CIUT-FM is a
campus and
community radio
Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popul ...
station owned and operated by the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...
. The station broadcasts live and continuously from
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
on the 89.5
FM frequency. Programming can also be heard nationally via channel 826 on
Shaw Direct
Shaw Direct is a direct broadcast satellite television distributor in Canada and a subsidiary of the telecommunications company Shaw Communications. As of 2010, Shaw Direct had over 900,000 subscribers. It broadcasts on Ku band from two communic ...
, and over the
internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...
via the CIUT website. The station is financially supported by donations and an undergraduate student levy.
[About 89.5]
ciut.fm CIUT-FM also broadcasts a Punjabi and Urdu language station
Sur Sagar Radioon a
Subsidiary Communications Multiplex Operation frequency.
CIUT's studios are located on Tower Road on the University of Toronto campus, while its transmitter is located atop
First Canadian Place in Toronto's
Financial District
A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
.
History
The station began as a closed-circuit broadcaster called ''Radio Varsity'' in 1966, later becoming ''Input Radio'', UTR and then CJUT. All these versions of the station were only heard within the confines of the University of Toronto, thanks to an extensive network of loudspeakers, amplifiers, and cables strung through the extensive underground network of steam tunnels beneath the University's St. George campus.
["University of Toronto Steam Tunnels"]
Infiltration Journal, July 2000 The station was granted a broadcast license and became CIUT-FM in 1986, and on January 15, 1987, the station's
FM broadcasts began to reach a considerably wider range across southern
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
.
[
In 1999, CIUT was $150,000 in debt resulting in the student union taking over management, firing two employees,][ dismissing five volunteers,]["National: U of T student president slapped with lawsuit"]
, ''The Peak'', January 10, 2000 shortening time slots for other programs and selling late-night time slots to an internet broadcaster.["CKLN tunes out volunteers"]
, ''The Varsity'', September 22, 2008
The next year, the station was sued by one of the dismissed programmers, Eddy Brake, who challenged his dismissal as well as the restructuring.[ The lawsuit was settled out of court in 2005.
]
Today, CIUT broadcasts at 15 kilowatts from a transmitter on the top of First Canadian Place in Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont St ...
. With greater signal power than generally found at other community radio stations, CIUT's broadcast reaches as far as Barrie
Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...
to the north, Buffalo to the south, Kitchener Kitchener may refer to:
People
* Earl Kitchener, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
** Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850–1916), British Field Marshal and 1st Earl Kitchener
** Henry Kitchener, 2nd Earl Kitchener (1846–1937) ...
to the west and Cobourg
Cobourg ( ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto and east of Oshawa. It is the largest town in and seat of Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is ...
to the east.[Radio Station History - CIUT-FM]
, Canadian Communications Foundation
In 2009, CIUT moved from 91 St. George Street, the Victorian house it had occupied for 40 years, to new studios in Hart House Hart House may refer to:
* Harthouse, a record label
;in Canada
* Hart House (Alberta), historic house of the Hart wrestling family
* Hart House (University of Toronto), a student centre
;in the United States
* Wilson A. Hart House, La Junta, ...
. The old location was demolished in order to make way for the expansion of the Rotman School of Management
The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management (commonly known as the Rotman School of Management, the Rotman School or just Rotman) is the University of Toronto's graduate business school, located in Downtown Toronto. The University of Toronto has be ...
.
In the fall of 2010, CIUT's board of directors cancelled station manager Brian Burchell's contract due to financial irregularities. As a result, program director Ken Stowar was appointed to the additional role of station manager.
In 2012, CIUT filed a lawsuit against Burchell seeking damages of $162,193.68 for what ''The Varsity'' newspaper described as "alleged long-term embezzlement" prior to his firing in October 2010.
In 2014, the CIUT transmitter of 27 years died, shutting the station off the air for a couple of days until a backup transmitter could be shipped to Toronto from Nova Scotia. In the ensuing fundraising drive, money was raised and a new transmitter was installed and operating by August.
Programming
Programs in the spoken word (talk radio) format include: local politics, current events and news; as well as programs focused on Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
, Women in Politics, African Canadian Families, Community Activism
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...
, and Health Care.
Musical programming includes many different genres such as folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
, classical, Latino, world music, indie, rock, and electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
music.
CIUT is the home of The Prophecy, the longest running drum and bass
Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
radio show in North America.
Alumni
Former Radio Varsity/CIUT talent includes:
*Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both ''Late Ni ...
; 7T1, well-known musical director, producer, performer, and David Letterman sidekick.
*Jeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " A ...
; blues guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...
*Mopa Dean; singer for hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier pu ...
band Armed and Hammered
Armed and Hammered is a hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario, spawned from Bunchofuckingoofs scene of the early 1980s.
History
Originally formed by singer Mopa Dean, the bassist for Masochistic Religion, and drummer Kyle Peek, the earlies ...
*Stacy Case; founder of the Pillow Fight League
The Pillow Fight League (PFL) was a Toronto-based semi-professional sports league centred on public pillow fights. The tongue in cheek women's sport was hosted in a fighting arena, much like a boxing or wrestling match. The League was founded by ...
and amateur film maker
*Lise Waxer; musicologist
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...
, professor and author of works about Latin Jazz
Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave (rhythm), clave, and Afro-Brazil ...
*Dave O Rama; Former host and producer of the CIUT FM programs The Dream Consortium, Headstrokes and Alligator Wine. Current host and producer of The Lovecast on CHLY-FM Vancouver Island.
*Cheri DiNovo
Cheri DiNovo (born ) is a United Church of Canada minister and former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served at the Emmanuel-Howard Park congregation in Toronto before entering politics and, since January 2018, is the minister for the Tri ...
; hosted ''The Radical Reverend'' before being elected to the Ontario legislature for the New Democratic Party of Ontario
The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...
in 2006. Show resumed after she left office in 2017.[Radical reverend star in NDP race"]
, ''NOW Magazine'', July 13, 2006
* Mike Sullivan; former CBC master control radio operator, elected to Parliament of Canada as New Democratic Party of Canada
The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* ...
in 2011.
*Dominic LeBlanc
Dominic A. LeBlanc (born December 14, 1967) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as the minister of intergovernmental affairs since 2020 and also became the minister of infrastructure and communities in 2021. A member of the Libe ...
; member of Board Of Directors, later Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia' ...
Member of Parliament since 2000.
*Michelle Marin
Michelle may refer to:
People
* Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael
* Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle"
* Michelle (German singer)
* Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottis ...
; DJ, Producer and Host of Ultra Latino radio ; Since January 2015
* Jonathan Culp; filmmaker, musician, media artist, and writer
References
External links
CIUT-FM Web site
Rock And Roll radio Podcast
*
Decision CRTC 86-237
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciut-Fm
Iut
Iut
University of Toronto
Radio stations established in 1966
1966 establishments in Ontario