| CHRY-FM | |
| Frequency: | 105.5 MHz (FM) |
| City: | Toronto, Ontario |
| Area: | North York Vaughan Richmond Hill |
| Format: | Urban contemporary |
| Owner: | Board of Directors of Canadian Centre of Civic Media and Arts Development Canada, Inc. |
| Erp: | 158 watts average 250 watts peak |
| Branding: | VIBE 105 |
| Class: | A1 |
| Website: | vibe105to.com |
| Callsign Meaning: | CH Radio York |
CHRY-FM (branded as VIBE 105) is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Broadcasting at 105.5 MHz, it has also served as a community radio station for the residents of the Jane and Finch corridor in North Toronto.
CHRY is run by the Canadian Centre for Civic Media and Arts Development Inc., with the station's studios are located at York University's Student Centre, and its transmitter is located on top of the Vanier College residence building.
CHRY was founded as a closed-circuit cable radio service, called Radio York, in 1965, and was located on the top floor of Vanier College and served campus residences and the cafeteria located at Central Square. On June 1, 1986, upon successful application to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for a broadcasting licence, began to broadcast as CHRY at 50 watts, with a transmitting antenna located on the top of Vanier College's residence building. As well, on this day, it became incorporated as CHRY Community Radio, Inc.
CHRY is supported in part by student levy (contributions via the York University Graduate Students Association and York Federation of Students (YFS)), through occasional grants for which the station is eligible due to its charitable status, by York University through occasional workstudy grants, and by its listenership through pledges. The rest of its funding is from advertising revenue.
In 1997, it moved from its old Vanier College studios to the fourth floor of York University's Student Centre, where it is today. This move was financed by a $40,000 loan from the undergraduate student association, which was forgiven four years later.A limitation to CHRY was that its licence was Class B, which effectively meant that it was "unprotected" legally from claims of signal interference, effectively requiring it to cease operations if another broadcasting interest was affected in some way by CHRY's operation. However, in 2006, the CRTC accepted CHRY's application to reclassify its licence from "Class B" to "Class A", thus effecting "protected status" for the radio station.
CHRY serves the north western part of Toronto. More than one-third of its schedule is devoted to the music and culture of the Caribbean. It employs two full-time staff, several other part-time staff, and is supported by the work of over one hundred volunteers from both York's student body and the surrounding community.
On May 1, 2015, CHRY cancelled all of its existing programs, dismissed all of its volunteers and rebranded itself as "VIBE 105". The station would adopt an "urban alternative" format, which it describes as "a diverse and metropolitan blend of Cultural, Electronic and Remix programming". The station's music mix would include Electronic, Remix, Reggae, Soca, Afrobeat, Hip hop and R&B, while it will also air talk programming.
Volunteers were to be in supportive roles, while on-air talent will be professionalized; in a departure from the station's community radio format.[1] In response, the dismissed programmers organized community meetings and campaigning under the name #SAVECHRY in an unsuccessful effort to overturn the station's decision.[2] [3] [4]
In 2016, the station applied for a license to add a nested FM repeater on 105.3 (with an average power of 92 watts, maximum of 155), with a transmitter located at 100 Wingarden Court in Scarborough (co-located with CJRK-FM).[5] This was denied on June 16, 2017.[6]