Pattison Media has flipped Social AC “102.7 Now Radio” CKPK-FM Vancouver back to its former Alternative “102.7 The Peak” identity at midnight.
The move brings back the format and branding that originated as a AAA on 100.5 in 2008. A frequency swap would move it to 102.7 in 2010 and the station would shift to Alternative in 2015 until its flip in July 2022. The Alternative format would then move to HD2 and streaming until its demise today. The station will utilize the “2 Minute Promise” of short stopsets.
Program Director Russell James comments, “THE PEAK’s audience, even though they could only hear us on our stream and HD2 signal, has been impressively dedicated. So many people discovered their new favorite song playing for the first time on 102.7 FM and we want to continue that discovery on the radio and showcasing new bands in THE PEAK Live Lounge!”
General Manager Mark Patric added, “THE PEAK has always been Vancouver’s home of Alternative music. We couldn’t be prouder to bring it back to FM!”
Now Radio midday host Jaclyn Tatay will host mornings and evening host Brayden Mack moves to afternoons. The Edmonton based “Crash & Mars” morning show and Calgary based “Rob & Friends” afternoon shows depart the station. Those two shows were added in March following companywide cuts at Pattison Media saw the departures of CKPK morning hosts Christy Farrell and Fraser Tuff and afternoon host Denai Johnson.
Brandon Charles 
I wonder what happened here. Talking with friends from Canada it seems like it never really took off in Vancouver, the app was always busy enough, but that’s easy to manufacture also. My curiosity though is, is it better designed for a market like Edmonton, where it’s colder and maybe there’s less to do, than say a West Coast market like Vancouver. The implication of today’s flip Will have questions moving forward regarding its launch in the states.
One could argue that the peak is a heritage brand, and that would be true, but Christian Hall and sonic radio really drummed up a lot of great publicity for their launch last year. Seems like a crowded market, or perhaps Pattison media is just going through the same thing that all radio companies are going through, and a format, like that is very Financially intensive, so why not be the third alternative station in the market.
It doesn’t help when your station is based around interactivity and having personalities in studio and financial cuts force you to go syndicated in morning and afternoon drive.