HERE Magazine
March 21, 2013
STYLE
RADIO STATION BRINGS A WHOLE NEW GAME

BYLINE
You might accuse Tim Rayne of having prescient abilities.

The station manager at CHSR 97.9 FM has spent the last 48 months working behind the scenes to forge a new direction for the campus radio station. Now, at a time when Fredericton’s airwaves need a strong, alternative sound more than ever before, Rayne is poised to deliver just that.

“I hesitate to call it ‘the new CHSR,’ but it kind of is, because we’re bringing a whole new game to it,” Rayne said.

The station begins its annual Fundrive this week and is using the occasion to highlight a number of changes designed to bolster its presence and involvement in the community.

The station recently had a new transmitter installed that provides a signal comparable in strength and clarity to commercial outlets, broadened programming in broadcast and online formats, and is in the midst of building better relationships with the non-profit and arts communities in Fredericton.

Rayne took over the operation in February 2011, a time when CHSR was plagued by infighting and showing some of the lowest numbers in its 52-year history. A Fredericton native who grew up listening to the station, Rayne wanted to bring the organization back to its community-centric roots.

He drew from his connections as a well-known filmmaker in the province to recruit a broad range of local professionals to fill out the station’s board, executive and volunteer pool. Then he and colleagues cooked up new shows, spanning music formats, talk and interview shows, programs with an arts bend – basically any idea someone wanted to run with.

He said the key has been a slow burn approach, taking time to build relationships and test new shows to ensure the vision would work.

And has it ever.

“When I first came on, we were looking at 100 hits a day for the whole station,” Rayne said. “Now, we get 1,000 from just one show. Our listenership on the website went up 500 per cent over the last year, for a fact. It’s insane.

“You end up putting yourself on Reddit, using grassroots marketing, and you start to promote yourself in ways that, really, the corporations can’t.”

Rayne said three new shows launched in 2012 have really driven the results: his own Instant Breakfast (a morning show playing East Coast bands and lots of Freddy acts), The Lunch Box (a noon-hour interview/information-style show) and Erin Bondo’s Homemade Jams (an evening show featuring acts from Atlantic Canada).

The coming months will see more new shows added to the mix, including an hour-long program hosted by the Feels Good Community, and an online feature, Spoken Word Corner, for poets to record audio tracks of their prose.

The station’s next focus is attracting more public service announcements from non-profits and traditional on-air ads from local businesses. To bolster their physical presence, Rayne said they’re also looking at setting up mobile units so they can broadcast live from community events or music festivals happening in the area.

CHSR

FUNDRIVE

Fredericton CHSR 97.9 FM is rebranding itself as the new and improved independent alternative radio station for Fredericton listeners. Check out its diverse range of music and talk programmes listed on the station’s website, chsrfm.ca/blog. The station’s annual fundraiser, The Fundrive, takes place from March 22-30. Events include a hot dog fry on the patio of the Student Union Building, 21 Pacey Dr., from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Friday, March 22, and an evening of acoustic tunes at Wilser’s Room, 362 Queen St., 459-3558 on Saturday, March 23, featuring the musical stylings of Logan Colter, Brydon Crain and Josh Bravener. The show starts at 8 p.m. and cover is $5, with all proceeds going to CHSR. The final event goes Thursday, March 28, a marathon of the Evil Dead trilogy on the big screen at Tilley Hall, 33 Dineen Dr., beginning at 8 p.m. Admission is a minimum donation of $3.