It broadcasts the CBC Radio One network as a Class A clear-channel AM station powered at 50,000 watts around the clock from a non-directional antenna near Watrous.

In Regina, a nested rebroadcaster, CBKR-FM 102.5 MHz, simulcasts CBK for listeners who may have trouble receiving the 540 AM signal amid downtown office and apartment buildings.

[2] That helps CBK's daytime signal to reach most of the southern two-thirds of Saskatchewan, including Regina, Saskatoon, Yorkton, Swift Current, Lloydminster, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert.

[3] The K in the station's call sign honours Henry Kelsey, an English fur trader, explorer, and sailor who was the first recorded European to have visited what is now Saskatchewan.

[4] CBC engineers deliberately chose to place the station's transmission facilities near Watrous in order to provide the best possible broadcast signal to the densely populated portion of Saskatchewan, including the cities of Regina and Saskatoon.

Additionally, Watrous, in particular, was an advantageous location due to being on the main line of the Canadian National Railway, whose telecommunications infrastructure was used to deliver content to CBC radio stations before the creation of the Trans Canada Microwave system.

[15] One of the station's distinctive features was its 70.2 m2 (756 sq ft)[16] Art Deco transmitter building located just east of Watrous on Agnes Street.

[17] Before automation, and with the exception of during World War II when armed guards patrolled the property, the building was routinely open for the public to tour.

The original RCA transmitter contained a 12.2-metre (40 ft) long red-and-chrome façade, visible from a gallery accessible to visitors, and was set atop a linoleum floor depicting a map of Canada marking the locations and call signs of all CBC-owned and affiliated radio stations in the country as of 1939.

[7] In the mid-1960s, the living quarters were expanded with the addition of a two-person underground fallout shelter containing duplicated transmitter controls and a small studio to be used to broadcast news in the event of a nuclear attack.

A backup electrical generator with fuel tank ensured that the station could remain on air for weeks without power and under control from inside the fallout shelter.

[18] The living quarters and emergency broadcast capabilities were briefly reactivated in late 1999 to provide contingency in the event of the year 2000 problem interrupting normal operations.