89.9 The Wave: CHNS-FM’s Timeless Soundtrack for Halifax Harbour
From the salty breeze on the Halifax waterfront to the tree-lined streets of Dartmouth, one frequency unites the city in a shared groove of nostalgia: CHNS-FM, better known as 89.9 The Wave. Since flipping to its classic-hits format in 2013, The Wave has carved out a beloved niche by spinning the greatest tracks of the ’70s, ’80s, and early ’90s—songs that still flood dance floors at wedding receptions and spark spontaneous sing-alongs in rush-hour traffic on the Macdonald Bridge. Wherever you search “Halifax classic hits radio” or “listen live 89.9,” The Wave rises to the top, offering an instant time machine for listeners across Atlantic Canada and beyond.
Mornings start with “The Morning Splash,” where upbeat hosts pair weather, local news, and trivia with yacht-rock harmonies and Motown grooves. Mid-day shifts into “Retro Lunch,” a concrete-pour of back-to-back classics that keeps office cubicles humming from Burnside to Bedford. As the workday winds down, “The Drive at Five” pumps up Halifax commuters with Queen riffs, Prince falsettos, and Springsteen anthems timed perfectly to green lights along Quinpool Road. After dark, “Wave Lounge” slows the tempo with power ballads and soft-rock deep cuts, creating the perfect soundtrack for evening harbor walks or late-night study sessions at Dalhousie.
Beyond playlists, 89.9 The Wave is woven into Halifax’s cultural fabric. The annual “Wave Warm-Up” coat drive fills donation bins before winter storms arrive, and the station’s partnership with the Halifax Jazz Festival streams waterfront concerts live to seniors’ residences around the HRM. During Hurricane Fiona, The Wave switched instantly to emergency mode—broadcasting outage maps, shelter locations, and boil-water advisories long before social media feeds stabilized.
Technologically, CHNS pairs a 100,000-watt transmitter on Geizers Hill with a low-latency stream, a user-friendly mobile app, and hands-free smart-speaker commands—“Play Eighty-Nine-Nine The Wave.” SEO-optimized features such as “Playlist of the Day” and “Wave Weather Watch” help new listeners discover the station with a single search, while longtime fans download daily podcasts to relive trivia segments and artist interviews.
Whether you are cruising the Bedford Basin, stocking shelves on the South Shore, or missing home from a military posting overseas, 89.9 The Wave keeps Halifax connected to the songs that shaped its memories—wave after wave, chorus after chorus.
