"CKRZ - Signs off for the last time"

There were a lot of tears and hugs that the listening audience didn't see Sunday evening as Amos Key and members of the CKRZ Staff said their final goodbye and shut down the transmitter for the last time.

The all-Native radio station has served the Six Nations community in various forms for 22 years but over the past three, with a rapidly changing listening market and financial woes exacerbated by the current world­wide economic crisis, the "little station that could, just couldn't do it any longer" as on-air personality and news anchor, Al Sault, put it in his final news broadcast.

"This is like watching a good friend die," he said shortly after pulling the plug on the transmitter located atop the Ohsweken water tower. "My last day was actually Saturday," he said. "I had a lot of things I wanted to say to our faithful listeners, but when the time came, I just got all choked up."

The last song he selected was Bob Seger's "Famous Final Song".

"If not for the current economic crisis situation, we could have fought back," he says. "We always have in the past. It would have meant a lot of creative changes in how we do business, but we could have done it."

After cutting its staff earlier as a cost cutting measure, to six full and part time members and several volunteers, the rest, including Sault who had been with the station through thick and thin for 17 years, found themselves out of work as of Monday morning.

Amos Key one of the founders of the station when it went on the air for the first time as a little 10 watt station, was the last voice heard on frequency 100.3 FM. After playing the final song, "It was Worth Every Mile", by Travis Tritt, Key began to speak but soon found no voice as he sat staring at the console, tears flowing freely down his face.

He finally gathered himself together and said, "I am very proud to say that for 22 years, we did it. I want to thank everyone who helped over the years."

He called upon the next generation to take up the standard and to carry the mission of providing the Six Nations community with culturally relevant news, information, language, and music.

He explained to the listeners how the finances, once comfortable, dried up over the last three years. He introduced the name of Andrew Joseph as Sonix Radio's new chairman as they decide where to go from here and seek a buyer for the station. Key thanked all board members past and present as well as the staff and their families who gave of themselves to the spirit of the station. After the final "Ganyohanyohk" was given, Key simply closed by saying, "See you around," and the air went dead. Around a half hour later the transmitter was shutdown.

Key made reference to several things that conspired to the death of the station, including the changing listening patterns of today's public.

"It's a changing world," he told Tekawennake who was there to witness and record the sad occasion. "It's not just here. I understand CHCH TV is is on the verge of shutting down as well, CKPC, I am told, is up for sale, CFRB in Toronto has had massive laid offs. The world is just listening and watching differently."

The main reason people used to listen to the radio was for music. But today with the advent of MP3 players and iPods, people are programming their own music to listen to.

"This is a very sad day but we can say we did it and we as a community have proved that Six Nations is capable of running an all-Native radio station," said Key.

There are rumours of a possible buy out by a local business which would resurrect the station under new management, but as of press time, that information had not been obtained. Key would only say that there are irons in that fire, but there has not been anything beyond talk at this point.