A temporary new FM station, picking up where the late and beloved CHNR left off, is slated to hit airwaves Dec. 2.

CJNU (Nostalgia Unlimited ) at 104.7 FM will start by playing popular hits from the 1940s to the 1980s for three weeks in December.

"We'll play everything but rock," said Bill Stewart, the president of the non-profit co-operative behind the station.

"If you can whistle it, hum it or sing it, we'll play it."

The group has obtained a special-events licence from the federal Department of Industry in support of the Stroke Recovery Association of Manitoba. Using many of the veteran broadcasters behind the now-defunct CHNR and its predecessor CKVN, CJNU will spin its proverbial discs from the foundation's St. Boniface offices from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

They are setting up a 50-watt transmitter on the top of 55 Nassau in Osborne Village.

"With FM you need height," said Stewart, 66, a former broadcaster turned financial planner. "Our signal will cover the city."

Among the co-operative's 20 members are such well-known retired radio and TV personalities as Bob Burns, Murray Parker, Garry Robertson and Lee Major.

"I thought I'd come out of the woodwork and give it another shot," said Major, 68, a former CBC and Cool-FM announcer who will be sharing a morning shift with Robertson.

"It'll be enjoyable playing music for an audience that's not being served in the market."

Many of the members were involved with a failed attempt to revive the CHNR format on KY58's former AM spot earlier this year.

CJNU will also be broadcasting in January in support of the Alzheimer's Society of Manitoba. Under the terms of the special events licence, Stewart says, CJNU can sell PBS-style sponsorships but not advertising spots per se.

Also, under the co-operative setup, no major changes to the music format can be made without the agreement of the group.

"The way it's set up is better," said radio technician Ron Rochester, 65.

"Everybody involved has a say, rather than a handful of people."

Stewart says the group has no plans to apply for a conventional broadcast licence. They are content to go from event to event, with participants being paid an honorarium for their time.

In 1995, some Winnipeg entrepreneurs began broadcasting as CKVN with a 14-watt signal from atop the Richardson Building.

They obtained a proper CRTC licence in 2003 and reconstituted themselves as CHNR. They had difficulty meeting their Canadian content requirements and attracting advertisers, who prefer listeners under 50.

In 2005, after changing the format and station ID to "The Breeze," CHNR owners sold out to the Maritime-based broadcasting chain Newcap, which switched the format and call letters again.

Several of the original broadcasters, who had donated their services, and many listeners felt betrayed by the station's dropping the nostalgia-music format.

morley.walker@freepress.mb.ca

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