Nearing its 100th anniversary, CKUA Radio is raising funds to stay on the air

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More than three years shy of its 100th anniversary, Alberta's only donor-funded community radio station is in danger of going dark, and it's turning to its listeners to secure its future.

CKUA Radio, one of Canada's oldest radio stations and its first public broadcaster, says the threat isn't due to a lack of luck. The station has seen audience growth of more than 10 percent over the past five years and consistent revenue from fundraising and advertising, bucking many industry trends.

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But CEO Mark Carnes said a “perfect storm” of inflationary pressures, problems filling empty office space at its flagship building — the historic Hotel Alberta in downtown Edmonton — and a lack of government support are taking its toll.

“There's no other way to say it — we need to raise $3 million by September 30,” Karnes said in a video update posted Wednesday afternoon.

“Without him, CKUA will run out of cash and we will be forced to close after 96 years of serving Albertans and respected Albertans like you.”

The station's annual spring on-air fundraiser begins Friday and runs for 10 days. In the meantime, Karnes said CKUA hopes to raise the first $775,000 of its multimillion-dollar goal.

“We have to defeat this target at all – we have to destroy it,” he said. “The more we can raise in these first 10 days, the better the momentum and story telling will be, asking donors, community members and government to invest in our future.”

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After the 10-day campaign, CKUA Karnes is launching a long-term fundraising plan that he hopes will lead the station into its second century.

CKUA began in 1927 and was originally based on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton. He now has two studios — one in Edmonton's Hotel Alberta and another in Calgary near the National Music Center — broadcasting 126 hours a week across the province and online.

The station has become known for its support of local musicians, playing tracks from over 1,000 Albertans and 3,000 Canadian artists each year. According to Carnes, CKUA was the first station in Canada to broadcast a football game, the first to stream online and to feature Canadian icons such as kd lang, Jann Arden and Corb Lund.

“CKUA is not just a broadcasting investment, it's an investment in heritage,” Carnes said, noting the station's “priceless” collection of historical records.

“As Canada's first public broadcaster, we are a project for all public and community broadcasters in Canada. For hundreds of thousands of artists and listeners in communities across the country and around the world, CKUA is a huge part of what it means to be an Albertan.”

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According to the 2022-23 Association Report, 60 percent of CKUA's nearly $6 million in total revenue for that fiscal year came from nearly 11,000 donors. It operated at a loss with losses of about $7.4 million.

Government contributions, by contrast, account for 1.5 percent of CKUA's operating budget, “despite providing free non-profit service to the general public,” the station said. Recent provincial and federal budgets have also come and gone without showing increased funding, Karnes said.

“Despite hundreds of millions of dollars in new money for the national public broadcaster and much-needed concessions to private media companies, Alberta's broadcasting and cultural gems remain.”

Information on how to donate is available on the CKUA website at ckua.com.

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