Help Save Community Radio in Windsor

CJAM, the community radio station broadcasting from the University of Windsor has been on the air for 25 years. Now, when the community of Windsor is deeply threatened by the ongoing economic storm CJAM is beset on all sides by others who want their frequency.

"After 25 years on the air, University of Windsor's community radio station CJAM-FM (91.5) could lose its licence in an international turf war between the U.S. and Canada.

Adam Fox, CJAM manager, said there is a real concern the station's FM frequency will be taken over by a commercial radio station in Michigan.

"The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has already granted a licence to a station in China Township," said Fox.
It is located in St. Clair County, north of Port Huron, but its signal power would reach the Detroit-Windsor market and the frequency would no longer be available to CJAM.

The move is the latest slap in the face for CJAM, which languishes in unprotected status with its low-power signal.

- Last fall, CBC applied for a licence at 91.5 to move its Radio One service off the AM dial. That application has since been withdrawn for Windsor in favour of a different frequency -- 97.5 -- although CBC is still requesting 91.5 for its service in Leamington.

- The FCC earlier forced its Canadian counterpart, the CRTC, to impose restrictions on CJAM because it claimed the signal was interfering with WUOM-FM (91.7), the University of Michigan student radio service in Ann Arbor.

In response, CJAM has applied to move its signal up the FM dial to 99.1, and seek protected status under CRTC-FCC regulations. That would protect other stations from effectively jumping CJAM's claim.

From the station's website http://web2.uwindsor.ca/cjam/index.html. Letters may be submitted electronically at the CRTC website, by fax at 819-994-0218, or by conventional mail to the following address: CRTC Ottawa Ontario K1A 0N2.