On July 12, 1976, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved a licence for CKO to Canada All News Radio Limited.
With a recorded message from Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to launch it, the CKO radio network started broadcasting on July 1, 1977 with stations in Ottawa and Toronto.
The Vancouver station began with a news staff of ten, including news director Cam Scott, Gerry Gifford, Richard Dettman, Stan Crossley, Bill Rodger, Norm Bright and Joanna Piros.
After Ray's departure that year, Tom Spear was hired from CHWK Chilliwack in December 1978 until most local programming was curtailed in August 1980.
The news network began live broadcasts of Question Period from the Canadian House of Commons in late 1977; for nearly all Canadians, it was the first regular, live access to House proceedings as it would be well over two years before the CBC Parliamentary Television Network began regular nationwide video distribution to most cable systems.
Edmonton journalists Cliff Oginski, Ian Kinsey, Karen Brown and Bob Unger balanced a perceived Toronto slant to national issues.
CKFH previously carried the Maple Leafs games and attempted to have the CRTC stop CKO's hockey broadcasts.
The CRTC rejected CKFH's complaint, on the rationale that sports broadcasts were within CKO's programming commitments.
As a result, with the transaction still pending before the CRTC and no prospect of stanching CKO's mounting losses in the interim, AGRA decided to euthanize the network.
On November 10, network president Bill Stewart told employees via conference call that CKO was shutting its doors.
While this meeting was taking place, the network abruptly went off the air in the middle of the noon (Eastern Time) broadcast, never to return.