Inside CKUT, Montreal's 38-year Experiment in Community Radio

90.3 FM has been the mic for the mic-less for nearly four decades, kept alive by 300 volunteers and the belief that a homemade sound can be a beautiful thing.

ParMadeline Lines

11 novembre 2025 · 8 min de lecture

Inside CKUT, Montreal's 38-year experiment in community radio

CKUT was the first radio station in Montreal to play hip hop. Today, DJ Tony "Butcher T" Scharschmidt still slices up his Friday "Noon Time Cuts"—mixing reggae, RnB, soca, and hip hop for over 30 years on 90.3 FM. | Photography: Supplied

The Main est soutenu par ses lecteurs. Les abonnements sont ce qui nous permet de rester indépendants. Cinq dollars par mois — les restaurants, les guides, le bulletin hebdomadaire et que faire chaque week-end. Soutenez-nous aujourd'hui. Soutenez-nous aujourd'hui.

Flip the dial to 90.3 FM anywhere around Montreal at noon on a Friday and you’ll hear the smooth voice of Tony “Butcher T” Scharschmidt (a nickname he earned from ‘slicing up’ music and intercutting tracks on the air). This has been true for over 30 years. The longtime jockey slices up a mix of assorted “Noon Time Cuts”—reggae, RnB, soca, hip hop, and often just what he’s feeling for the day—in between his upbeat interjections and song IDs. It’s always a sunny jolt of pre-weekend optimism.

“It’s my own self-inflicted musical medication that I enjoy playing for myself – I spread it out there for people,” says Scharschmidt. “So I think that's what CKUT has done for me, allow me to spread that.”

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