National Public Radio host Ira Glass once quipped that among North Americans, public radio was “less popular than jousting, a sport that has been dead for 600 years.” Hyperbole aside, it’s clear that radio is not the zenith of entertainment it once was.
“Radio doesn’t have a large place in the popular imagination anymore,” laments Chris Berube, who hosts the show Electric Boogaloo on the University of Toronto’s radio station CIUT 89.5 FM. “A lot of people think it is a stagnant form—that Top 40 and blowhard talk radio is all there is.” Berube himself became involved at CIUT after a similar reaction. “I worked in an office where they played Edge 102. I would hear it everyday and think, there is so much more that I could do with this,” he says.
As it stands, CIUT has been around a lot longer. Hitting airwaves back in 1966, the campus station has endured name changes, license squabbles, and shifts in the very way people listen to media. Over the air, CIUT beams signals as far south as Buffalo, and as far north as Barrie. But with the advent of live streaming and deals with Star Choice Satellite and Rogers Digital Cable, CIUT can now be heard virtually anywhere in the world.
Berube and fellow CIUT host Michael Clifton don’t have much in common. Berube is a third-year political science student at U of T who hosts a show dedicated to under-the-radar indie rock. Clifton is a fifty-year-old radio technician for CBC whose two CIUT shows, Funky Fridays and Passport, encapsulate nearly every genre, from funk to gospel, jazz, blues, and country. Clifton spins CDs and at times, vinyl, while Berube makes playlists on iTunes. Yet they both share a devotion to public radio that makes them willing to rise at the crack of dawn and play a show from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in the middle of the week. If that’s not dedication, then what is?
Well for starters, both Clifton, a musician who previously owned Happy House Music on Markham Street, and Berube weren’t totally aware of the early morning slot when they started at CIUT. Both began through volunteering and standard training, then moved on to filling guest spots on other hosts’ shows before securing a program of their own. Clifton started with Passport, which airs on Tuesday afternoons, and Berube’s show aired on Mondays from 1-3 p.m. (currently it is on Wednesday mornings).
Yet Clifton loved being on the radio so much that the 5:30 a.m. slot came as a blessing. “When the slot opened I said, hey, what the hell, I’ll do it,” he laughs. “I realized this was an opportunity. Five-thirty in the morning gives you a captive audience: people are driving in their cars, lying in bed, frying the bacon for breakfast,” he says. “It is harder to get their attention at one in the afternoon, when everyone is at work.”
Berube also notes the success of morning radio, saying that the lackluster quality of most early programming is partially what motivates him to offer an alternative. And while the 4:30 wake-up calls in the dead of winter are not totally appealing, the sacrifice is worth it. “I’m just happy to be doing a show,” he says. “I’ll gladly accept a time slot that is ludicrous to others.”
While both Clifton and Berube were avid fans of the medium before becoming involved, neither estimated how much they would enjoy working at CIUT. “I probably wouldn’t have gotten into radio if people didn’t think I was already involved,” says Clifton, who was frequently mistaken for a host before he had ever been on air. Clifton even received recognition from CBC host Andy Barrie, who once told him that he had a perfect voice for radio. “For me, that was like being anointed,” he says.
With the morning slot, however, the question of how many listeners are willing to tune in inevitably arises. “Five-thirty a.m. is an ungodly hour to be doing anything, frankly,” says Berube, a reluctant self-promoter. “A lot of my friends don’t even know that I have a radio show,” he admits.
Likewise, Clifton argues that the numbers are not important. “There might be five listeners or there might be five million,” he says. “I try to ignore that factor and just express myself in a conversational way—people seem to like that.”
While their shows remain labours of love, both hosts are all about sharing the music that they adore with their audiences. Clifton puts special emphasis on the themes of his shows, creating Passport to capture the subgenres that comprise rock ‘n’ roll and playing high-energy music on Funky Fridays to invigorate listeners for their day. Likewise, Berube spends over 20 hours a week looking for new music and compiling his setlists, which are often themed around events or holidays (like backto- school and Halloween).
Even after their time at CIUT, both hosts have retained their differences. Berube frequently plays post-electronic artists like Battles and Stereolab, while Clifton considers drum machines “evil” and remains close to artists who play all their own instruments. Both heartily agree that working at the station has broadened their musical perspective. Clifton and Berube squeeze their programs into their own tight schedules (Clifton works at CBC, while Berube is a full-time student who also edits The Strand’s humour section and serves on the board of Victoria College). Yet the sacrifice is well worth it. “[Hosting a show] is something that really consumed me,” says Berube, while Clifton adds, “Every time I’m on the air, I learn something. It’s a thrill.” And with their tunes propagating through the air and cyberspace, there’s a chance public radio could reach the popularity level of say, polo. Now wouldn’t that make Ira Glass proud?
For program schedules and show times, visit ciut.fm
