WILLIAM DESJARDINS
Six years goes by quickly! That may be an understatement as we approach our six-year anniversary of broadcasting.
The idea of launching Texas Gospel Canada started when former employees of a now-defunct radio station began talking about wanting to be back in gospel broadcasting. The founding members had never owned a station. They also had never been part of an online station. They determined opening an online station in Canada was the best path to follow after researching costs involved and technical needs.
Texas Gospel Canada has never accepted a donation, nor have we ever sold commercial advertising. We understand that the costs involved with traditional over-the-air stations make having an income a necessity for those who still broadcast terrestrially. Because of this we encourage listeners to support local stations if they are fortunate enough to live in an area where one exists. The low cost of internet broadcasting was the main part of the decision to go online rather than on air.
The station launched on Feb 17, 2016 using online services from a company that offered free streaming in exchange for commercials aired on the station. While we appreciated the no-cost streaming offered, there were numerous technical issues that resulted in a search for a new home. In 2017 we switched to a streaming service called Torontocast and have been very happy with the technical improvements and station growth since then. This has allowed us to focus on broadcasting and ministry rather than the engineering and paperwork required to supply the stream.
Throughout the first two years of broadcasting we began added features from well-known Christian broadcasters such as Decision Moment from The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada, Bible Minute from Back to the Bible Canada and others. Here is a link to a list of some of the short features we broadcast today.
In early 2021 we received a call from The Singing News in response to previous communications about becoming a charting station. The Singing News welcomed us as a new charting station. This gave us a voice in what Southern Gospel songs make the chart, something that helped us get new music for our listeners. It is definitely a win-win agreement!
We want to thank all listeners who have emailed us encouraging words over the years of operation and hope to serve you and others across Canada with the best Southern Gospel music in years to come.
Texas Gospel Canada Southern Gospel Radio 