CFRO-FM
Encyclopedia
CFRO-FM, licensed and owned by Vancouver Co-operative Radio, is a non-commercial community radio
station in Vancouver
, British Columbia
, in Coast Salish
territory. It is a legally registered co-operative and is branded as Co-op Radio. They broadcast on 102.7 megahertz FM. They have studios and offices in the Downtown Eastside
.
CFRO is a member of the National Campus and Community Radio Association
.
The station first went on the air April 14, 1975, launched by people mostly from various local activist groups in Vancouver. The station airs programmes in four categories: public affairs and news, music
, multi-lingual, and arts. The group producing each programme is mostly self-governing–within the co-operative frame.
On December 9, 2010, CFRO applied to exchange frequencies with CKPK-FM which currently operates at 100.5 MHz. This application was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on September 9, 2011.
(news and analysis on Saturday mornings), Wake Up With Co-op (three weekday mornings), The Brown Bagger (lectures and interviews four weekdays at noon), several programmes by and about aboriginal people, learning Coast Salish, Union Made (labour news), politics, women, international affairs (special programmes on Latin America, the Philippines, and Palestine), health, gay and lesbian, parenting, youth, the environment, animal rights, neighbourhood news, senior citizens, disabled people, yoga, and Democracy Now (from the USA).
Programmes air in ten foreign languages: Armenian
, Azeri
, Ethiopian
, Persian
, Korean
, Nepali
, Polish
, Serbo-Croatian
, South Slav, and Spanish
.
Music programmes specialize in one or more of these: aboriginal, accordion, African, alternative, bluegrass, blues, Caribbean, classical, Celtic, electronic, folk, fusion, gospel, hardcore, hip hop, house, India, jazz, Jewish, Latin, metal, old timey, punk, reggae, rock 'n' roll, roots, rumba, ska, soul, swing, tango, and world music. The weekly classical music program, "West Coast Classics," is the longest-running classical radio program on the air produced in Canada.
Arts programming includes arts news, poetry, comedy, sound art, show tunes and other music, and story-telling.
Nearly 100 different programme series air each week. Most of the late-night and week-end programmes are music and repeats, with public affairs and specialty talk programmes running mostly Monday through Friday in the day and evening. (See schedule in the external link below.)
The station is licensed by the Canadian government's broadcast regulating agency, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), with occasional license challenges by members of the public who object to some view-points and statements being broadcast.
To volunteer or serve the organization, those aged 16 or older must be dues-paid members, as are thousands of people who join mainly to support the operation financially and to vote at general meetings. The station broadcasts two major fund-raising drives a year, in the spring and autumn. Government grants are a very small part of the budget.
National Campus and Community Radio Association
Broadcasting Excellence awards received by Co-op Radio include:
Community radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
station in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, in Coast Salish
Coast Salish
Coast Salish languages are a subgroup of the Salishan language family. These languages are spoken by First Nations or Native American peoples inhabiting the territory that is now the southwest coast of British Columbia around the Strait of Georgia and Washington state around Puget Sound...
territory. It is a legally registered co-operative and is branded as Co-op Radio. They broadcast on 102.7 megahertz FM. They have studios and offices in the Downtown Eastside
Downtown Eastside
The Downtown Eastside is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is known as "Canada's poorest postal code"....
.
CFRO is a member of the National Campus and Community Radio Association
National Campus and Community Radio Association
The National Campus and Community Radio Association/L'Association nationale des radios étudiantes et communautaires is a non-profit organization of campus radio and community radio stations in Canada....
.
History
CFRO-FM received its radio license from the CRTC on May 7, 1974.The station first went on the air April 14, 1975, launched by people mostly from various local activist groups in Vancouver. The station airs programmes in four categories: public affairs and news, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, multi-lingual, and arts. The group producing each programme is mostly self-governing–within the co-operative frame.
On December 9, 2010, CFRO applied to exchange frequencies with CKPK-FM which currently operates at 100.5 MHz. This application was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on September 9, 2011.
Programming
Public affairs programmes and subjects in English include Redeye (radio)Redeye (radio)
Redeye is a radio program produced by an independent media collective at CFRO-FM, 102.7FM, a cooperative community radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.-History:...
(news and analysis on Saturday mornings), Wake Up With Co-op (three weekday mornings), The Brown Bagger (lectures and interviews four weekdays at noon), several programmes by and about aboriginal people, learning Coast Salish, Union Made (labour news), politics, women, international affairs (special programmes on Latin America, the Philippines, and Palestine), health, gay and lesbian, parenting, youth, the environment, animal rights, neighbourhood news, senior citizens, disabled people, yoga, and Democracy Now (from the USA).
Programmes air in ten foreign languages: Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
, Azeri
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
, Ethiopian
Ethiopian people
Ethiopian people or Ethnic Ethiopians are an ethnic group found in the horn of African country of Ethiopia.-Origins:Ethnic Ethiopians are one of the nearly 80 ethnic groups of the horn of Africa country and are found in every regional state of Ethiopia...
, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
, Nepali
Nepali language
Nepali or Nepalese is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...
, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
, South Slav, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
Music programmes specialize in one or more of these: aboriginal, accordion, African, alternative, bluegrass, blues, Caribbean, classical, Celtic, electronic, folk, fusion, gospel, hardcore, hip hop, house, India, jazz, Jewish, Latin, metal, old timey, punk, reggae, rock 'n' roll, roots, rumba, ska, soul, swing, tango, and world music. The weekly classical music program, "West Coast Classics," is the longest-running classical radio program on the air produced in Canada.
Arts programming includes arts news, poetry, comedy, sound art, show tunes and other music, and story-telling.
Nearly 100 different programme series air each week. Most of the late-night and week-end programmes are music and repeats, with public affairs and specialty talk programmes running mostly Monday through Friday in the day and evening. (See schedule in the external link below.)
Listening and technical aspects
Co-op Radio can be received in four ways:- 102.7 FM on the radio.
- Cable television-radio throughout most of British Columbia. The cable company in each part of the province provides a frequency, some of which are 102.7 and 104.9.
- The Internet at www.coopradio.org
- Shaw Direct Satellite 845.
The station is licensed by the Canadian government's broadcast regulating agency, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), with occasional license challenges by members of the public who object to some view-points and statements being broadcast.
Organisational structure
The co-operative is governed by its thousands of members, who may attend and vote at its annual general meeting and special general meetings. The members exercise their will also through an unpaid elected board of directors and its committees, four part-time paid staff (in the Canadian Auto Workers Union), and hundreds of volunteers, the latter creating all the programmes.To volunteer or serve the organization, those aged 16 or older must be dues-paid members, as are thousands of people who join mainly to support the operation financially and to vote at general meetings. The station broadcasts two major fund-raising drives a year, in the spring and autumn. Government grants are a very small part of the budget.
Radio Station Cafe
The Radio Station Cafe, a separate operation in the same building, hosts occasional special live Co-op Radio broadcasts.Awards
Co-op Radio has received many awards and is sometimes called the leading co-op radio station in Canada.National Campus and Community Radio Association
National Campus and Community Radio Association
The National Campus and Community Radio Association/L'Association nationale des radios étudiantes et communautaires is a non-profit organization of campus radio and community radio stations in Canada....
Broadcasting Excellence awards received by Co-op Radio include:
- 2007 Best Documentary (tie): Marc the Knife: The Overshadowed Career of Marc Blitstein (Steve Bowell)
- 2006 Best Documentary: 30 Years of Prison Justice Day by Emily Aspinwall and Tiffany Chong
- 2003 Programming Excellence; Redeye (radio)Redeye (radio)Redeye is a radio program produced by an independent media collective at CFRO-FM, 102.7FM, a cooperative community radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.-History:...
public affairs program - 1997 Programming Excellence "Voices from the 11th International AIDS Conference"
- 1995 Programming Excellence "Earth Day on the Air"