| City of license | Nelson, British Columbia |
|---|---|
| Branding | Kootenay Co-op Radio |
| Frequency | 93.5 MHz Nelson 96.5 MHz Kootenay Lake[1] 107.5 MHz New Denver |
| First air date | November 2000 |
| Format | community radio |
| ERP | 70 Watts (Nelson) |
| Owner | Kootenay Co-op Radio |
| Website | Kootenay Co-op Radio |
CJLY-FM, known on-air as Kootenay Co-op Radio, is a Canadian community radio station, which broadcasts at 93.5 FM in Nelson, British Columbia. The station also has rebroadcasters on 96.5 FM in Crawford Bay and 107.5 FM in New Denver, and is planning to expand into the lower Slocan Valley in the near future.[2]
The station is one of several new community radio stations launched in the Kootenay region in the 2000s. Others include CHLI-FM in Rossland, CFAD-FM in Salmo, CJHQ-FM in Nakusp and CIDO-FM in Creston.[3]
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CJLY was started by volunteers in December 1996 and incorporated as a non-profit service co-operative in June 1998 in Nelson. It started intermittent broadcasting in the Nelson region in February 1999, with a 28-day special event broadcast license, and finally went on the air full-time the following autumn.[4] after being granted a permanent CRTC license in August 2000.[5]
On November 6, 2000, the station began broadcasting about 18 hours a day at a power of 75 watts. In November 2004, CJLY expanded its range and began broadcasting in the Kootenay Lake region, north of Nelson, on a new FM frequency, 96.5 FM.[6] In fall 2008, CJLY began broadcasting in the community of New Denver at 107.5 FM.
The organization purchased a building at #308a Hall St in Nelson in March 2006.[6]
Kootenay Co-op Radio broadcasts in a mountainous region of British Columbia's southeast corner, and its terrestrial signal reaches settlements in the Purcell Mountains, Selkirk Mountains and Monashee Mountains.
Kootenay Co-op Radio is cooperatively owned and operated by its members, who employ five part-time staff for day-to-day operations. As of August 2007, Kootenay Co-op Radio has approximately 2,000 members and almost 150 active volunteers.
The organization takes as its Mission Statement:
“Kootenay Cooperative Radio uses its facilities and the initiative and skills of its membership to create a medium for balanced expression of the varied perspectives of our community. KCR aims to entertain and inform listeners through its commitment to innovative broadcast journalism and high-quality programming.”[7]
CJLY is a member of the National Campus and Community Radio Association.
Several national and internationally syndicated radio programs are produced in the studios of CJLY, including Deconstructing Dinner, Canadian Voices and World Report.
Other notable shows produced at KCR include:
The station podcasts a select number of its spoken word programs on its podcasts page.[9]
The KCR Music Department submits weekly music charts to !earshot, which is a project of the National Campus and Community Radio Association.[10]
Kootenay Co-operative Radio has received two National Campus and Community Radio Association Broadcasting Excellence awards as of February 2008.