The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Indie 88 Gets New Owner

RadioActive · October 3, 2023 4:02 pm

It's Local Radio Lab, which also owns CKNO-FM (aka FM 101 Orangeville), CJML-FM (FM 101 Milton), and CIMA-FM in Alliston (otherwise known as FM92 South Simcoe.)

Will they keep the format? The Indie music playlist doesn't seem to entirely match what their other owned stations are doing. I can't see the new owners buying a place that made its bones on being Independent and then chasing away its audience, but you never know. All the official press release refers to is a "path forward" for the station, whatever that means.

A story on Broadcast Dialogue seems to indicate there won't be many big changes in the format ahead.

Looks like former morning host Josie Dye got out at just the right time.

Rock 95 Ltd. of Barrie is the seller, although there's no word on what the price was for the Toronto outlet.

Local Radio Lab purchases Toronto’s INDIE88

Radiowiz · October 3, 2023 4:20 pm

Is Active rock still on their HD2?
I wonder what will happen to that?
Does Radio Lab even do HD?

km93 · October 3, 2023 4:24 pm

Well at least it's still owned by an independent radio company-so still staying true to the "indie" spirit. Hopefully they take the station in a more Adult Album Alternative (AAA) direction, this would fill a true niche! You could go from: 10,000 Maniacs to a great contemporary singer-songwriter like Ray LaMontagne to perhaps a lesser played Hip tune then to some Massive Attack. Many cities in the U.S. have such a station, it's time for Canada to catch up.

Radiowiz · October 3, 2023 5:25 pm

Radio Insight input: https://radioinsight.com/headlines/259509/local-radio-lab-acquires-indie-88-toronto/

RadioAaron · October 3, 2023 5:27 pm

Radiowiz wrote:
Does Radio Lab even do HD?

They do now

M. David · October 4, 2023 1:40 pm

I just hope that this acquisition doesn’t spell the end of Indie 88. I’ve been a regular listener since day one, and they do alternative right. It’d be a shame if they changed the format. Plus, Ian March and the gang are all doing a fantastic job.

Last edited by M. David (October 4, 2023 1:40 pm)

km93 · October 4, 2023 1:42 pm

M. David wrote:
I just hope that this acquisition doesn’t spell the end of Indie 88. I’ve been a regular listener since day one, and they do alternative right. It’d be a shame if they changed the format. Plus, Ian March and the gang are all doing a fantastic job.

True, just think they could further broaden musically to fill more of a niche.

Radiowiz · October 4, 2023 2:12 pm

M. David wrote:
I just hope that this acquisition doesn’t spell the end of Indie 88.

There were a lot of people wanting the 88.1 FM frequency after CKLN made their exit.
For Indie 88 to have won, surely there's something in their CRTC regulated licence that might make a format change difficult.

From 2013:
“Our licence requires us to play a certain amount of CanCon and a certain number of emerging artists,” says Bingley. “I feel a lot of pride when I hear someone say, ‘I never thought I’d hear XYZ on the radio.'”An emerging artist, she says, is defined as someone who hasn’t had a hit. True to mandate, the station plays a mix of acts new and old, big and small, local and international, known and mostly unknown, leaning heavily on indie pop and indie rock. Its first-ever on-air band was Arcade Fire, and a random morning sampling might include Radiohead, Feist, the Clash, Jack White, July Talk, MS MR, Bastille and the Strokes."

Source: https://nowtoronto.com/music/indie-88-update/

RadioActive · January 17, 2024 12:34 pm

RadioActive wrote:
It's Local Radio Lab, which also owns CKNO-FM (aka FM 101 Orangeville), CJML-FM (FM 101 Milton), and CIMA-FM in Alliston (otherwise known as FM92 South Simcoe.)

Will they keep the format? The Indie music playlist doesn't seem to entirely match what their other owned stations are doing. I can't see the new owners buying a place that made its bones on being Independent and then chasing away its audience, but you never know. All the official press release refers to is a "path forward" for the station, whatever that means.

A story on Broadcast Dialogue seems to indicate there won't be many big changes in the format ahead.

Looks like former morning host Josie Dye got out at just the right time.

Rock 95 Ltd. of Barrie is the seller, although there's no word on what the price was for the Toronto outlet.

Local Radio Lab purchases Toronto’s INDIE88

So now we have at least a few more answers about this pending purchase. The format apparently won't change when the new owners take it over, but this is broadcasting, so nothing is engraved in stone.

What does a rare Toronto FM frequency sell for these days? They're paying $7 million.

The CRTC will look at the deal and likely approve it when it holds a hearing on March 25th.

CRTC Release

torontostan · January 17, 2024 2:11 pm

Remember that the Bingley family is at least 7 million dollars richer because of childish behaviour by the various board members at CKLN, and their failure to run a largely volunteer campus station. Good for him for creating a successful operation, and I wish him the best in (semi-)retirement.

markow202 · January 17, 2024 2:57 pm

km93 wrote:
Well at least it's still owned by an independent radio company-so still staying true to the "indie" spirit. Hopefully they take the station in a more Adult Album Alternative (AAA) direction, this would fill a true niche! You could go from: 10,000 Maniacs to a great contemporary singer-songwriter like Ray LaMontagne to perhaps a lesser played Hip tune then to some Massive Attack. Many cities in the U.S. have such a station, it's time for Canada to catch up.

This would be a great format! The closest to this is iheartradio's streaming station called "Freeform Radio".

Tomas Barlow · January 17, 2024 7:40 pm

markow202 wrote:
km93 wrote:
Well at least it's still owned by an independent radio company-so still staying true to the "indie" spirit. Hopefully they take the station in a more Adult Album Alternative (AAA) direction, this would fill a true niche! You could go from: 10,000 Maniacs to a great contemporary singer-songwriter like Ray LaMontagne to perhaps a lesser played Hip tune then to some Massive Attack. Many cities in the U.S. have such a station, it's time for Canada to catch up.
This would be a great format! The closest to this is iheartradio's streaming station called "Freeform Radio".

Online is the perfect place for a niche format like that.

RadioAaron · January 17, 2024 7:42 pm

Tomas Barlow wrote:
markow202 wrote:
km93 wrote:
Well at least it's still owned by an independent radio company-so still staying true to the "indie" spirit. Hopefully they take the station in a more Adult Album Alternative (AAA) direction, this would fill a true niche! You could go from: 10,000 Maniacs to a great contemporary singer-songwriter like Ray LaMontagne to perhaps a lesser played Hip tune then to some Massive Attack. Many cities in the U.S. have such a station, it's time for Canada to catch up.
This would be a great format! The closest to this is iheartradio's streaming station called "Freeform Radio".
Online is the perfect place for a niche format like that.

Or non-com, which most US AAA's are.

Muffaraw Joe · January 17, 2024 9:03 pm

What an interesting acquisition, the station took over a few MY FM markets and now a one off Indie station in Major market. This is a challenging mix of stations to make it work...It is gutsy for sure in a competitive environment.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out and I do hope it is a successful take over.

RadioAaron · January 17, 2024 9:24 pm

Muffaraw Joe wrote:
What an interesting acquisition

If this one's interesting, the rest of what's going to happen this year will blow your mind.

brian451 · January 17, 2024 11:14 pm

RadioAaron wrote:
Muffaraw Joe wrote:
What an interesting acquisition
If this one's interesting, the rest of what's going to happen this year will blow your mind.

Agreed. I got an email today from someone I know quite well and the information I got about station sales and some stations maybe shutting down and a bunch of other news is going to be really interesting. And it's not just one company making a lot of moves. Another bigger company is going to be doing a lot too. Canadian radio by December is going to look really interesting.