past winners have been:

• 2005: Kreesha Turner
• 2006: Shiloh
• 2007: Nathan Brown
• 2008: Quanteisha Benjamin
• 2009: Justin Blais
• 2010 (June): Beatrice "Love" Gouchey
• 2010 (November): Bryan Finlay

External links

• The Bounce (Station website)
• The Bounce Showdown website
• CHBN-FM history at Canadian Communications Foundation
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CHBN-FM