Country 103’s goals are to promote Manitoulin and the North Shore’s beauty and culture, and to keep our community informed with local news, weather, and events.
Country 103 (CHAW) formally 100.7 CFRM The Island is Canada’s first 100% off grid radio station. The new office located at 1 Radio Road is powered by large solar panels and mini vertical wind turbines. A backup diesel generator is on site as well. Wind turbines at our tower site help reduce our demand on the grid.
Country 103 broadcasts from Little Current, Ontario, we haven’t always been Country 103 though. Back in September 2001, CFRM first aired after it received its initial licensing approval from the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) as a 1.8 watt developmental station. The first song to hit the airwaves was Boston’s “Don’t Look Back”. In 2002 CFRM jumped to 5 watts. Then in 2004, CFRM submitted an application to CRTC to increase our signal to 50 watts with hopes to reach the entire Island. As a result of mountainous terrain, 50 watts was not enough. One of our mandates is to provide emergency services where necessary, so once again another application was submitted to the CRTC to increase our power to 1850 watts. CRTC granted approval! CFRM was able to broadcast from Sault St. Marie south to Parry Sound and all of Manitoulin Island; thus creating the new 100.7 FM “The Island”, hot new country, after a format change from classic rock to country.
100.7 The Island then received approval from CRTC in March, 2009 to increase our power to a whopping 27, 500 watts!
After five years of planning and applications, Craig and KT Timmermans received approval from CRTC in 2015 for a second signal – 103.1! C-HAW, Great Lakes Country 103 was launched April 1st 2016 – and that’s no joke!
Country 103’s goals are to promote Manitoulin and the North Shore’s beauty and culture, and to keep our community informed with local news, weather, road and marine forecast and events.
If you’re tired of pre-programmed, repetitive, commercial radio stations, then Country 103 C-HAW is the place you want to be. We offer 60% Canadian content which makes us highly unique, we support independent Country artists, and we are one of the few remaining independently owned and operated radio stations left in Canada.