CHUO 89.1 FMThe University of Ottawa campus radio station will cease broadcasting after nearly 50 years.
Station Manager Paruji Akarasevi confirmed the news of CHUO 89.1 FM's upcoming final live broadcast on December 15th. CBCwith plans to continue airing pre-recorded content through March to fulfill contractual obligations with the CRTC.
Amid fundraising efforts to raise $150,000 to keep the station running, Akarasevi said the CHUO board of directors decided Monday evening (Dec. 8) to end the campaign and move forward with the closure. The decision comes two years after students voted in a referendum to abolish the levy that financed the radio station.
“Everyone is like brother and sister to me,” Akarasevi, who first joined the team as a volunteer in 2016 and became the show’s co-host. Asian influencetold CBC about her CHUO colleagues. “I have no family here in Canada. I think the only place I like to literally go and talk about everything is CHUO.”
Jack Cohen, president of the University of Ottawa Students' Union, added that he was disappointed by the news: “I'm especially thinking about our international student community and… the wide variety of content that CHUO has done over the past years with a great job on the platform to reach all students.” Basic CHUO programming elements are included. Black on black, Radio Irawa, Ethiopian show, Somali show, Return to Africa And Caribbean taste.
The station was originally founded in 1975 as CHOR when the student union received an AM license, then moved to FM in 1991.
