89.3 The Raven (89.3 FM) is a

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 ...

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 anc ...

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 publicatio ...

(AMMSA), it broadcasts programming targeting

Central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordere ...

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: ** First Nat ...

communities, with a primary

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

format, and specialty shows like the 50's and 60's Retro Diner, Indigenous Music Countdown, Sunday Night Blues, and presented in Indigenous languages (Cree, Nakoda, Blackfoot, Dene. The tower, named for longtime AMMSA board member Noel McNaughten, is located north 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 ...

History

Following the collapse of the Aboriginal Voices Radio Network (which broadcast on 89.3 MHz in Edmonton as CKAV-FM-4), the CRTC pursued new applicants for indigenous radio stations to fill its frequencies. The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, owner of the Edmonton-based indigenous network

CFWE CFWE is a radio network based in Edmonton, Alberta. Owned by the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, it broadcasts programming targeting northern Alberta's First Nations communities, including mainstream country music, and specialty shows featuring ...

, was granted stations in Calgary and Edmonton. While the Calgary station would air a country format in the mold of CFWE, the proposed Edmonton outlet would be its opposite, playing "anything but country"—in the words of AMMSA founder Bert Crowfoot—as well as indigenous-language and indigenous music-oriented specialty programming. AMMSA prioritized constructing the Calgary station,

CJWE-FM CJWE-FM (88.1 FM) is a radio station in Calgary, Alberta. Owned by the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, it broadcasts programming targeting southern Alberta's First Nations communities, including mainstream country music, and specialty shows fea ...

, which went on air in April 2018. The wait would be nearly three years longer in Edmonton; CIWE had been planned to launch in April 2020, but the

COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta The COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta is part of an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The province of Alberta has the third- ...

prompted AMMSA to seek a one-year extension. CIWE-FM began broadcasting February 1, 2021, after transmitter tests began January 11.

References

External links

* {{Edmonton Radio IWE IWE Radio stations established in 2021 2021 establishments in Alberta