Cabin Radio

Cabin Radio is a Canadian independent hyperlocal web media organization based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Launched in 2017, it is owned and operated by a group of five Yellowknife residents, including Ollie Williams, a former BBC Sport reporter. The organization currently operates a news website and an Internet radio stream, as well as posting news updates to various social networking sites.

The website grew from three million page views in its first year in operation to over 13 million annual views by 2024.

In 2024, Cabin Radio won the Canadian Association of Journalists' national award for daily excellence in reporting for their live coverage of the NWT's 2023 wildfire crisis and evacuations.

In 2025, the Michener Award foundation awarded Cabin Radio a $125,000 Norman Webster Fellowship grant for a journalistic investigation into the circuit court system of the Territorial Court of the Northwest Territories.

Community radio

In 2019 the company submitted an application to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for a community radio license. The CRTC did not issue a decision until 2023, denying the company's application on the grounds that the Yellowknife market could not support a new radio station.

However, following widespread community opposition to the decision, the CRTC announced in 2024 that it would reopen the process, stating that the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2023 Canadian wildfires had highlighted the critical importance of reliable community-based news and information services in times of emergency. A new round of hearings started in February 2025, with the CRTC considering Cabin Radio's application alongside a competing application by Vista Radio.

On July 30, 2025, the CRTC approved Cabin Radio's application, assigning it the frequency of 93.9 FM and the call sign CJFC-FM.

References

  1. 1 2 "Former BBC reporter keeps NWT local news alive with Cabin Radio". The Globe and Mail, August 22, 2023.
  2. ↑ Nick Dunne, "The Northwest Territories’ Cabin Radio: A part of Canada’s North". The Hub, February 23, 2024.
  3. ↑ Durette, Monique (2024-06-02). "Canadian Association of Journalists celebrates excellence in Canadian journalism from the past year at annual awards gala". Canadian Association of Journalists. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
  4. ↑ Connie Thiessen, "Cabin Radio, Le Droit awarded $125K Norman Webster Fellowships". Broadcast Dialogue, May 28, 2025.
  5. ↑ Sidney Cohen, "Yellowknife's Cabin Radio to resubmit FM licence application, in spite of CRTC decision". CBC North, March 1, 2023.
  6. ↑ Natalie Pressman, "Cabin Radio's 'fiercely loyal' fans show support for Yellowknife station as it fights for FM licence". CBC North, October 25, 2023.
  7. ↑ Mah Noor Mubarik, "CRTC to reconsider Cabin Radio's application to get on Yellowknife's FM airwaves". CBC North, March 15, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Wildfire risk 'very much in the mind' of CRTC as it mulls new FM licences in Yellowknife". CBC North, February 13, 2025.
  9. ↑ Jocelyn Shepel, "Cabin Radio, Vista Radio each seek new FM licence at CRTC hearing in Yellowknife". CBC North, February 12, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2025-188". CRTC, July 30, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Appendix 1: Supplementary Brief". Cabin Radio supplementary brief to CRTC hearing 2024-213, April 21, 2024.