FPR Launches Aboriginal FMs In Ottawa and Toronto On Same Day
First Peoples Radio Inc. (FPR) officially launched its ELMNT FM stations in Toronto and Ottawa at noon ET yesterday, hosting a media scrum at the Corus Quay headquarter.
By David Farrell
First Peoples Radio Inc. (FPR) officially launched its ELMNT FM stations in Toronto and Ottawa at noon ET yesterday, hosting a media scrum at the Corus Quay headquarter. The location is also home to ELMNT’s head-office that is flooded with natural light and overlooks the city’s waterfront. The twin stations in Toronto and Ottawa have studios in Corus-owned buildings in both cities and have separate on-air staff (see below).
The “Indigenous-variety” format features English and Indigenous-language spoken-word (Cree, Inuktitut, Ojibwe and Mohawk. The programming features 25 percent of its playlist dedicated to Indigenous talent, a 35 percent CanCon quota, and a pledge that 60 percent of airtime will be devoted to local programming.
In addition to local and national news and current affairs segments, 95.7 FM in Ottawa and 106.5 FM in Toronto will feature content generated by APTN National News and The Canadian Press. There are plans for a network call-in talk show hosted by journalist David Moses that will also air on stations operated by Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation in Saskatchewan and Native Communications Incorporated in Manitoba.
A third FM is to be launched in Winnipeg sometime shortly.
Operations Manager for both FMs is Dave Charles. and can be reached at dcharles@elmntfm.ca
Luca Capone is the music director for both FMs and can be reached at lcapone@elmntfm.ca.
-- The story continues in Media Beat and includes a podcast interview with Jean La Rose, the chair of First Peoples Radio and CEO of APTN.
