The station was licensed by the CRTC in 2005.[2] CILV began testing its signal and streaming online on November 30, and officially signed on the air at Noon on December 26, 2005.
On May 27, 2015, the CRTC approved an application to move CILV's transmitter and increase its maximum effective radiated power (ERP) from 12,000 to 90,000 watts (average ERP from 2,300 to 37,000 watts) and decreasing the antenna's effective height above average terrain from 254.6 to 130.7 metres. However, a second-adjacent station in Perth, CHLK-FM 88.1, filed an intervention, specifying that such an increase could hamper their station's ability to improve its signal in the future.[3]
Community involvement
The station sponsors an annual "Big Money Shot" contest to develop and promote emerging local musicians. Past winners of the Live 88.5 Big Money Shot have included Hollerado, Amos the Transparent, The Balconies, Autumns Canon, The Love Machine, My Favourite Tragedy, Down in Ashes, Amanda Rheaume, The Goodluck Assembly, The Cardboard Crowns and Loudlove.
In 2011, the station partnered with the Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation to begin an annual program of planting trees in the suburban township of Beckwith, to offset its energy consumption.[4]
In 2013, the station also paid to replace the fraying Flag of Canada flying at the gravesite of former Prime Minister Lester Pearson.[5]
