Toronto To Launch All-Gay Radio Station
Looks like the airwaves are about to get a little more gay next week!
Proud FM 103.9, an all-gay radio station, is set to launch Saturday in Toronto. While its signal strength is a relatively weak 50-watts, it is the first traditionally broadcasted, gay-themed radio station in Canada.
As typical for this sort of thing, the station has already faced its share of criticism. One financial partner has already withdrawn their backing, and Lorne Gunter, a columnist for the National Post, even suggested that the new station was awarded under anti-Christian pretenses:
[The CRTC] turned down a Catholic FM station for T.O. because it wouldn’t be diverse enough, even though it promised shows for 12 cultural groups in at least 11 different languages. Meanwhile, [Proud FM] was licensed to advance diversity, despite pledging to focus almost exclusively on gay issues.
Cute. Though, in reality, the Catholic FM station’s bid was on an entirely different frequency (101.3), which was ultimately awarded to CJSA-FM, a multi-cultural station.
Regardless of the bumps along the way, the station looks like it will be all ready for launch. So let me be the among the first to extend a hearty “G-G-G-Good Luck (Zap–Zap–Zap–Whoosh) to P-P-P-Proud FM ( Eff-Emm ): One-Oh-Three Point Niiiiine.”
- Proud FM to target gay and lesbian listeners [Globe and Mail]
- Radio Free Canada [Friends of Canadian Broadcasting]
