[6] Dickinson's previous broadcast experience included a stint at Vancouver radio stations CHQM-AM-FM.

The playlist consisted of titles released from 1955 to the-then present with the newscasters and announcers placing an emphasis on the community of Richmond (the ISLand in CISL).

On November 10, 2008, at 9 a.m., after playing "Kiss and Say Goodbye" by The Manhattans, CISL flipped from oldies to soft adult contemporary.

On December 23, 2009, CISL filed an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requesting permission to broadcast up to 20% of its programming in Russian during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Following the closure of the merger in July 2013, CISL was placed in a blind trust pending its eventual sale.

On April 25, 2017, Rogers Media announced that it would acquire CISL, and switch the station to a sports format branded as Sportsnet 650 later in the year.

The move came as Rogers had acquired the radio rights to the Vancouver Canucks hockey team beginning in the 2017–18 season.

Both teams were previously broadcast by Bell Media's TSN Radio stations CFTE and CKST.

[23][24] On August 28, 2017, CISL began digitally rebroadcasting on the HD Radio signal of co-owned CJAX-FM, using its third subchannel.