Toronto's Urban Radio Map

Today, 88.9 CIRV FM has rebranded itself as RED FM, but for 28 years, this has been the home of the Durmot Williams Show, a mostly all-reggae program with some R&B, soul, and oldies mixed in, airing from midnight to 5 AM on Friday nights and hosted by Durmot Williams. That was then, this is now.

CIRV-FM has since changed ownership, moved to Williams Parkway, Brampton, and slightly shuffled its programming schedule. If you don’t hear Durmot on Friday nights anymore, don’t worry, he’s got the identical time slot, but he’s now hosting late-night Saturdays, not Fridays. Technically, the Durmot Williams Show airs on 88.9 RED FM on Sundays, 12:05 AM – 5 AM. The request line is 905-790-5560.

The 88.9 RED FM signal is still fairly decent inside Toronto and its outskirts, so Reggae music sounds satisfying there. Durmot goes deep into the crates and offers other international and Caribbean musical flavours on his show on a weekly basis. He usually keeps the spoken word to a minimum but does converse with listeners and personalities on air. He also incorporates and personally broadcast his own local and Caribbean current news and weather on each show. 

88.9 RED FM feeds on a short term listening theory, licensed as a multicultural, multi-language radio station mandated to offer a variety of music and spoken word programming catering to various ethnic groups and communities in the Toronto melting pot. 

When I spoke to Durmot about his switch to Saturdays, he seemed content with the move, stating in his cool laid back fashion, that ‘everything is still the same‘. I admitted to him that when I listened that past Friday and didn’t hear him, I jumped to assumptions and feared the worst.

Reggae shows like The Durmot Williams Show have benefited from years of near exclusivity on Toronto’s competitive FM airwaves, where a market has grown to be more competitive and multiracial, and the battle for advertising dollars from Toronto’s reggae community is a constant struggle, even for overnight shows like the Durmot Williams Show. 

Thankfully, the new RED FM is mandated to serve all communities, the Black and West-Indian communities included, and the inclusion of reggae music in their programming is an absolute right. Sitting in waiting are Toronto’s fast growing Indian broadcasters where the radio platform is still cherished and specialty shows catering to their culture and community are in high demand with advertisers ready to pounce, but that is a whole new conversation to be discussed later in this series.

Durmot Williams, big up yourself, and thanks for your continued work and dedication serving the Toronto Black and urban community with your Reggae music and commentary on RED FM, formerly CIRV 88.9 FM.  Looking forward to listening on Saturday nights, five minutes after midnight.