On May 4, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) released their decision approving the Peach City Community Radio Society (PCCRS) application for a low-power English language community FM radio station in Penticton. In 2016, Peach City Radio plans to broadcast a 49.9 Watt signal under call letters CFUZ and at a frequency of 92.9 MHz on the FM dial.

The Society submitted an application for licence to the CRTC on August 18 2014. Peach City Radio members have been waiting for the results since a January 13th CRTC public hearing. In the application the station commits to 126 hours per broadcast week of programming, 106 hours of which is to be locally produced.

“We are overjoyed with the decision today from the CRTC. It is the culmination of 5 years of hard work by our Board and volunteers. A broadcasting community radio station is long overdue in the Okanagan. We are proud to have earned this licence, it’s a nod from the CRTC to make this station happen for the citizens of Penticton. Today’s decision is a giant leap forward for our organization.”, said Dave Del Rizzo, PCCRS President.

Peach City Radio fundraising efforts are ongoing. The Society is seeking funds to purchase transmission equipment required to begin FM broadcasting, and hopes to reach their $30,000 goal in 2015. In light of the timing of this announcement, Peach City Radio is also currently requesting assistance from the community in finding a suitable studio location for this next phase of operation.

Editor’s note: I was a founding member based on my radio background but commuting to Penticton made it difficult. I was also a new start up website guy in the fall of 2010.

That five years has been a great story as well.