CIWE-FM (89.3 MHz, "89.3 The Raven") is a radio station in Edmonton, Alberta. Owned by the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA), it broadcasts a freeform format targeting Central Alberta's First Nations communities.
Following the collapse of the Aboriginal Voices Radio Network (which broadcast on 89.3 MHz in Edmonton as CKAV-FM-4), the CRTC pursued new applicants for indigenous radio stations to fill its frequencies. The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, owner of the Edmonton-based CFWE radio network, was granted licenses in Calgary and Edmonton.[1] While the Calgary station would air a country music format in the mold of CFWE, AMMSA founder Bert Crowfoot described the Edmonton station as a freeform station that would play "anything but country". As with the other AMMSA stations, its schedule would include specialty programming presented in Indigenous languages, and featuring Indigenous music.[2]
AMMSA prioritized constructing the Calgary station, CJWE-FM, which went on air in April 2018.[2][3] The wait would be nearly three years longer in Edmonton; CIWE had been planned to launch in April 2020,[2] but the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta prompted AMMSA to seek a one-year extension.[4][5] Its transmission tower, named for long-time AMMSA board member Noel McNaughten, is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Spruce Grove.[2]
The station began test broadcasts on January 11, 2021. On February 1, 2021, CIWE officially launched as 89.3 The Raven; it primarily plays classic rock and pop hits, as well as genre- and decade-based specialty shows (such as blues rock, hip hop, and R&B). Indigenous programming is carried in the Cree, Dene, Nakota, and Michif languages.[2][4]
