Vista buys 10 Okanagan radio stations from Bell Media

Bell Canada announced today, Feb. 8, that it sold 45 of its 103 radio stations across the country.

The 21 stations it sold are in BC were all bought by BC-based Vista Radio.

Ten of the BC stations are in the Okanagan, including three in Kelowna, two in Penticton and one in Vernon, according to a posting on RadioInsight.com and other news sources.

The radio stations in the Okanagan are:

CHOR, Summerland, B.C. (Vista Radio)
CKXR, Salmon Arm, B.C. (Vista Radio)
CKCR, Revelstoke, B.C. (Vista Radio)
CJMG, Penticton, B.C. (Vista Radio)
CKOR, Penticton, B.C. (Vista Radio)
CJOR, Osoyoos, B.C. (Vista Radio)
CICF, Vernon, B.C. (Vista Radio)
CHSU, Kelowna, B.C. (Vista Radio)
CILK, Kelowna, B.C. (Vista Radio)
CKFR, Kelowna, B.C. (Vista Radio)

The others are in the Kootenays, Peace River region and Northwest BC.

Vista was founded on Vancouver Island in 2004 and its website shows its head office being in Courtenay. Prior to the latest purchase, it owned 49 radio stations in the three Western provinces and the Northwest Territories.

“With more than 200 employees our team is passionately dedicated to their communities and are committed to generating exceptional local radio,” the Vista website says.

It was bought in 2012 by Westerkirk Capital Inc., a private equity company.

Today’s announcement also includes plans for Bell to close 107 The Source (formerly known as Radio Shack) outlets.

Last month, Bell announced a deal with Best Buy to rebrand and revamp 165 The Source stores and close the rest.

It’s has not yet been announced which stores will close. The Source has two stores in Kamloops and six in the Okanagan.

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