88.1 is a not-for-profit organization formed to develop an alternative to commercial radio service that will be of direct interest to listeners in or near the Town of Erin. 88.1 provides the opportunity for any individual, group, or community located in the same market to create high quality, entertaining, informative and innovative local radio programming.
History of 88.1 (formerly Erin Radio 101.5 fm)
88.1 is a grass roots community organization that started when a group of Erin residents thought that a local radio station would be a good way for community members to keep in touch, talk about local issues and support local arts and culture.
The concept was given a kick start after the hydro blackout in August 2003. The mayor and council arranged to have a local company provide free bottled water to Erin residents, but, of course, there was no way to get the word out. Phone systems were down, home radios and televisions were off and there was no emergency communications system in the town. If Erin Community Radio had been operating at the time with a diesel generator, emergency information could have been broadcast to those with car or transistor radios.
In the fall of 2003, a group of interested people began meeting every month in various community spaces and living rooms. After a good deal of research, it was decided to check to see whether a FM frequency would be available for Erin Community Radio in the crowded airspace of the GTA. Some fund raising was done and a radio engineer, Elder Engineering, was hired to look for available frequencies. Elder reported back that was an available frequency for a low-power 50 watt FM transmitter at 101.5.
The summer of 2004 was spent doing more research and organizational planning. In September 2004, Erin Community Radio held a public meeting at centre 2000 and invited the public to learn more about the station. The event was well attended and many people voiced their support.
The public meeting was followed by a popular display at the Erin Fall Fair. The organization was then formally incorporated an as non-profit corporation officially called ERIN RADIO.
In 2005, the Board of Directors met with local groups and asked for letters of support. Radio members appeared before Town of Erin Council and received official support from the Town Council. 2005 also saw the establishment of the ECR Founding Sponsors Campaign and the start of a major fund-raising effort.
Using the funds raised, an engineer’s report was commissioned for Industry Canada and an official CRTC application was submitted on August 1, 2005.
Early in 2005, 88.1 received an incredible donation. For various reasons, Orangeville Community Radio had shut down their operations and gave us all their radio equipment, computers and software. We had all the equipment necessary to start broadcasting.
While waiting for the CRTC to look at our application, we asked for an received permission to do two short temporary broadcast events: The Fall Fair in October and Remembrance Week in November. We were able to set up our equipment and show the Town of Erin what we could do. The station was very well received, our Founding Sponsor Campaign moved steadily along and we gained more volunteers.
In February 2006, our application was heard at a CRTC Public Hearing in Calgary and we received our licence in May. Since then, we rented a studio at 106 Main Street and got busy setting up a radio station.
At the end of May, we did another short 10 day broadcast in support of the BIA’s Summer Celebration and the Rotary Club/Erin Fair Board Dodge Rodeo event. At the same time, we received an operating loan from the Waterloo-Wellington Community Futures Corporation as well as funding from Industry Canada to hire a summer student.
88.1 went on officially during the Erin Fall Fair and we are now broadcasting 24/7. We’ve covered Remembrance Day and the Santa Claus Parade live and interviewed all the 2006 Municipal election candidates and broadcast the election results live.
88.1Â is governed by a volunteer board of directors.