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adam BlasBerg (mclachlan); koUrosh keshiri (klein); kevin kelly (cockBUrn) create community and bring people together. "I'd like to believe that intention has a lot to do with outcome," he says. "We are doing the very best we can to expose the voices who aren't being heard in our community to make sure they have a fair and equal platform in our city." Vancouver's newest radio station, Roundhouse Radio (which broadcasts on 98.3 FM as CIRH„FM), †icked the switch in October 2015, operating under a low-frequency licence designed to reach a speciŽc audience, as far as Richmond to the south, UBC to the west, the Surrey side of the Port Mann Bridge to the east and the North Shore. Roundhouse's content is 80-percent talk and 20-percent music, with a strong commit- ment to o–er airtime to non- proŽts, advocacy organizations and other socially conscious groups. Shafer cites the station's two-week series on the National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and ongoing cover- age of the city's opioid crisis as examples of its best work. We're all keen to hear more about what's happening in our local community, its politics and its people. At least that's what we say when asked by market researchers, notes Je– Vidler, president of Toronto- based media research Žrm Audience Insights Inc., who adds that the magic formula for harnessing and monetizing that stated interest is yet to be discov- ered. Still, he believes success in small-market media is possible, citing Kelowna's Castanet.net, an online local news outlet that last year acquired Juice FM. "Nick Frost got in early," Vidler says of Castanet's owner. "He saw a niche for online classi- Žeds in the 1990s, before Craigs- list began, and built a strong digital presence around that." Digital will be key for Roundhouse—which streams via its website and the Radio Player Canada app—as consum- ers increasingly want to listen, read and watch at their leisure, Vidler predicts. "I think it's a tremendous initiative, and I am cheering them on," he says. With a potential audience of between 700,000 and 1 million listeners, Shafer believes his is a sustainable model, attractive to advertisers. But after two years in operation, the station is languish- ing at the bottom of the industry standard PPM (Portable People Meter) Radio Ratings for the city, with a zero percent share. While it works to Žnd its footing, Roundhouse relies on the deep pockets of its investors: Kelowna entrepreneurs and auto retailers David and Judi Daudrich; Okanagan legal heavyweight Rick Pushor (Pushor Mitchell LLP) and his family, who also own prefab building company Chaparral Industries Inc.; and Craig Cameron, VP of hearing aids manufacturer Sivantos Group. Shafer and his partner, Yvonne Evans, have also put in money. "The ratings aren't the whole story," argues Brian Wiebe, an instructor in radio arts and entertainment at BCIT. "What they have is a fantastic, noble idea, as well as investors who understand the challenges they face. Now they need con- sistency in order to build loyal audience relationships." Shafer admits that it hasn't been an easy start. It took longer than expected to launch, then longer again to gel as a team. Last year saw cost-cutting casual- ties, including original program- ming director Tracey Friesen, as well as several changes in the host lineup. Now, Shafer says, they're Žnally settled and can concentrate on growing an audi- ence, whether live, online or out and about in their broadcasting bus. He sees this year's munici- pal election as an opportunity for Roundhouse to speak to more people and ask more questions of politicians than its province-wide competitors. "I ask myself if anyone really cares about our neighbour- hoods, about homelessness," Shafer says with a shrug. "When you look at what is happening around us, you can either give up or hunker down." That's how much the average British Columbian in a 2017 Ipsos poll said they expected to lay out for their family over March break—the highest spend in the country, more than 50 percent above the national average. But the big driver of that splurge—a longer break for most school districts, brought in over the past decade to save money—is a double-edged sword, according to Christopher Nicolson, president and CEO of the Canada West Ski Areas Association. "When a lot of the districts went from one to two weeks, we thought that would be a beneŽt, but the impact wasn't what we anticipated," Nicolson says. "In a seven-day window, people make the choice to stay within the province. With 14 days, we learned that people go further aŽeld." The upside for destination hills like Whistler Blackcomb: spring break also brings in families from the U.S. and Europe. Meanwhile, Interior ski resorts are waiting to see the e–ects of Kamloops' decision to return to a one-week break this year. by Melissa Edwards Spring Broke NumERoLogy $913 16 BCBusiness march 2018 GREATEST HITS Roundhouse Radio CEO don shafer's top three moments at the station so far 1. "Flicking the switch for sarah McLachlan to sing 'Angel' live." 2. "the day Naomi Klein walked in to guest on my weekend show, Impact." 3. "Bruce Cock- burn spending a couple of hours walking around the office with his guitar. that's when i knew we had the vibe of the station right."

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