CFWE is a

radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass media, mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio (Duplex (telecomm ...

based in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. Owned by the

Aboriginal Multi-Media Society The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA) is an Aboriginal publisher in Canada dedicated to serving the needs of Aboriginal people throughout Canada. AMMSA was established in 1983 under the Alberta Societies Act and launched its first publicati ...

, it broadcasts programming targeting

northern Alberta Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the cen ...

's First Nations communities, including mainstream

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

, and specialty shows featuring

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

music or presented in native languages such as Cree and

Dene The Dene people () are an indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages. ''Dene'' is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term "Dene" ha ...

. The network broadcasts from studios in

, alongside its originating station CFWE-FM-4. It operates a network of rebroadcasters to serve the province of Alberta and its

First Nations reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the ''Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

History

Owned by the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, the station received approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 1987 to launch on 89.9 FM in Lac La Biche. Transmitters were later added at many other communities in northern Alberta. CFWE-FM is a founding member of the Western Association of Aboriginal Broadcasters (WAAB). WAAB Members include Northern Native Broadcasting (BC), Northern Native Broadcasting (Yukon), Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation (Saskatchewan) and Native Communications Incorporated (Manitoba). WAAB members meet regularly to develop program ideas, share resources and work to promote Aboriginal broadcasting throughout western and northern Canada. In 2008, AMMSA received approval from the

CRTC The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

to add new transmitters at Edmonton and

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significan ...

, with the Edmonton station becoming the ''de facto'' originating station of the network. The new transmitters, CHWE-FM-4 in Edmonton (physically located in the suburb of

Spruce Grove Spruce Grove is a city that is west of Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. The city is adjacent to the Town of Stony Plain and is surrounded by Parkland County. With a 2021 population of 37,645, Spruce Grove is the ninth-largest city in Alberta. ...

) and CHWE-FM-5 in Fort McMurray, broadcast on 98.5 MHz and 94.5 MHz respectively. On November 7, 2012, the AMMSA received approval to supersede CFWE-FM Lac La Biche and four low-power rebroadcasters serving nearby reserves with a new 19.6 kW signal on 90.5 MHz in Lac La Biche. In 2016, CHWE-FM-4's power was increased from 9.3 kW to 100 kW. In September 2017, the AMMSA received approval to add a 100,000 watt transmitter at 105.7 MHz in

Grande Prairie Grande Prairie is a city in northwest Alberta, Canada within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) and Highway 40 (the Bighorn Highway), a ...

, which superseded low-power transmitters serving the Horse Lake Reserve and Duncan's Band Reserve. In June 2018, CFWE launched a new sister station in Calgary, CJWE-FM, taking the place of the former

Aboriginal Voices Radio Network Aboriginal Voices Radio Network (rebranded as Voices Radio in 2014) was a Canadian radio network, which primarily broadcast music programming and other content of interest to aboriginal people. As of June 2015, the network operated stations in To ...

station. It carries a similar format, but with a focus on southern Alberta

Treaty 7 Treaty 7 is an agreement between the Crown and several, mainly Blackfoot, First Nation band governments in what is today the southern portion of Alberta. The idea of developing treaties for Blackfoot lands was brought to Blackfoot chief Cro ...

communities. In December 2018, the CRTC granted a request for CFWE-FM-2 (

Piikani 147 Piikani 147, formerly Peigan 147, is an Indian reserve of the Piikani Nation in Alberta. It is located west of the City of Lethbridge. It has a land area of , making it the fourth-largest Indian reserve in Canada, and lies at an elevation of . ...

) to switch to CJWE, as its programming would be more relevant to the area. In May 2019, the CRTC approved a new transmitter in

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of we ...

Programming

''Radio

Bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

'' airs on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, with proceeds being used to help support the AMMSA and its broadcasting activities. AMMSA CEO Bert Crowfoot stated that the program was popular enough that North Alberta residents often chose to not schedule meetings on Monday or Thursday evenings so they wouldn't miss it.

Rebroadcasters

The station has an extensive network of rebroadcasters throughout the province.

References

External links

*
CFWE-FM history
-

Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) is a Canadian nonprofit organization which documents the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television. Since 1995, the organization has distributed its collection via an inter ...

* * {{Edmonton Radio FWE FWE Radio stations established in 1987 1987 establishments in Alberta