The idea for the station came in 2012. Don Shafer, his partner Yvonne and a few friends were discussing what they would do if they owned a radio station and wrote the ideas on the back of a napkin from the Alibi Room. The idea was to create a radio station that was local and inclusive, different than traditional talk radio stations and more like CBC, NPR and the BBC. CIRH was licensed on August 6, 2014 by the CRTC which described the station format as "niche spoken word" targeting adults aged 25 to 64 in Vancouver. It was one of only two licenses granted in 2014, with the CRTC turning down nine others. Control of the station is exercised by Pushor Family Holding Corp., Okanagan Valley Business Consulting Ltd., Daudrich 2007 Family Trust and Craig and Candace Cameron, Don Shafer and Yvonne Evans, collectively Roundhouse Radio. The station broadcasts on FM 98.3, a low-power station covering the city of Vancouver. The building for studios and offices is located in Railtown, a neighbourhood within Vancouver on the Downtown Eastside. This location was chosen due to the station having street access. Roundhouse Radio began broadcasting live on October 15, 2015. In April 2018, the station's board of directors announced that due to financial considerations, the station will shut down at the end of the month unless a last-minute financial arrangement can be made to save it. At the end of April it was reported that the station had found a prospective buyer and that the board intended to keep the station on the air until the prospective sale was concluded. The station shut down on May 6, 2018 pending approval by the CRTC of the station's sale and transfer of its broadcast license.
Programming
CIRH broadcast 20 percent music with the remaining 80 percent on talk. Its programming included news, weather, sports, local event promotion, public affairs, documentaries, radio plays and dramas, slam poetry, programs of public debate such as talk shows. In addition to broadcasting in FM, the station streamed live from its website where archived content could also be downloaded. CIRH programming had an evening show hosted by Kirk LaPointe, former CBC ombudsman and former mayoral candidate. Other programs included IMPACT with Don Shafer, focusing on community and non-profit organizations, middays with Jody Vance, Live from Railtown with Cory Price, a weekly blues music show hosted by Jim Byrnes, a daily afternoon drive magazine series hosted by Janice Ungaro and Cory Ashworth, a food and wine show hosted by Terry David Mulligan and weekday mornings with Gene Valitis. The station's news and content director was Krystle Landert after the 2016 departure of Marcella Bernardo for News1130 Vancouver. The station's former director of programming, Tracey Friesen, was eventually ousted and replaced by founder and CEO, Don Shafer.
