In what station manager Vern Smith is calling a “historic decision,” campus community radio station CJAM has received permission to boost its signal strength four-fold. It will move over the summer to increase its power from 500 watts to 2,084 watts using a directional antenna system.
Smith said the station’s staff, volunteers and listeners are grateful to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for the ability to extend its range to about 20 km from its campus transmitter.
“First and foremost, it means our 125 voices will carry further and expand our listening community,” he said. “But more than anything, the decision positions CJAM to strengthen its foothold as a cultural and ethnocultural leader that still has to compete for media consumers.”
CJAM, which broadcasts at 99.1 FM, offers diverse slates of programming with music of all genres and languages, and is already the best stage in Windsor-Detroit for local musicians to introduce a new song, Smith said.
“More people are going to have a choice now,” he said. “This is a victory for listeners of radio as it should be—radio for the people, by the people.”