The Milestone Story

The story of Milestone is one of struggle, commitment, dedication and long-awaited success. In 1988, five prominent members of Toronto's Black community formed Milestone Radio Inc. and applied for their first CRTC licence to operate an Urban-format radio station in the Toronto area. Denham Jolly, Zanana Akande, the late Carl Redhead, Reynold Austin and Tony Davy, shared a vision to bring a voice to Toronto's diverse communities.

Despite tremendous community support and strong media coverage, the CRTC denied Milestone a licence in the summer of 1990 but the disappointment didn't deter the Milestone team. Several prominent politicians were supportive of the Milestone cause. Marcel Masse, the Communications Minister at the time, sent a letter to the CRTC urging them to open the application process. He believed there was strong demand for a dance/Black music station in Toronto. During the subsequent years, Milestone kept working towards their goal of providing Torontonians with more choice. Good news came in June 1992 when the CRTC conducted a new set of hearings and recommended a Toronto market study to further assess the demand in the region for the Urban format.

Bolstered by the positive results of the study, the mid-90s were a time of rebuilding as Milestone began to prepare for its second bid for a CRTC licence. In its second application, Milestone once again received widespread support with an unprecedented 12,000 letters of intervention written in support of the company. To the disappointment of Milestone's many supporters, the CRTC voted to award the licence to the CBC by a controversial 3-2 majority.

Milestone appealed the decision and followed with a powerful public campaign to petition the Federal Cabinet. Milestone addressed the Council of City of Scarborough regarding the appeal and was awarded a favourable vote. Similar resolutions were subsequently submitted by the City of York and the City of Toronto on behalf of the group.

In May 1998, in response to Milestone's appeal, the Federal Cabinet sent the CRTC an Order in Council to reserve a frequency on the FM band for applicants bearing in mind Toronto's diverse society and the need for employment equity. Several months later the CRTC announced that it would once again call for applications for Toronto radio service. In the following year Milestone readied its application for the frequency of 93.5 on the FM dial. The new application again received widespread support and gained even further credibility when Standard Broadcasting became a minority investor in the station. Finally on June 16, 2000, 12 years after its creation, Milestone's efforts were rewarded when the CRTC granted them a radio licence. The newest chapter of the story began February 9, 2001 with the launch of Canada's first Urban format radio station: FLOW 93.5, the culmination of years of dedication and hard work by the Milestone team.

The Urban Radio Format

Within the present radio and music industries, Urban refers to a diverse, cosmopolitan music format based on Rhythm and Blues music and related genres. This format is a modern-day reflection of the rich musical traditions of Black musicians and Black-influenced music over the past century.

What we call Urban today is a mosaic reflecting the contribution of a varied group of artists over the last four decades. In the 50s the sound was defined by artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Sam Cooke. In the following decade artists such as James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding helped shape the sound. During the 70s, it was Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Bob Marley. The 80s featured George Clinton, Michael Jackson and Run DMC with Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston emerging in the early 90s. Today such well-known artists as 50 Cent, Beyonce, Glenn Lewis and Jully Black are making their own contribution to this popular sound.