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New Aurora FM Station Gets Call Letters, Location
It's called CHRA and you'll eventually find it 101.5 on FM with what I can only assume will be, as a strictly local community station, very low power. But let me get this straight. They got the licence from the CRTC and are only now deciding whether to fund the thing? Back-asswards, it seems to me.
Aurora radio station will be CHRA 101.5 FM
Community radio station receives tentative green light – with significantly smaller price tag
Last edited by RadioActive (July 23, 2015 3:30 pm)
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- Iain Grant
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Re: New Aurora FM Station Gets Call Letters, Location
Going into last week’s meeting, however, Councillors were facing a staff recommendation to increase the budget not to $10,000 but by a significantly larger $250,000 to create a recording studio complete with sound-proofing.
Shit. Wish I had their council people approving my budgets. This is insanity in today's world, even for a mainstream broadcaster, never mind a community one. As a design engineer, could I spend it? Absolutely. Would I? Not if I ever wanted to hold my head up again.
Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change.
- ig
- Iain Grant
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Re: New Aurora FM Station Gets Call Letters, Location
This reminds me of the Stouffville '$300 to prepare a council meeting for radio' deal. I'm quite confident someone could have packaged and aired the council meetings for $25 plus coffee.
There's no money easier in the world to spend, than someone elses.
Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change.
- Dan Sys
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Re: New Aurora FM Station Gets Call Letters, Location
Radioactive: I cannot find any records of an application, let alone approval for CHRA 101.5 on the CRTC site. Where did you see this?
- RadioActive
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Re: New Aurora FM Station Gets Call Letters, Location
The first linked article says this:
"[Creator Ferguson] Mobbs has obtained a licence and FM frequency from the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission for the creation of CHRA 101.5 FM."
Linked In says Ferguson Mobbs (really - you couldn't make up a name like that) was a former insurance adjustor and Lt. Col in the CAF, and has been "president and CEO" of Aurora Community Radio since March, for whatever that's worth.
Oddly enough, when I first saw this story, I also searched the CRTC site and couldn't find any evidence of a licence being granted, either. A previous Yorkregion.com article from last March indicates they were raising money to "help cover the cost of obtaining a broadcast licence for Radio Aurora." That's five months ago. Which kinda makes me wonder if that boast about them already having a licence is real. Another separate article in another paper - this one published as recently as July 15th - calls CHRA a "proposed radio station."
I visit the CRTC site nearly every day. I don't ever remember this coming up online. Yet they claim to have both an assigned frequency and call letters. So frankly, I'm not sure what to think.
As for the programming for this very local station? The same article offers a few hints.
"To appeal to as wide an audience as possible, the music will be a mixed bag of all genres and a variety of programming will happen in between. For example, the noon-to-1 p.m. timeslot will feature local businesses in town, and community groups such as the Queen’s York Rangers and the Aurora branch of the Royal Canadian Legion have also committed to having their own programs.“
We are really excited to have old radio from the ’40s like The Shadow and Gunsmoke,” he added.
The Auroran paper says the hours of 4-6 PM would be "specifically available to high school students."
One last weird little anamoly, and it has nothing to do with the new station, regardless of its status. Google "Ferguson Mobbs" and you'll get a number of links to this gentleman. The rest are articles about the protests over the shooting of a black teen by police in Ferguson, Missouri several months ago. But those are obviously very different kinds of "Ferguson mobs!"
Last edited by RadioActive (July 24, 2015 3:35 pm)
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