CJRU-AM

On December 11, the CRTC approved the application by Radio Ryerson Inc. for a broadcasting licence to operate a low-power, English-language community-based campus AM radio station in Toronto. Radio Ryerson was controlled by its board of directors, with representation from the university’s student body (three directors), the administration (three directors), station volunteers (one director) and the community at large (two directors chosen by the board). The station would operate at 1280 kHz with a full-time transmitter power of 99 watts. The licence would expire August 31, 2021.

The new station would broadcast 126 hours of programming each broadcast week, including 120 hours of local programming, with the remainder consisting of wrap-around programming. The music format would include a mixture of pop, rock, dance, acoustic, folk, folk-oriented, world beat international, jazz, blues and experimental music, with a focus on emerging artists. Radio Ryerson stated that it wished to provide a voice different from that of commercial or public radio by adopting a music discovery approach. Rather than playing songs in their entirety, excerpts would be aired, along with background information, interviews with key acts and insight into why some songs are matched with others. The applicant committed to exceed the regulatory minimums for the weekly broadcast of Canadian special interest and popular music as well as spoken word programming by devoting at least 15% of its special interest musical selections to Canadian music; 50% of its popular music selections to Canadian music; and 20% of its programming to spoken word programming.

CJRU began testing its signal on February 29 and was scheduled to officially launch on March 31.

1280 AM (CJRU) launched March 31. The station aired diverse voices from the local community and from the university as well as special content from Ryerson’s new Slaight Radio Institute. Part of the launch celebrations included a downtown concert.