94.3 FM becomes alternative

Local FM Radio Station 94.3 NOW! is now ALT 94.3.

October 31 at midnight, after playing Bye by the Spice Girls, the new station made its on-air debut with Uprising by Muse.

With this, 94.3 FM bid farewell to its “Hot AC” format, heavy on more standard adult-contemporary pop fare, and welcomed a new emphasis on post-2000 indie and alternative rock, such as Death Cab for Cutie, Twenty One Pilots, Arkells, Cage the Elephant, Foster the People and the Foo Fighters, music aimed at cohorts such as millennial parents, who can revisit their favorite hipster hits of yesteryear while picking up the kids from school , explains program director Dale Davies.

“We are excited to be Winnipeg’s alternative music and specialize in what alternative music is today and what it has been for the last 20 years,” said general manager Mark Patric in a press release announcing the rebranding.

While ALT’s playlists are created in Vancouver and Edmonton, listeners will be greeted by familiar local voices on the airwaves in the afternoons and evenings, including NOW’s morning show hosts, Marika and Turnball, known for their kinds of on-air games, gossip and jokes. it is generally the touchstone of 94.3 FM.

Owned since 2013 by the Jim Pattison Group — the largest private media company in Western Canada — 94.3 FM has undergone numerous incarnations since its birth in 1963. This is its fifth name change since 2008.