CHRY 105.5 FM Fires Volunteers And Rebrands As VIBE FM

By Neil Armstrong

PRIDE Contributing Writer

 

TORONTO, Ontario — Social media is abuzz with discussions about the demise of the popular community radio station, CHRY 105.5 FM, the rebranding of the station as Vibe 105 FM, and the letting go of all volunteers by management, to start anew.

They were informed last Thursday at a volunteer general meeting that effective at midnight they would be no longer associated with the station which had as its mantra, “your leading source for diversity!”

A press release from CEO Danae Peart and Broadcast Operations Manager, Randy Reid, issued on May 1, said, Torontonians and global listeners woke up to the sounds of the first ever “urban alternative” station broadcasting from the frequency 105.5 FM.

“This new experience is VIBE105 FM, a station committed to sounding like the city and representing the best that Toronto has to offer,” it said. The official launch of the York University-based station will take place in June.

“VIBE FM will deliver an exciting mix of metropolitan influenced sounds and eclectic voices. Our diverse content ranges from Electronic, Remix, Caribbean, Afrobeat, Hip Hop and R&B. We also offer an intelligent blend of talk programming; connecting our audience with timely critical insight on current affairs and further – feature some of the city’s top-rated specialty shows in Canadian broadcast,” the release said.

Peart says the programming is a refreshing of concepts because when people see the word ‘urban’ they automatically think certain things and start eliminating instead of adding categories.

“So for us, urban is what is the sound of our city, that’s urban, and in our city urban is reggae, in our city urban is soca, in our city urban is highlife, in our city urban is Hip Hop, in our city urban is R&B so its capturing that…Alternative is allowing room for not just music but also spoken content,” she says noting that instead of the alternative music being a background it will be pulled to the forefront.

Several volunteers — some of whom have been at the station for over 20 years — are bewildered noting that the move came as a total surprise to them.

But Peart says those programmers are in denial because for four years the management has been changing, requiring more, and has been asking more of them.

“For four years, we’ve been communicating with them about those changes; for four years we’ve engaged them in things like a peer-reviewed audit on every show, so not just the program coordinator auditing their show but their peers auditing to broadcast standards and some just passed. They didn’t exceed, they just passed and we decided coming out of those audits these are the things that need to be addressed. We wanted to go back to doing little things that are radio 101 so we’ve been trying to do that with them but it is a long build,” she says.

The CEO says there is an assumption that they did not follow process or did not do consultation and did not involve other people.

“The thing is all levels were aware; all levels of the organization were aware of this move. We could not tell the programmers that we were going to rename the station cause we wanted to keep that private until launch,” she says, noting that whoever knew about signed waiver agreements that they were not allowed to reveal that information as yet.

She says there were people who were doing really well but what is happening at the station is “a restructuring of what we do here, how do you understand and how do you approach media because one of the things we’re going to be doing, we’re implementing new technology into the space. We’re also implementing brand new training; brand new expectations. Anybody who walks through the door has to approach us differently and we’re raising the bar, in that sense.”

Former volunteers and alumni of the station have taken to social media, Facebook and Twitter, to discuss the developments at the station.

“This action is in very poor human relations taste. I know this action may be considered necessary but it was implemented without consideration for others. Programmers are hurt and above all, we feel disrespected. It is not what the station’s management does but how they went about doing it,” says William Doyle-Marshall, programmer of My Data Bag, who recently moved to Victoria, BC and had been producing his show from there.

Kofi Sankofa, host of Kubandwa, says change is constant but how it is done is a powerful thing.

“I know that the radio station was changing, in terms of what goes out on air. They start changing the volunteer programmers, the sound they want so I knew that change was always process. I was willing to do whatever it takes to try to fit in and if I can’t then I would leave because I feel that community radio is not a place you need to stay for 50 years or 100 years.”

He says he did not agree with all of the changes made by management but he respected them because the decisions were discussed with all volunteers.

Sankofa said the volunteers heard at the general meeting that, “as of tonight, all programmers’ tenure at the station was over.”

“It is unprecedented and so I think not only are we shocked, we’re very disappointed and I could say even hurt – the way it was handled. Some people probably feel differently accordingly but just the way it was handled. I know they wanted to rebrand but there is also a way to rebrand.”

Mercilyn Baxter of High Praise, a gospel show, says she is still trying to process what happened.

“Last night, the administration of CHRY Community Radio Inc. announced that all programming (and associated roles) currently delivered in connection to the broadcast of CHRY105.5 FM will permanently end and not be renewed as of close of the day April 30th/2015 (11:59:00PM),” Baxter wrote on her Facebook page last Friday.

Luther Brown, host of Caribbean Crucible and a longtime programmer at the station, posted a message on his Facebook page after last Thursday’s meeting in which he thanked listeners for their loyalty of 28 years.

On Sunday, he was to interview former Jamaican Prime Minister, P.J. Patterson, who is the keynote speaker at a GraceKennedy and Western Union event at CBC Atrium today but had to cancel it in light of the new situation.

“It is unfortunate that this is the way the management team decided to communicate their information about the changes. Changes occur and as volunteers, I think that we have a different kind of connection to the radio station than someone who is employed there, cause volunteers give of their time and their love and their commitment and so on to a station, not looking to be remunerated,” he told Pride News Magazine.

Brown said, the announcement was a surprise and it was only reasonable to have informed the community that there was going to be a change to a station that they worked hard to build and support.

Matt Galloway, host of CBC Radio’s popular Metro Morning, noted that CHRY was where he got his start, hosted a show at the age of 19 and meet the woman who became his wife.

Peart says the station remains committed to the listeners who “we feel deserve the best possible radio we can give them and in doing that it took a hard decision. It was hard for us too. People are seeing it as an ending; what we hope is that individuals will realize that it is also a beginning facing new media, facing all the changes that happened in media while we were still doing old ways, we have to raise the bar.”

She says the radio station is still a collective space and they are expecting people to give a lot but “hopefully now when they give it to a brand that they can all be proud of – listeners and participants alike – then we can go from there, we can continue to grow from there.”

“What we are doing with the license entrusted to us has not been done before in this market, we are making professionalism a requirement and we are putting to rest mediocre perceptions and expectations of the license class,” Peart said in the press release.

Clarifying this she said: “There is a perception about us, as CHRY, that we have, with all the changes we can’t seem to shake that perception. The perception that less is required; the perception that you don’t have to be professional in a volunteer setting and that’s a misnomer, nothing goes like that but there is a perception.”

The license for VIBE105 FM is held by its parent corporation, CHRY Community Radio Inc., which acknowledges this as only the initial phase of a new methodical approach to managing radio and other media entities.

The station intends to partner with local youth initiatives, festivals, and much more. It is also a training ground for students studying media who want experience so they can go on and a space for community members who want their voice heard.

The management team of VIBE FM spans over 20 years of media content making, training and broadcast and is headed by Reid.

“Reid and his apt team will make a mark on the Toronto media landscape and plans to have a lasting impact on the ways listeners engage, experience and embrace “urban alternative” content. VIBE105 will present content that champions the diversity synonymous with the city of Toronto. Through this team and the soon to be introduced radio ambassadors VIBE1055 FM is in stellar hands. The team is excited about the opportunity to create a new platform for emerging talent through engaging shows, mixes and live interactions and broadcasts,” it said.

The new training sessions are happening and there have already been calls for applications, volunteers, internships and interested persons can contact resources@vibe1055.com.

Peart anticipates that some volunteers who attended last Thursday’s meeting will be applying and management looks forward to starting fresh with them.

At about the third week until the end of May, voices of individuals who have been trained will gradually be introduced on air.

“Know that, and I must be very clear, in terms of transparency, we let go ninety-six shows. There is no way we will be managing ninety-six shows in the new format. What were creating are more opportunities for people to get involved without even having a show so there will be Vibe jocks who can come in and deliver what is the Vibe-approved playlist including our Canadian content percentages and all of that.

“But now maybe the individual who never really had a full show fleshed out but has a good approach to radio and media, can deliver scripting and maybe do a good interview with a local artist or group. They can come in and deliver an hour as opposed to needing to have a signature show,” Peart says.

She emphasized that the corporation, CHRY, still exists but has a new brand, Vibe 105FM.