CFRO-FM

CFRO-FM, licensed and owned by Vancouver Co-operative Radio, is a non-commercial community radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is a legally registered co-operative and is branded as Co-op Radio. The station broadcasts on 100.5 MHz FM and have studios and offices on Columbia Street off Hastings Street. in Vancouver's Downtown East Side, while its transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour. CFRO is a member of the National Campus and Community Radio Association.

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, 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 operated at 100.5 MHz. This application was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on September 9, 2011. The frequency swap occurred on September 10, 2012.

Programming 
Public affairs programmes and subjects in English include Redeye (radio) (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, LGBTQ+ issues, 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, Amharic, 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.

Listening and technical aspects 
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 
Founded in 1975, Co-operative Radio, CFRO, 100.5 FM is a non-profit community radio station & podcast recording studio.

They operate under the Community Radio Education Society (CRES) charity, which runs the Media Arts Committee (MAC). This foundation supports the audio community in Vancouver through grants and by lending artists and members the opportunity to borrow professional audio equipment. The Board of Directors and staff members are composed of nine individual volunteers. Their responsibilities include monitoring all station activities, hiring management and deliberating substantial decisions within the community. The spatiality of the radio station has social implications as the building resides in the heart of the downtown eastside of Vancouver.

References

 
 

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Media cooperatives in Canada
Radio stations established in 1975
1975 establishments in British Columbia