About three months ago, then station owner Alex J. Walling announced he was putting the station up for sale. Walling says after four years of running the station, he was looking for a change. While enjoyable, he says it took up a lot of time and he was interested in perusing other endevours.
Dan MacLaren and Dick Henneberry, speaking on behalf of the investors group, say there was interest in the community taking it over almost right away.
Licenses for stations are not fixed to a community, and MacLaren figured if it was sold to someone else the station would close. He and a few others wanted try and keep the station in the community.
A group of seven key members formed to pursue purchasing the license and equipment from Walling. However it wasn't just as easy as handing over a cheque.
"Like anything else, when you are buying and selling a business there's a lot of negotiations," says MacLaren.
Having that many people made the negotiations a little slower, however Henneberry says they worked very well together.
"That's one of the things you don't usually get. You get seven different people in anything and usually they start stepping on toes. But they've been very good."
Raising funds was done a little differently as well. They modeled their formula after Brooklyn Marina's approach when they purchased their land from Bowater.
Anyone giving a large amount of money was issued a promissory note, basically stating they would return the money over the next few years as the station brings in money. Henneberry says they are committed to returning the money by 2014.
The reason they took this approach was because of the number of other organizations looking for money in the community. They wanted to treat funds raised as an investment that would be paid back. The investors group said it was important for them to put in there money as well.
"If we believed in it, we put our money into it," says Henneberry.
He adds there was a lot of community support for what they were doing as well.
"I had people stop me basically on the street, and give me cash," he says.
"That's the faith people have in the station," adds MacLaren.
Though the owners of the station may have changed, listeners of the station shouldn't expect radicle changes. MacLaren says they have a few new programs and ideas they would like to try, but the mandate of the station will remain the same
Their mandate by the CRTC designates QCCR as a classic radio station, with rules on what they can play. Between 30 and 35 per cent of the music must be Canadian, and it primarily has to be music from the 1960's through the 1980's. On occasion they can go back into the 1940's and 1950's as well.
The new owners have been running the station for the past six weeks as well, trying out a few things before the change over took place last week. A few new things have been a live morning show, and adding a few extra voices to the broadcasts.
The station will continue to be run by community volunteers as well, something it has done since the beginning. They will also be looking for new voices for the station as well. Even those with no experience are encouraged to give it a try.
MacLaren says that's how he got started as well. He was interviewed by Walling for part of a show, and suggested he come give it a try.
