Vernon Community Radio Society granted one-year extension to get on the air

Photo: Contributed

Vernon Community Radio Society has been given an extra year to start broadcasting 97.9 Valley FM.

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has approved an application by VCRS to extend the implementation deadline to be on the air with CFAV-FM.

The society has been granted a one-year extension to Sept. 2, 2023, to allow time to complete fundraising for the transmitter and associated equipment that it will need.

According to the CRTC report, applicants are generally given two years to commence operations, with the possibility of two additional 12-month extensions, if needed.

This is the first extension requested by VCRS.

The application for an extension cited a combination of obstacles created by the pandemic and wildfire environmental events in 2020 and 2021 as factors.

"We are grateful for the extension in the implementation deadline. Our board is confident that we will be on the air well before the new deadline of Sept 2, 2023. In the meantime, the VCRS will be launching a streaming service before the end of summer," president Gord Leighton said.

Both the society’s application and the CRTC decision are published on the VCRS website.

Vernon Community Radio Society is a not-for-profit organization, run by a group of community volunteers dedicated to the creation of a new over-the-air FM broadcasting undertaking.

Valley FM 97.9 will offer programming that is "materially different from content currently provided by private broadcasters and the CBC," it says.