City Nanaimo, BC Frequency 101.7 MHz (FM) Format Eclectic | Branding CHLY 101.7 FM First air date October 5, 2001 | |
Slogan The Voice of Nanaimo BC | ||
CHLY 101.7 FM is a campus radio station based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. Primarily funded by students of Vancouver Island University's Nanaimo campus, the station is also supported by donations and memberships from the community, as well as sponsorship and advertising from local businesses.
CHLY is run by the Radio Malaspina Society, an incorporated society with a constitution and mission to broadcast an FM radio signal of 3,000 watts to a community of service which includes Nanaimo, Lantzville, Ladysmith and Gabriola Island. The station had its beginnings on the Internet on April 1, 2000, before gaining its broadcasting licence from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on June 5. CHLY aired a test signal at 101.7 FM on September 21, and ran promotional material about the station for two weeks before officially signing on at 6:00 p.m. on October 5, 2001.
CHLY's studio is located in the basement of the Queens Hotel on Victoria Crescent in downtown Nanaimo. The station features an eclectic format with a variety of music genres (including jazz, reggae, alternative rock, hip-hop, roots music, folk and electronica) and programs reporting on issues of the campus, local community and the world. The longest-running program to air on CHLY was the Elevator Club, a program of easy listening music hosted by Gord Bibby since the station's inception; it aired on Sunday nights from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. until its final program on CHLY aired on September 28, 2014.
CHLY is a member of the National Campus and Community Radio Association.