Cabin Radio gets right to broadcast on FM radio

The federal regulator responsible for approving or denying new FM radio stations has given Cabin Radio permission to broadcast on the FM band.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced the approval Wednesday. The decision follows years-long efforts by Cabin Radio — a Yellowknife-based online radio station — to actually be on the radio.

"It's huge. It's something we've been working to for about nine years now," said Ollie Williams, the editor of Cabin Radio's newsroom and one of the company's five owners. 

He also thanked everyone who supported Cabin Radio in its bid for an FM license.

"The job now for me and for the other four of us who own it collectively… basically we've got to live up to what everyone thinks they're getting. They have endorsed a product that they want us to deliver and now it's our turn to go out and do that."

Williams said his team will need at least a couple months to set up its radio transmitter and ensure its meeting technical requirements before it starts broadcasting on 93.9 FM. In an email, he added Cabin Radio plans to provide more information in the future, including a timeline for when it will start broadcasting.

Williams said Cabin Radio's online broadcasting will continue, along with its FM broadcast.

What people can expect from the new FM station

Williams said Cabin Radio's FM radio station will build on the programming from its existing online radio station. 

"We're not going to suddenly, massively change the product," he said.

Listeners should still expect a lot of music, with a mix of commercial hits from across the decades and Northern music. The biggest change, Williams said, will be that the new FM station will carry more radio news and current affairs interviews than previously.

Williams said Cabin's new FM station will also carry up to one hour a week of French programming, and that they are also exploring potential Indigenous-language programming if they can find a way to roll it out which "complements and helps other Indigenous broadcasters in the N.W.T." 

"We want to make sure we're doing things that fill a gap in the market rather than taking away from other people," he said.

Williams also stressed that listeners should expect a lot of Canadian and Northern Indigenous music, part of the commitment Cabin Radio made to the CRTC during the application process and which is now enshrined in its licence.

In its own news release, the CRTC said approving Cabin Radio's application would "help Yellowknife residents have better access to local news and community-focused programming, including Indigenous voices while reflecting the realities and priorities of people in the North in our broadcasting system."

The regulator held a two-day public hearing in February on applications by both Cabin Radio and Vista Radio, a B.C.-based company which currently operates True North FM.

On Wednesday, the CRTC said it has denied Vista's application "to maintain market stability," as both applicants had raised the issue of possible financial impact of adding two FM stations to the N.W.T.'s roster.

It said Cabin Radio's application came out on top because it would increase competition and add to the diversity of voices on the airwaves in the Yellowknife area.

"It also included commitments to diversity, emerging artists and French-language programming," the regulator noted.

Cabin Radio's fight for FM rights began in 2019, when it first submitted an application to the CRTC.