About Cape Fear Radio
Who We Are
The mission of Cape Fear Radio is to be the heartbeat of Southeast Brunswick County, bringing people together through the power of community-focused radio. In addition to curated music content, Cape Fear Radio is dedicated to providing programming that entertains and informs, reflecting the diversity of our communities, promoting local talent and business, and empowering individuals to engage, learn and thrive. As a nonprofit venture, we are focused on reinvesting our revenue into local organizations that make our community stronger. We aim to inspire, educate and unify our communities as a radio station of the people, by the people and for the people.
What We Do
"The Cape" is a state-of-the-art streaming radio station that can be accessed wherever there’s a Bluetooth or Internet connection — at home, in your car, on-the-go. We offer a rich mix of music in a variety of genres from the 60s through contemporary styles. Partnering with The State Port Pilot, we also offer local news and weather, and stories highlighting local musicians, artists, businesses and experiences.
We offer an exciting new advertising platform for local businesses. Through our Community Investment Initiative, all proceeds will be invested back into local nonprofits serving our communities, helping to make them stronger and more resilient.
"Cape Fear Radio" — radio of the people (our founders), by the people (our volunteers and partners) and for the people (our communities). If you live here, you don’t need any other radio station.
FAQ
Why are you starting another radio station? Don’t we have enough already? Plus, I can stream as much music as I want on Spotify or YouTube or Amazon.
Cape Fear Radio won’t be just another radio station. It will be focused almost exclusively on the area where we are based and where we live — Oak Island, Caswell Beach, St. James, Southport, Boiling Spring Lakes and Bald Head Island. It will focus on the people and places that make us unique to Brunswick County and the lower Cape Fear region.
We’ll provide content you just can’t get anywhere else — plus, a wide range of curated music reflecting the tastes of our presenters and listeners. We think the time is right for Cape Fear Radio. This area of Brunswick County is growing rapidly, and Cape Fear Radio will be another valuable source of information for both newcomers and long-time residents, complementing the work of established media outlets such as The State Port Pilot, South Brunswick Magazine and Brunswick Marketplace. And we’ll entertain you in the process!
Why Internet? Isn’t that complicated? If you’re starting a radio station, can’t you put it on FM or AM?
Internet, or digital, platforms are rapidly becoming the new standard for broadcast radio. In fact, about 40 percent of radio stations today run on an Internet platform, for several reasons. It’s much more economical to broadcast on the Internet rather than through traditional, land-based radio frequencies. Internet radio has a much wider reach and can be enhanced to offer a wide variety of streaming listening options — there’s no reason why you can’t listen to Cape Fear Radio if you’re in New York, New Orleans or Newcastle! And today’s digital devices — whether an Alexa or Google speaker, a music player, Bluetooth-enabled speakers and cars, downloading the app to your phone or just a laptop — make it possible to listen anywhere, anytime or any way you want.
Will you be broadcasting 24 hours a day?
Yes, we will broadcast a variety of programming 24/7.
How do I find the station?
Our base of operations is our website, www.capefearradio.com. There, you’ll be able to access our full broadcast schedule, including both live and archived programming. You’ll also be able to access our local news coverage, event listings, local weather updates and much more.
Who started Cape Fear Radio?
Cape Fear Radio was the brainchild of Chris Cadman and John McIver. Chris is an experienced broadcaster, having worked with a community-based radio station in the UK for more than 20 years, recently relocating to the Lower Cape Fear region. John had a long career with a major American corporation and is passionate about music and community-building.
They were soon joined by Russ Yarrow, a communications consultant, writer and music lover; Mary Galligan, connector and adventurer extraordinaire; Rev, one of Southport’s most well-known musicians and entrepreneurs and a former sideman for Boz Scaggs and many other famous musicians; and Randy Till, a long-time Oak Island resident, avid boater, and our resident wine and food connoisseur. We’re also fortunate to count The State Port Pilot and Editor/Publisher Morgan Harper as one of our founding partners. In addition to sharing content with the Pilot, our primary broadcast studio will be in The State Port Pilot office in downtown Southport.
Will this be an ad-free radio station?
Cape Fear Radio is a nonprofit 501(c)3 enterprise, but we look forward to highlighting local businesses and organizations through sponsorships and advertisements. This will help us generate revenue to run our operations. Any revenue beyond that will be donated back to nonprofits through our Community Investment Initiative. CFR is truly a radio station of the people, by the people and for the people of the community we serve.
