Bill Stewart

Nostalgia Radio Cooperative President
CJNU Announcer and Producer

From my teenage years, my two great interests were audio electronics (this was when "hi-fi" was an exciting new development) and radio broadcasting. My first on-air experience came with high school and university news programs on CKY and CJOB. I got my first paying radio job as a part-time operator at CKRC, where I first met Harry Taylor, Roy Maguire and the late Cliff Gardner.

I took a summer job at CJOB in 1960, but it lasted five years, during which time I did production, news, special-events broadcasts and became FM Manager in 1962, shortly after CJOB-FM commenced separate programming. At CJOB, I met many other enthusiastic, innovative young broadcasters including Nostalgia Broadcasting Vice-President Garry Robertson.

The late broadcast engineer Neil East was a close friend and together we were able to pioneer many types of programming for CJOB's new FM station, including a live stereo pickup of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. I left CJOB to help found Regina's first FM station, CFMQ, in 1966 and became a member of the FM Advisory committee of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. In the '70s and '80s, I turned my attention to audio and electronic retailing.

In 1992, I decided to use my business experience to join Investors Group as an advisor, moving on to becoming an independent Certified Financial Planner. I am now easing into retirement from the financial profession while coming full circle back to radio broadcasting as the president of Nostalgia Broadcasting Cooperative Inc., Winnipeg’s first member-owned public radio broadcaster.