CFMU-FM is a Canadian

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

, broadcasting at 93.3 FM in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

. It is a campus/community radio station owned and operated by the McMaster Students Union at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical ...

History

CFMU began as a project of the

McMaster Radio Club McMaster may refer to: * Mount McMaster, in Enderby Land, East Antarctica * McMaster (surname) * McMaster School, a building of the University of South Carolina * McMaster University, a university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada See also * McMas ...

in the late 1960s as a

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AM station, under the auspices of the Board of Student Broadcasting. In 1976, CFMU applied for its first FM license 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 ...

for 107.9, but was denied in favour of a broadcaster in Burlington. CFMU was eventually launched on FM on January 13, 1978, broadcasting in mono at 50 watts. They were the third college radio station to launch in Canada, after CFRC from Queen's University and CJRT, which was started by Ryerson Institute of Technology (now Toronto Metropolitan University). CFMU started out with a Wilkinson transmitter and 2-bay circularly polarized

Phelps Dodge Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American mining company founded in 1834 as an import-export firm by Anson Greene Phelps and his two sons-in-law William Earle Dodge, Sr. and Daniel James. The latter two ran Phelps, James & Co., the part of the or ...

antenna. In 1985, CFMU petitioned successfully to move its transmitter from downtown Hamilton to the top of the escarpment, near

Chedoke Hospital The Chedoke Hospital was a non-acute care hospital in Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** T ...

. In 1991, faced with a wattage increase at nearby CFRU-FM in Guelph, CFMU upgraded from 50 watts to a 250-watt stereo transmitter. In 2000, CFMU decreased to a 166-watt station and began sharing a tower at

Mohawk College Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology is a public college of applied arts and technology located in Hamilton, Ontario. Established in 1966, the college currently has five main campuses: the Fennell Campus on the Hamilton Mountain, the ...

, with Mohawk's instructional station CIOI-FM. The station can be heard throughout much of Hamilton and Burlington, although their vertically polarized signal means the station can be heard farther on car radios.

Programming

CFMU has several long-running shows:
Classical Today
hosted by Richard Kohar has been on the air for over 10 years.
Echoes from the Amber Coast - Gintariniai Aidai
a Lithuanian cultural show, has been on the air since the station launch in January 1978;
Leave Luck To Us
debuted on February 2, 2008;
Live N Direct
has been broadcast since 1996;
Lullabies in Razorland
by Ric Taylor has been on the air for over 25 years;
In Tha Kut
has been on-air for over 20 years. The station's programming includes local news and current affairs, politics, ethnic and religious community broadcasting, and local music, as well as a variety of genre shows.

Administration

CFMU employs several full-time and part-time staff and runs with the help of over 200 volunteers. CFMU relies on an annual fundraising drive, donations, show sponsorship, and grants to continue serving the community.

Awards

CFMU won Radio Station of the Year at the

Hamilton Music Scene Awards Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilton ...

in 2010. CFMU has won Radio Station of the Year from the

Hamilton Music Awards Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilton ...

ten times since the awards were founded in 2004, most recently in 2016. Director Rachel Connell won Music Director of the Year in 2016; Ben Robinson won the same in 2015. Individual programs have won numerous awards, including: * Radio Show of the Year, Lou's Control with Lou Molinaro * Radio Show of the Year and Media Person of the Year, Ric Taylor for Lullabies in Razorland * Media Person of the Year, Kristin Archer for I Heart Hamilton

References

External links

CFMU-FM
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cfmu-Fm Fmu Fmu McMaster University Radio stations established in 1978 1978 establishments in Ontario