Hundreds of volunteers have broadcast from the station on the TRU campus over its lifetime
Campus and community station CFBX Radio is celebrating 25 years on the air, marking a milestone for a broadcaster built largely by volunteers and dedicated to local voices.
Based at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, the station officially signed on as an FM broadcaster on April 2, 2001, after a year of closed-circuit broadcasting. Over the years it has grown from a five-watt developmental licence to a 350-watt station that now reaches most of the city.
According to programming co-ordinator Steve Marlow, the increase in broadcasting power was an important step in the station’s development.
“The power increase was instrumental to protect our licence,” Marlow said. “A developmental licence is kind of like training wheels on a bicycle. It allows you to get the necessary experience and knowledge in order to run a radio station. Once you’re past that five watts, you’re basically considered a full radio station.”
With the jump to 350 watts, the station’s reach expanded significantly.
“That protects us, to a certain extent, and it allows us to reach about 90 percent of the city,” Marlow said.
Marlow, who has more than two decades of experience in radio programming, works on content management and program development at the station. His work focuses on supporting diverse programming and strengthening connections between the station and the community.
While the signal has grown, the station’s structure has stayed rooted in community involvement. Today, about 90 volunteers help run and broadcast programming at CFBX, and more than 400 people have volunteered with the station since 2001.
Station manager Christopher Weddell said the volunteer base is central to the station’s identity and programming.
“Because we’re an alternative station, the kind of broadcasting content that we send out is radically different than corporate radio,” Weddell said. “We are trying to make ourselves available to underrepresented sectors of the community so they can use radio as a tool for getting their word out.”
That approach allows the station to share stories and perspectives that are often missing from mainstream media.
“We’re really interested in meeting groups whose stories you don’t hear on mainstream radio; Indigenous groups, queer groups and others outside the norm,” Weddell said.
Marlow said the station’s programming model also sets it apart from commercial broadcasters.
“If you’re listening to an actual radio station, you have a person curating that playlist for you,” he said. “It’s not curated by an algorithm or a computer. It’s an actual person.”
Running a volunteer-driven station also comes with challenges. Volunteers juggle their shows alongside jobs, school and family responsibilities, and many arrive with little or no broadcasting experience.
“A lot of people walk in the door here not having ever sat in front of a console or spun a record,” Weddell said. “There’s training that happens over three or four weeks. Before you know it, they’re moving around the studio as if they were a veteran.”
To mark the 25th anniversary, the station is planning several initiatives and events throughout the year.
One of the projects currently underway is a radio series called Stories of House 8, which will collect memories from past and present volunteers. House 8 has been home to the station since 1998.
CFBX will also host its annual record fair on June 6 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with more details to be announced.
Another initiative returning this summer is the Sound Waves Summer Camp, a two-week program for high school students that introduces them to radio broadcasting and interviewing.
Last year, 12 students participated. “Many of them said they didn’t know what to expect,” Weddell said. “By the end of the two weeks they had a real sense of the power of radio. Two of them now have programs on CFBX.”
The station will also hold its annual volunteer drive from April 10 to April 24, inviting community members and students to get involved both on and off the air.
For Weddell, reaching the 25-year mark is significant simply because the station continues to thrive in a changing media landscape.
“We’ve survived the so-called slow death of radio,” he said. “The fact that we’re still here and still making vibrant radio that speaks to people is inspiring.”