CITR-FM

CITR-FM

City of license	Vancouver, British Columbia
Broadcast area	Metro Vancouver
Branding	CiTR
Slogan	Vancouver's Thunderbird Radio
Frequency	101.9 MHz (FM)
First air date	April 1, 1989
Format	public broadcasting
ERP	1.8 kilowatts
HAAT	103 metres
Class	A
Callsign meaning	Canadian Independent Thunderbird Radio
Owner	University of British Columbia (Student Radio Society of the University of British Columbia)
Webcast	Listen live
Website	CiTR

CITR-FM, normally branded CiTR (with a lower-case "i"), is a Canadian FM radio station based out of the University of British Columbia's Student Union Building in the University Endowment Lands, just west of the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia.

CiTR is operated by UBC students and community volunteers under the ownership of the Student Radio Society of the University of British Columbia, an entity closely affiliated with UBC's Alma Mater Society. The station's mandate is to provide programming that is alternative to the genres played on mainstream radio. Broadcasting at FM 101.9, its signal encompasses most of the Vancouver Metropolitan Area.

Notable or long-running programmers include Nardwuar the Human Serviette, Steve Edge, Gavin Walker of the Jazz Show, Kliph Nesteroff, DJ Ebony, DJ Avi Shack, Val Cormier, Luke Meat, Chris-a-riffic, Ska-T, Zena Sharman, Bryce Dunn, Jonathon Brown, Bleek Swinney of Exquisite Corpse, Breakfast With The Browns, Pyra Draculea of the Vampire's Ball, Marie Benard of Synchronicity, Caroline of Sexy In VanCity and many others.

CiTR was created in 1937, when the Alma Mater Society of UBC started weekly half-hour radio broadcasts on a local radio station (directed by a new club, the Radio Society). The Radio Society later began broadcasting as CYVR (and became CiTR in 1974). They began broadcasting off-campus on cable in 1975 and on FM in 1982.

CiTR launched a podcast service in September 2006, allowing listeners to access past shows online. The station also publishes a monthly magazine, Discorder, which focuses on local and independent music and arts in Vancouver.

CITR is a member of the National Campus and Community Radio Association ^[1], and hosted the National Campus and Community Radio Conference in 1984 and again in 2007. The NCRC is an annual national gathering of community-oriented radio broadcasters who provide alternative radio to a diverse audience. It has been offered every summer since 1981, and it is one of the core activities of the NCRA/ANREC.

Discorder magazine

Discorder was created in February 1983 by founding editors Jennifer Fahrni and Mike Mines as an alternative music magazine for Vancouver and the program guide for CiTR. With a circulation of 25,000, the first issue included an interview with Stan Ridgeway of Wall of Voodoo by Mark Mushet; article Youth Culture in West Berlin by Werner Janke; reviews of albums by The Scissors, Los Popularos, and Modernettes by Gord Badanic, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Wall of Voodoo, and Mission of Burma by Dave McDonagh, DOA by Dean Pelkey; and a review of the compilation tape Egghead by Brent Argo. The magazine has since expanded to become a media institution in its own right, running music reviews, book reviews, interviews, essay-length articles, comics, a mixtape, the program guide, and CiTR's charts.

Discorder also serves as a launching pad for aspiring music writers. Many writers have gone on to work for other publications, including Michael LaPointe who is now the book editor at The Tyee; Brock Thiessen, who is the news editor at Exclaim!; and Alex Hudson, who writes for Guttersnipe and BeatRoute.

Past editors

Discorder's staff rotates on a regular basis. Each editor's personal style is often reflected in stylistic shifts in the magazine's aesthetics and content.

• 2011-present: Gregory Adams
• 2008–2011: Jordie Yow
• 2008: Nat Jay
• 2007: Mike "Spike" Chilton
• 2006-2007: David Ravensbergen
• 2003-2005: Kat Siddle
• January 2003: Duncan M. McHugh (guest editor)
• Merek Cooper (currently at Sleephouse Radio)
• Chris Eng (became editor of Terminal City Magazine)
• Lindsay Sung
• Barbara Anderson

Discorder prints 10,500 copies each month and distributes them in coffee shops, bookstores, and music stores across the cities of Vancouver and Victoria.

SHiNDiG

[1] is a battle of the bands competition run by CiTR yearly from September to December. It is believed to be the longest running of such contests in British Columbia. Past contestants have included bands such as 3 Inches of Blood, The Organ, Japandroids, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, You Say Party! We Say Die!, The Choir Practice, Maow, Collapsing Opposites, Hermetic and The Salteens.

Sports

CiTR provides coverage of the UBC Thunderbirds varsity teams. The sports department produces live coverage of nearly 100 events each academic year for various sports, such as football, ice hockey, basketball and volleyball. The station has also carried baseball and soccer broadcasts.

Commentators in the 2009-2010 season include Daryl Wener, Doug Richards, Michael Wall, Wilson Wong, Jason Wang, Tyler Noble, Jeff Sargeant, Chandler Grieve, Rick Bloudell, Gavin Day, Emily Cordonier, Ryan Sullivan and Asa Rehman.

CiTR has produced live broadcasts at recent Canadian Interuniversity Sport national tournaments: men's basketball (2009); women's basketball (2004–2008); men's soccer (2007); women's field hockey (2005).

In addition to live coverage, the sports talk show Wener's BBQ airs on Tuesday afternoons, 4:30-6:00 p.m. PT. As of May 25, 2010, Wener's BBQ includes a segment called "In the cage," which is hosted by Carlin Bardsley and which explores the latest happenings in the world of UFC and mixed martial arts.

The station won the Arthur W. Delamont Service Award in 1983 and 1987 for their contribution and service to UBC athletics. ^[2]

CiTR News

CiTR has a news department, which produces News 101, a live, volunteer-produced, student and community newscast. The news department provides original coverage of mainly local and provincial news, from an independent perspective. The news department does not cover crime or other sensationalized news stories, choosing instead to cover politics, social justice and environment topics^[3].

News 101 is broadcast twice-weekly, at 5pm PST.

CiTR News produced a special series covering the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, including a special 'Eyes on the Street' segment. CiTR News also produced notable coverage of the APEC protests at UBC in 1997^[4].

Past and Present News 101 contributors: Iqbal Ahmed and Claire Eagle (Current News Directors) Brad Peppinck and Andrew Longhurst (former news directors), Rita Farkas (former News Director), Marie Benard (former news anchor), Leanne Yu, Charlotte Grace, Katie Comley (former news anchor), Carrie Baptist, Tyler Noble, Jeff Sargeant, Judy Walter, and many more contributors, writers and reporters.

References

1. ^ http://www.ncra.ca/members/member-directory/citr-fm
2. ^ http://www.gothunderbirds.ca/sports/2009/10/19/hist-awards.aspx?id=10#Delamont
3. ^ http://www.citr.ca/index.php/programs/news
4. ^ http://quadrantcrossing.org/sound/CiTR_ApecRadio_1997.mp3

External links

• CiTR
• Discorder
• CITR-FM history at Canadian Communications Foundation
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CITR-FM