Toronto is finally getting a black-owned, urban-formatted radio station.
Milestone Radio, which will occupy the 93.5-FM spot on the dial, was one of three new radio licences awarded yesterday by the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
The others are: Prime Time Radio, an oldies and talk station aimed at listeners over age 50, which will be heard at 740 AM; and Aboriginal Voices Radio, which won the 106.5 FM frequency.
Milestone President Denham Jolly was ecstatic to have succeeded in a third attempt for a radio licence. His previous bids failed in 1990 and 1997.
"Milestone is very pleased that its 12-year determined struggle for a spot on the airwaves has finally been successful," Jolly said.
"We will keep our promise to bring a uniquely Canadian urban-music mix to the Toronto airwaves and give a voice to the black community. Milestone is committed to being Toronto's radio station of choice for urban music lovers."
Jolly said Milestone aims to be on the air by next May.
In its application to the CRTC, Milestone promised to program wide-ranging music formats including soul, funk, jazz, Latin, worldbeat soca, and reggae as well as the more popular, teen-attracting rap, hip-hop and R&B. That made Milestone's success reason to celebrate in many corners of Toronto's black music industry.
Rap artist Maestro screamed in delight when he heard the news, even though he'd attended Milestone's presentation to the CRTC and was confident they'd win a licence.
"The right direction"
"It's lovely, lovely," Maestro said.
"It's just progression, that's all. In the community, people will be doing backflips, you know what I mean? It's a step in the right direction."
Ron Nelson, a reggae promoter who hosts a Friday night show on Ryerson radio station CKLN 88.1 FM, declared, "I am joyous."
"I think, basically, a scene that's been suffering will now have a chance for financial viability here. In every market that we've been able to observe in the States that is backed by a black radio station, it makes a difference in how people see their own self-pride and their own ability to network within their community," Nelson said.
Nelson predicted Milestone will benefit from advertising that for years has been going across the border to Buffalo's urban-formatted WBLK.
"I think promoters will be happy that there's an alternative, that they can put their money into Canada," Nelson said. "We will be able to recycle dollars back into our community."
"Absolutely fantastic"
Veteran jazz drummer Archie Alleyne called the Milestone licence "absolutely fantastic and about time."
"It will certainly encourage the community to be more outspoken in a positive direction, and it will contribute to a lot of entertainers in the city, especially black entertainers who really don't have the same opportunities that the other communities do. I think the exposure will be a lot better," Alleyne said.
"And I think we'll be able to express ourselves, with talk programs perhaps. We should be allowed to express ourselves without somebody else expressing ourselves for us. I think that's rather important, because every time we hear something on the news it's, 'Oh well, they shot somebody,' or drugs or this or that, or 'Jane and Finch.' That's not the whole community. That's only a portion of the black community and I think we should be represented as a whole."
Milestone was wished well yesterday by Arnold Augustine, the SHARE newspaper publisher whose rival bid for a black-formatted station failed to win a licence.
"I'm glad that one of us got it. I was really concerned that the community would be left out again," Augustine said. "We will support them in whatever way we can."
SHARE's failure creates a challenge for successful bidders Aboriginal Voices Radio's planned JumpFM!. SHARE and ABV had made a deal in which ABV agreed to seek a different frequency than SHARE wanted in return for $2-million in financing from SHARE over the next seven years if both were successful.
Without that money, "We're at ground zero," said Gary Farmer, the actor/activist who speaks for the ABV board of directors and who estimates he'll need to raise about $1.5-million.
Nonetheless, with licence now in hand, he's optomistic the money can be found.
"For eight years, I was selling dreams. Now we've finally got something, so hopefully it will be a little bit easier," Farmer said.
JumpFM! is broadcasting from the Aboriginal Voices Festival this weekend on the internet at Web site aboriginalvoices.com
Prime Time Radio president Michael Caine, whose family has been in the radio business for five decades, called his licence a victory for an underserved majority.
"As Toronto has gone to rock and talk, essentially, people over 50 feel abandoned by the broadcasting business," said Caine, who hopes to have Prime Time radio on the air by this fall.
Unsuccessful bids announced yesterday included bids for a youth station, a station aimed at the gay and lesbian community, Christian stations and multicultural formats.