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I got a call yesterday from the uber important all powerful government body that decides these things, and I’ve been assigned 93.9 FM. Actual official like paper work will follow of course. Starting August 28th, 2009 at 1 pm, you will hear Town Radio Beausejour. Kind of exciting I must say!

And I just realised I’m only two weeks from the launch date. I feel soooo not ready. I still have lots of drilling and building and installing type stuff to do, though I’m pretty confident I’ll have the basics covered.

We have our first air date.  August 28th, 2009.

We’ve pleased to announce we’ll be covering the annual Shades of the Past car show on Park Avenue in Beausejour. Our official start time will be 1pm. If you’d like to come out for when we officially ‘flick the switch’, please do so. Town Radio Beausejour staff will be on hand to offer information pamphlets and answer questions.

As soon as we have our frequency allocated, we’ll post it on the website. Check back often!

Wow. I just got a call from CBC Radio, and they would like to interview me on the air tomorrow during the lunch hour.  I’ll be interviewed live on the air with Marilyn Maki on Radio Noon Manitoba, which runs from 12 pm to 1pm.

Hey, I’ll be honest. It’s scary! I worry most about saying lots of “uuummms”. But since I’m starting up a radio station, I best not let a bit of on air nervousness stop me.

If you’d like to listen, they are on the AM dial at 990, or FM 89.3.  You can also listen over the internet at www.cbc.ca/radio, where you click CENTRAL in the list to hear the local CBC station.

Update: did the interview. Got pushed to about 10 minutes to 1pm, which they were great about calling in advance to let me know.  There wasn’t much time left at the end, and I felt a like rushed through. I expected some more like the flow of a conversation, which is what the pre-interview was like.  The actual interview felt like jumping around a little more, which meant I was hopping off one train of thought on to another. I bet with more time, it would have felt smoother to me.  But hey, it was super cool of CBC to call.

I’d like to thank Bill Smyth at The Clipper for interviewing and taking my photo for including in their paper.  I’m one of those who doesn’t like his photo taken, but I ‘took one for the team’. The Clipper did a very nice job. Thank you!

For Immediate Release:

have microphone, will travel

Eastman Media of Beausejour, Manitoba is pleased to announce the creation of a new FM Radio service named Town Radio Beausejour to service Beausejour and the surround area. It’s focus is community building through promoting local not-for-profit organizations and special events.

Compared to typical radio stations, Town Radio Beausejour is quite different . It will operate under a non-commercial permit, funded by local area Sponsors, who receive airings of a customizable message in thanks for their sponsorship.

Town Radio Beausejour will play a variety of music genres, and will focus on local music, and music not generally heard on the radio. Radio shows will be 100% locally produced. Participation from the public will be strongly encouraged and facilitated. In addition to music, some ‘talk radio’ will be heard, also locally produced.

With the clear mandate of community building, Town Radio Beausejour will work with a variety of ‘Hosts’, originating broadcasts from their location. The title of the this announcement is ‘have microphone, will travel’ for a reason. Once or twice a month, Town Radio Beausejour will relocate to a new location to continue broadcasting. For the duration of each of these broadcast periods, typically about 3 weeks long, the ‘Host’ organization will be the primary organization or special event promoted.

We’re not on the air yet, but launch day is coming soon. Be sure to watch for our announcement when we’re assigned our frequency and will begin broadcasting. If you are involved with a local organization or special event, and wish to arrange being a Host, or if you’re a local area business, and wish to be a Sponsor for Town Radio Beausejour, please contact Lane Robinson at Eastman Media. Our website is at www.townradio.ca. Email info@townradio.ca, or call 268-0516.

I think it’s about 8 years in the making.  And really, many more years before that.

I remember at the age of 3 or 4, sitting behind a table with my head sticking up, and holding up a badminton racket in front of my face pretending it was a radio speaker. I’d ‘report the news’, sing a song etc.  Hearing others tell me of those days, I would often sing Winchester Cathedral. I only knew the chorus, and would make up verses as I went. So yeah, I guess it really began back then.

My first radio transmissions were when I was about 8. My older brother had a friend interested in electronics, and was probably a genius.  He built a small radio transmitter that seemed quite powerful and was likely illegal. We never really knew. After they had their fun with it, I got my hands on it. Lots of fun trying to fake out Mom into thinking I was in the kitchen, and that I needed her, when I wasn’t even in the house. Good times! 🙂

In my teens, I was building my own transmitters, or buying the odd inexpensive one. And even as an adult, I’ve gathered a little collection of wireless mics and the like. Most recently, I’ve run a high quality though low power fm station I can hear around my house.  Couple the love for the technology with a love for Beausejour, and it’s a no-brainer. Promote and grow the town through radio!

For the last 8 years or so, I’ve been looking for sources of funding and working out technical details. I’ve reworked the business plan countless times, trying to figure out a way to make radio in a small town pay for itself.  I’m at the point most people would have long given up.  Rather than give up, I decided to radically shift my thinking. I’m going to accept that it will likely cost me money to do it. I’d rather it didn’t, but I’m prepared to take it on even though it likely will.  So here I am. Just ironing out some final details, and getting ready to announce to the world (well, announce to Beausejour) that Town Radio Beausejour is here.