CHBE-FM

CHBE-FM

City of license	Victoria, BC
Branding	107.3 Kool FM
Slogan	Today's Best Music
Frequency	107.3 MHz (FM)
First air date	2000
Format	Hot AC
ERP	20,000 watts horizontal polarization only
HAAT	142 meters (466 ft)
Class	B
Owner	Bell Media (Bell Media Radio)
Sister stations	CFAX, CIVI-DT
Website	www.1073kool.fm

CHBE-FM (107.3 Kool FM) is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 107.3 FM in Victoria, British Columbia, and is owned by Bell Media.

The station received approval in October 1999 and was originally launched in 2000 as CFEX, a modern rock station branded as "Extreme Radio 107dot3". It was owned by Seacoast Communications, the owner of AM radio station CFAX in the city. On August 16, 2002, it changed to adult hits as B107.3.

CFAX and CHBE were acquired by CHUM Limited in 2004, and on December 26 that year, CHBE changed to hot AC as 107.3 Kool FM, bringing back the format since CHTT-FM flipped to adult hits in January that year. Kool's first song was The Black Eyed Peas' Let's Get It Started. CHUM, in turn, was purchased on June 22, 2007 by CTVglobemedia, which now owns CFAX, CHBE and CIVI-TV in Victoria. Months later, CTVglobemedia would acquire CFBT-FM in Vancouver, causing Kool FM to shift to more of a top 40 format. Since 2010, Nielsen BDS moved the station to the Canadian top 40 panel, but remains on the hot AC panel for Mediabase; however, the station remains a top 40. The shift to top 40 proved unsuccessful, and around August 2010, songs from the 1980s and 1990s were phased back in the playlist, bringing the station back to hot AC. Since 2011, CHBE reports on Nielsen BDS' Canadian hot AC panel.

The station placed 3rd in the Spring 2012 BBM Ratings for Victoria.

External links

• 107.3 Kool FM
• CHBE-FM history - Canadian Communications Foundation
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CHBE-FM