{"id":36163,"date":"2019-02-19T07:47:35","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T11:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=36163"},"modified":"2019-02-19T07:47:35","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T11:47:35","slug":"how-one-tiny-ontario-station-keeps-listeners-tuning-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/how-one-tiny-ontario-station-keeps-listeners-tuning-in\/","title":{"rendered":"“How one tiny Ontario station keeps listeners tuning in”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(Source: TVO.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n

At Amherst Island\u2019s CJAI 92.1 FM, volunteers host shows, work the mixing board, and woo advertisers \u2014 it\u2019s just one of many small local radio stations across the province trying to do more with less<\/strong><\/p>\n

AMHERST ISLAND \u2014 Radio host Brian Little takes a quick break from playing hit songs from 1975 on his weekly Friday Morning Show to throw to Keith Miller and the CJAI traffic chopper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks, Brian!\u201d Miller yells over the sound of swooshing blades. \u201cYour traffic update for Amherst Island: There are four cars in the ferry lineup. A few cars stopped at Concession Road 2 taking pictures of the snowy owls. This concludes your traffic update!\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller, an 78-year-old former dairy farmer, gives Little a satisfied grin as he pulls away from the microphone and puts down an oscillating fan with \u201cCJAI Chopper\u201d written on it in black Sharpie. It\u2019s clearly one of Miller\u2019s favourite gags.<\/p>\n

CJAI 92.1 FM, a community radio station on Amherst Island, about 30 kilometres west of Kingston, in Lake Ontario, was created in 2006 by a group of residents \u2014 including veteran broadcaster Peter Trueman, who had retired to the island \u2014 to promote local content and community events. It now reaches roughly 10,000 listeners from Picton to the western edge of Kingston and airs more than 40 hours a week of live shows: Jazz Jim\u2019s Vault (jazz classics and history), Saturday Night Barn Burner (lesser-known artists with a focus on rock), Sally\u2019s Books (readings from selected books), and Birding (birding), to name just a few.<\/p>\n

Like most of Ontario\u2019s 54 campus and community radio stations, it relies on a team of dedicated volunteers to keep it running and is fighting to survive in a rapidly changing media landscape. And CJAI\u2019s fight for survival has only gotten tougher since it learned that it may lose Dayle Gowan\u2019s milk house \u2014 the building that\u2019s been its home since the station\u2019s inception.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they first started, they basically had no money, and this old milk house just had some junk, so I said, \u2018Do you want to use it?\u2019\u201d says Gowan.[…]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Click here to read the full article.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen to CJAI live via TuneIn Radio:
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