The Wolf wants to broadcast in Strathmore

Times Reporter  

 

A new radio station may call Strathmore its home next year. Clear Sky Radio Inc., based in Lethbridge, is proposing the Wolf 104.5 country music station for the area. 

Clear Sky, a small broadcast company, has identified Strathmore as a growing community that doesn’t currently have a radio station, which is something of a rarity, so an application was proposed. Research done for the application indicated that a country music station would be the best fit for the area. 

“That research came back pretty strong that musically country would be the most embraced music format,” said Paul Larsen, president of Clear Sky Radio. “It’s tough when you come to a town that has no station because not everybody is going to like country, and not everybody is going to like rock. A big benefit would be local news and information, and weather … very local information that you don’t get listening to satellite radio or a Calgary radio station.”

When talking to people in and around Strathmore, the biggest complaint Clear Sky Radio heard was residents can listen to a lot of stations from Calgary, but none of them are talking about Strathmore’s town council, or what’s happening on a day-to-day basis. They don’t reference Strathmore’s weather and road conditions either. It was clear that a big part of the application needed to be the fact that local up-to-date information will be delivered. 

“Two things will differentiate us from Country 105 specifically, we’ll certainly play more variety of music than they play and the number one reason people will switch is strictly for that local news and information. If you live in Strathmore, you wake up in the morning and turn the radio on, we’ll be talking about what’s going on in Strathmore, not in Calgary,” said Larsen.

“Even for people who don’t like country music, what we’ve found in other communities, is they will still listen to our station to get that local information even if they then switch over to something else to get the music that they like.”

The broadcast company currently has stations in Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, and recently got the go-ahead to launch a new station in Cranbrook, B.C. They have also received permission to open a second station in Lethbridge. 

“There are very few towns the size of Strathmore left in Alberta that don’t have their own radio stations. You’ve seen stations pop up in places like Leduc, Olds, and Lacombe. They have stations, so I think Strathmore has grown to the size where it could definitely support a station now of its own,” said Larsen. 

The CRTC made the application public a couple of weeks ago, and it is now in the public intervention phase. Until Aug. 22 at 6 p.m., people can go onto the website www.1045thewolf.com, find out what the application entails and submit their support for the idea. 

“Drumheller has its own station and I know lots of people listen to it. The community advertising aspect is fantastic,” said Shelly Marshman Neal, who supports the idea. 

Anne Pickering is also in favour of the idea.

“I really like the idea of a country station,” she said. “I’m hoping there will be local news and weather updates as well. I often listen to the Calgary stations and the weather is so different from ours.”

The next step will be the public hearing set for Sept. 25, where the CRTC will review the application. From there, a decision is usually made within 90 days. Larsen said if everything follows that time frame, the station could be open and on-air by late spring, early summer of 2015.