CKRA | Capital FM | Edmonton | NewCap | Golden Oldies
NewCap Radio's head office must have a policy about the design of websites for stations under their ownership, because Capital FM's site looks strikingly similar to the sites of other NewCap stations. That's not necessarily a bad thing. For communications professionals, it's actually quite convenient, because if you know where to find things on one NewCap site, you know where to find things on just about all of them.
If you take away the semi-nude pictures, Capital FM's website is almost exactly the same as K-97's. There are staff blogs, a contact page, and information about contests and events that are sponsored by the station. All of the standard things apply here: if you want to get publicity through Capital FM you'll have to either convince them to act as a media sponsor for your event or donate a prize to one of their contests.
The staff blogs are a bit confusing. It's not that they're difficult to read, it's just that they're the same blog. According the site, there are two blogs. There is one for morning show hosts Rob and Audie, and a more generic one called the “On-Air Staff Blog.” The thing is, both of these links lead to the same blog. I'm not sure if this is an error—are there supposed to be two blogs but they accidentally made both links go to the same place?—or if there is, in fact, only one blog. Either way, there is currently only one blog that can be accessed at the time of writing this post.
Having said that, the blog does allow comments. Comments are moderated, but they should appear shortly after being written. To leave a comment, you'll have to provide your name and type the verification code at the bottom of the comment section to prove that you're not a spambot. There is no field to leave your web address, unfortunately, but that's a relatively minor inconvenience.
If you want to use Facebook to communicate with Capital and its audience, that's possible, too. While there doesn't appear to be an official station Facebook page, there is a page for the morning show that seems quite active and up-to-date. This is definitely a good way of reaching out to Capital FM's audience.
Rob & Audie's Facebook page
There is one other way that Capital FM's website can be used to connect with the station. If you're promoting a charity, the Capital Cares page might be of interest to you. Unlike a lot of stations, where they only list information about charities that they donate money to, Capital FM appears to list events from any charity who asks to be listed on their website.
In order to get your event listed on Capital FM's website, simply fill out the request form and someone from the station will be in touch. You can also use this same form to request that the “Capital Crew” attends your event. They don't list any requirements for having their staff attend, so you'll have to ask about such details in your request.
Other than that, your only option is the contact page. Like all NewCap contact pages, there is a good amount of contact information. Phone and fax numbers are provided, as is the mailing address. There are also email addresses for all of the relevant departments and on-air staff, so you should have no problem finding an email address for anyone you need to contact at the station.
Other than a bit of confusion surrounding their blog (or blogs?), the Capital FM website does a good job of providing resourceful communicators with a variety of ways to reach out to the station and its audience. If you want to get in touch with Capital, you'll be able to do so by visiting their website.