Nearly century-old Alberta radio station remains on-air but still needs financial help

CKUA Radio's CEO Marc Carnes provides an update on the nearly 100-year-old station's future. (Cam Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton)

Donations over the past few months have helped a nearly century-old radio station stay on the air.

Community-funded CKUA Radio, which was founded in 1927 and broadcasts across Alberta, announced in April it was in urgent need to raise $3 million by the end of September or risk going off the air permanently.

The Edmonton-based station cited inflationary pressures, a $6-million loan repayment on the Alberta Hotel building, loss of tenants through the pandemic and a lack of government support for what it called a dire situation.

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It's a situation CKUA's chief Executive officer, Marc Carnes, announced Wednesday has improved thanks to a 'record-breaking' fundraising campaign.

"Because of our donors, we kept our lights on," said Carnes. "We weathered hundreds of thousands of dollars in skyrocketing utility bills, we kept people employed and, most importantly, we kept bringing you the hosts and the programs you love without interruption."

Although the station raised only $2.5 million toward its goal, Carnes said they have found ways to bridge the gap.

"We found new efficiencies in some of our capital costs here in the building, we negotiated with our lender to defer payments, and we made additional cuts that unfortunately risk our ability to continue providing unimpeded service levels across the organization."

He said the station is also in talks with several donors who will help put them over the $3-million target if four conditions are met.

Those conditions include a satisfactory conclusion to lender negotiations, provincial and federal government support, contributions they make are matched by other significant donors, and that the station's fall fundraiser – which starts Friday – is "wildly" successful.

"We continue pushing forward with cautious optimism," said Carnes.

CKUA said despite its financial struggles, it has managed to increase tenant occupancy in its Alberta Hotel building from 50 per cent to 85 per cent.

Carnes also said the station's year-over-year listenership is also on the rise.

"Just over 70 per cent of our support comes from our listeners, which is pretty incredible," he said.

Carnes said a small portion comes from advertising and sponsorship.

"We're actually limited by the CRTC in how much we can actually sell, so there's only a certain ceiling we can get to with that … really, donors are what drive the bulk of what we do," said Carnes.

CKUA is also continuing talks with the federal and provincial governments, hoping for a one-time funding commitment to help the station remain independent and create a sustainable future.

"While we transition out of the crisis of the past six months and look ahead to stability and sustainability in the coming years, many of the challenges that existed in April exist today," Carnes said.

"We're stretching every dollar. We're doing what we can not to slash and burn in the short term at the expense of the future."