About CHMR 93.5

CHMR 93.5

93.5 CHMR is the campus and community radio station of Memorial University of Newfoundland — a student-run outlet broadcasting from the St. John's campus at 93.5 MHz with 50 watts, also carried on Rogers digital cable channel 942 and Aliant TV channel 825. Its call letters stand for "MUN Radio." The station's roots go back to 1951 with the MUN Radio Club; it won CRTC approval in 1986 and launched on 93.5 FM in January 1987. In 2026, the station faced an existential funding crisis when the students' union voted to end its $300,000 annual support — a story still unfolding.

Overview

CHMR-FM is a campus/community radio station licensed to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, owned by the Memorial University of Newfoundland Radio Society. It broadcasts on 93.5 MHz (Class LP) with 50 watts, with its transmitter on the Memorial campus. It is also available on Rogers digital cable channel 942 throughout Newfoundland and Aliant TV channel 825 across Atlantic Canada.

The station is operated by the university's undergraduate students' union, MUNSU. A media fee paid by all undergraduate students at Memorial's St. John's campus has been its primary funding; along with The Muse (the student newspaper), CHMR receives two dollars from every student each semester. The station is affiliated with the Pacifica Radio Network.

History

The station's origins go back to 1951 with the founding of the MUN Radio Club. The Memorial University of Newfoundland Radio Society received CRTC approval in 1986 to operate on 93.5 MHz, and the frequency launched in January 1987. CHMR previously aired on cable radio at 103.7 MHz in the St. John's area, moving to digital cable in late 2006 when Rogers discontinued traditional cable FM service.

For decades, CHMR has been "the only alternative in Newfoundland and Labrador" — a hub for student creativity, local storytelling, and programming outside the commercial mainstream. Station manager Rhea Rollmann has led efforts to reimagine the station as a community access media lab, expanding into podcasting and video content.

On April 1, 2026, the Memorial University Students' Union voted to eliminate its $300,000 a year of funding and support for CHMR and remove it as a student union service, effective August 31, 2026 — a loss of 60–70% of the station's funding. CHMR continues to receive approximately $50,000 a year from a student levy, and is seeking community support and diversified revenue to survive. The station's annual deficit had reached nearly $200,000 according to the MUNSU 2023-24 financial audit.

CHMR started in 1951 as a Hi-Fi club, evolving into a closed-circuit operation feeding campus cafeterias and society rooms. On October 4, 1974, it was awarded a carrier-current licence to broadcast in the Paton College residence on 860 kHz at 20 watts; in 1977 it was granted a special licence to broadcast during the Canada Summer Games. On August 7, 1986, the Memorial University of Newfoundland Radio Society was granted a licence to operate a student FM station at 93.5 MHz with 50 watts (replacing the carrier-current station); CHMR-FM signed on in January 1987. In 2000 it moved to the second floor of the south annex of the newly built University Centre.

The station is operated by the undergraduate students' union, MUNSU; a media fee paid by all undergraduate students at Memorial's St. John's campus is the primary funding — CHMR and the student paper The Muse each receive two dollars per student per semester. It previously aired on cable FM at 103.7 MHz in the St. John's area, moving to digital cable (Rogers channel 942, also Aliant TV channel 825 across Atlantic Canada) in late 2006 when Rogers discontinued traditional cable FM. A 50-watt Class LP signal with a rooftop antenna (-3-metre HAAT) keeps the over-the-air footprint on campus; cable and streaming carry it further.

The station has billed itself as "The only alternative in Newfoundland and Labrador" and is an affiliate of the Pacifica Radio Network. Its future is under active discussion: with an annual deficit reported at nearly $200,000 and reliance on MUNSU funding, station management has been pushing a reinvention as a community media hub — expanding into podcasting and video. On April 1, 2026, MUNSU voted to eliminate its roughly $300,000-a-year funding and support of CHMR as a student union service effective August 31, 2026 — leaving the station with about $50,000 a year from a remaining student levy, a loss of 60–70% of its funding. How the station adapts is an open question its volunteers are still answering.

Programming

CHMR airs campus and community programming spanning music genres — blues, jazz, college, and independent music — and spoken-word content. Volunteer programmers produce shows reflecting the university and St. John's communities, with an emphasis on alternative and local voices.

Coverage and Audience

CHMR's 50-watt signal covers the Memorial campus and surrounding St. John's, with cable and IPTV carriage extending its reach across Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada. It also streams online. Its audience is the university community and St. John's alternative-music and arts communities.

The defunding fight played out publicly. The April 1, 2026, MUNSU board vote was not an April Fools' joke — and volunteers responded with a Change.org petition urging the union to reconsider, noting the contrast with the campus bar's million-dollar funding boost while "mere hundreds of thousands were deemed excessive for the radio station." The petition describes CHMR as a family and a source of comfort for hundreds of volunteers over the years, many of whom built successful media careers on what they learned there, and asks MUNSU to explore fairer distribution of resources rather than cutting the station outright. Broadcast Dialogue covered the vote in its campus tag, alongside similar fights at Fanshawe College's 106.9 The X — a sign of a national trend of post-secondary institutions pulling campus-radio funding.

The station's recent output shows what stands to be lost: station manager Rhea Rollmann's interview programs have covered the 19th Annual Women's Work Festival (March 2025) with playwrights Sally Cunningham and Calla Wright, Memorial's Frecker Program's 50th anniversary (sending students to St. Pierre for French immersion), and Trans Day of Remembrance organizing — local, community-rooted conversations that commercial radio doesn't carry. CHMR also airs news and interview clips as podcasts, part of Rollmann's push to reimagine the station as a community access media lab.

Ownership

CHMR-FM is owned by the Memorial University of Newfoundland Radio Society, operated by the students' union MUNSU. Funding comes from student media fees, listener donations, and fundraising.

CHMR's digital home is chmr.ca, where the station streams live and posts its news and interview clips as podcasts — the podcasting push that station management sees as the path forward. The station's social channels carry the reinvention effort as volunteers work to diversify funding beyond the student levy.

Digital Presence

CHMR streams live online and maintains an active web presence with program schedules. The station maintains social media accounts promoting its programs and fundraising efforts. Wikipedia lists chmr.ca as the station's official website; the official site could not be independently verified in this research environment, so the website field is left empty in this draft.

The station's history — from the 1951 MUN Radio Club through the 1987 FM launch to the 2026 funding crisis — is documented by campus media coverage and in CRTC licensing records. The station remains on air as of this writing, though its long-term future is uncertain.