We are CHLY 101.7FM in Nanaimo

CHLY 101.7FM FM offers an effective and competitive platform for radio advertising. We are committed to engaging the community and partnering with businesses and other non-profits that reflect our mission of bringing under-represented news, views, music, and information to our broadcast community on the Salish Sea. Our diverse programming can fit the needs of a broad range of organisations and businesses. We have jazz, folk, indie rock, alternative, afro, reggae, psychedelic, urban, and so many other genres of music spinning every week. We also have daily newscasts, as well as talk shows catering to the Vancouver University crowd and the local community with local politics, Mariner sports, community nursing, and more.

Located in Nanaimo, British Columbia—the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation—CHLY is dedicated to inform, educate, and entertain, by broadcasting inclusive, intelligent, innovative and alternative media to its listeners on the Salish Sea.

Our Broadcast Community on the Salish Sea

CHLY broadcasts to Nanaimo and other communities on the Salish Sea to approximately 1.5 million potential listeners. We can be heard in the majority of the mid-Vancouver Island region from the Comox Valley to the Cowichan Valley. We can also be heard in parts of the northern Sunshine Coast, the whole of the southern Sunshine Coast, and parts of the lower mainland. CHLY can also be heard on the islands: Denman, Hornby, Texada, Lasqueti, Gabriola, Mudge, Decoursy, Valdez, Galiano, Thetis, Penelakut, and Salt Spring.

We also stream online at www.chly.ca/listen and can be found on streaming services like TuneIn.

With CHLY, you’re not buying a radio commercial, you’re buying an audience. The CHLY community and volunteers represent a diverse range of cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. As a campus-community station, much of our programming is created by students at Vancouver Island Community, and reflects the views and interests of the campus community. CHLY  promotes more local artists than any other radio station in the mid-island region. Our long history of supporting and sponsoring local musicians and venues makes CHLY a well known source for information on upcoming shows and local musical releases. CHLY listeners are engaged members of their communities.

Advertising and Program Sponsorships with CHLY

Advertising at CHLY 101.7FM is very affordable, be it a produced advertisement, or simple program sponsorship. Radio advertising is more cost-effective to create than video, and more affordable than print or Facebook. In a newspaper or magazine, your ad can be easily overlooked (or with Facebook, scrolled past or on Youtube skipped). Your advertisement when heard on the radio, it is at the forefront of everything else, for anywhere between 15-60 seconds. This is especially true on the drive to and from work, or while listeners are running errands in their car!

Two Minutes of Advertising on the Hour

As a campus-community licensed station, at present CHLY only runs two minutes of advertising on most hours throughout the day next to our Station IDs, News Updates, Weather Updates, Annoncements Notices, Program Promos, and Evergreen PSAs we play for non-profit community groups.

One exception to this is in the case of the popular morning drive time show Democracy Now! where only one minute is available for advertising due to the length of this syndicated show. This leaves room for only two peak rate 30s ads during our 9:00AM block Monday—Friday.

Advertising and Sponsorship Rates

We run different ad rates depending on the time of day the advertisement or program sponsorship will run as well as how long the ad is in seconds.

Peak, mid-peak, off-peak, or overnight, we adjust our rates based on when listeners are driving, listening at work, or listening at home. We also offer Flex Rates, which give ad-buyers some flexibility and savings with ads that float between peak and mid-peak ad-slots.

Our standard ad-slot length is 30 seconds (30s), but we also offer 15s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 45s, 60s, and 90s rates to fit your budget.

Reduced Rates for Non-Profits and More

As a campus-community station, CHLY prioritizes support for groups with limited resources that bring a net benefit to our broadcast community.

For non-profits, community groups, arts and cultural groups, artist or bands, we offer a reduced flat 24/7 Non-Profit Rate. The only stipulation is that these non-profit rate ads can be bumped to another ad-slot if a full rate advertisement is scheduled.

Event advertising for Campus Clubs / Course Unions

Campus clubs and course unions at the Nanaimo campus of VIU can access x56 30-second ads per semester to promote their events ($428 in value). This credit must be used within the semester and does not roll over into the next semester.

Advertisements vs Sponsorships

CHLY differentiates advertisements and sponsorships by the level of production complexity, the time that they are scheduled, and the frequency they are heard.

  • Advertisements promote a business or organization, be it a service they provide, sale, event, etc. Advertisements also come with higher production values, sound effects, and more varied voice talent!

  • Sponsorships promote a business or organization, but also endorse CHLY or the program the sponsorship is attached to. Sponsorships come with simpler production values, no sound effects, and whomever we have available for voice talent. Sponsorships also do not count towards our advertising cap as they come with constraints as to what can be said.

  • Advertisement’s play at the top/end of the hour, as do Station Sponsorships.

  • Program Sponsorships are found at the bottom of the hour at approximately the half hour mark.

  • Advertisements tend to air frequently throughout the week, over multiple weeks.

  • Station or Program Sponsorships air with the hour or program they sponsor, over multiple months.

Production Costs

Our production team charges a flat rate of $50 for every full rate ad produced. Ad-buyers who supply their own produced are not charged a production fee.

This fee is reduced to $25 is you are a non-profit, community group, arts and cultural group, artist, or band.

This fee is waved for station or program sponsorships as they come with little or no production outside of a simple backing track.

Script Length

The below is based on an ad or sponsorship read at a hurried pace. VO = Voice Over. If submitting a script, we recommend reading your script aloud and timing yourself with your smartphone timer.

  • 15 seconds: 42 to 47 words (Approx 2 to 3 sentences) totalling a VO length 12s to 13s.

  • 20 seconds: 56 to 62 words (Approx 3-4 sentences) totalling a VO length 17s to 18s.

  • 30 seconds: 85 to 94 words (Approx 4-6 sentences) totalling a VO length 26s to 28s.

  • 45 seconds: 126 to 141 words (Approx 5-8 sentences) totalling a VO length of 36s to 39s

  • 60 seconds: 170 to 188 words (Approx 8 to 12 sentences) totalling a VO length 56s to 57s.

Advertising Support

CHLY can provide advertising in trade for sponship for your event project! CHLY is willing to negotiate in-kind ad-support, so long as the station is adequately recognized, be it on print materials, your website, social media, or verbally at the time of the event. Please email sales@chly.ca well in advance so we can discuss and set our terms.

Sales Inquiries

Interested in running an advertisement, or sponsoring a show or the station? Contact us with the form below and we will get you a quote you as soon as possible.

Need to contact our Sales Coordinator about a sale already in progress? Contact them at sales@chly.ca.

Please Complete the Form Below