CHRY-FM (branded as VIBE105®) is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Broadcasting at 105.5 MHz, it has also served as a community radio station for the residents of the Jane and Finch corridor in North Toronto.
CHRY is run by the Canadian Centre for Civic Media and Arts Development Inc. (o/a VX3 Exchange), with the station's studios are located at York University's Student Centre, and its transmitter is located on top of the Vanier College residence building.
CHRY is supported in part by student levy (contributions via the York University Graduate Students Association and York Federation of Students (YFS)), through occasional grants for which the station is eligible due to its charitable status, by York University through occasional workstudy grants, and by its listenership through pledges. The rest of its funding is from advertising revenue.
In 1997, it moved from its old Vanier College studios to the fourth floor of York University's Student Centre, where it is today. This move was financed by a $40,000 loan from the undergraduate student association, which was forgiven four years later. A limitation to CHRY was that its licence was Class B, which effectively meant that it was "unprotected" legally from claims of signal interference, effectively requiring it to cease operations if another broadcasting interest was affected in some way by CHRY's operation. However, in 2006, the CRTC accepted CHRY's application to reclassify its licence from "Class B" to "Class A", thus effecting "protected status" for the radio station.
CHRY serves the north western part of Toronto. More than one-third of its schedule is devoted to the music and culture of the Caribbean. It employs two full-time staff, several other part-time staff, and is supported by the work of over one hundred volunteers from both York's student body and the surrounding community.
Volunteers were to be in supportive roles, while on-air talent will be professionalized; in a departure from the station's community radio format.http://74.213.160.39/about-us/backgrounder-2/ In response, the dismissed programmers organized community meetings and campaigning under the name #SAVECHRY in an unsuccessful effort to overturn the station's decision.
In 2016, the station applied for a license to add a nested FM repeater on 105.3 (with an average power of 92 watts, maximum of 155), with a transmitter located at 100 Wingarden Court in Scarborough (co-located with
This was denied on June 16, 2017. CRTC Decision 204-2017
In 2023 and 2024, the station was awarded Best Community or Campus Station in a Major Market by an independent panel of industry peers through Broadcast Dialogue - Canadian Radio Awards.[2] Best Campus or Community Station 2024 - Canadian Radio Awards 2024
In 2023, VIBE105 was also awarded Best Production Imaging in a Major Market among commercial and community licensed stations for their 'Celebrating 50 Years of Hip Hop' campaign. [3] Best Imaging Production presented by Benztown - Canadian Radio Awards 2023
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