Maybe we can listen to the playoffs on our iPods

It will shock nobody who spent any time on campus during the last two weeks that the undergraduate student body at the University of Waterloo just voted to remove the student funding from CKMS, the campus radio station. (We can argue all day whether 2280 "anti-radio" votes, less than one-tenth of the number of undergrads, are sufficiently binding, but we won't.)

Waterloo isn't the first university to question the benefits of funding a radio station, but CKMS, and only CKMS, broadcasted Warriors' basketball and hockey games. Now, with most of their funding--about 90% of it, depending on whom you believe--taken away, who expects that to continue?

In the big picture, Neate's note on Monday about this being "a mostly positive year for CIS coverage" still rings true. But if you combine the Imprint's minimal sports content with the (likely) end of live game broadcasts, it's hard to say the same for the Waterloo Warriors.
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4 comments:

  1. Is it really that big of a threat?

    From "defundckms.wordpress.com":

    "The referendum is only to remove the student fee. CKMS’s Technical Coordinator has admitted that if it passes they will work to continue the station. Community members pay $15 to be members and if approximately 1/3 of current members pay to be members if the referendum passes then they could sustain their current budget. CKMS is a corporation without share capital and a registered charity. Through Canada Helps people can donate to CKMS and could even receive tax credits."

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  2. I think it is. For a number of reasons, CKMS isn't very popular and I'm not optimistic about their finding enough volunteers to "sustain their current budget," however many volunteers that needs to be.

    The "one-third of current members" line is odd, or maybe I'm just reading it wrong. This referendum took away over $220,000 from CKMS, so if they want to rebuild it at $15 per person, they'll need over 14,000 people to donate. I don't think they have 42,000 "current community members."

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  3. This is the trend at community radio stations now.

    You don't see kids walking around with radios, they're all got iPods now.

    If no one's listening, there's no reason to have a station. Every unnecessary levy taken off a students' debt is a move in the right direction.

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  4. Despite being a volunteer at a campus station I have to sympathize with the arguments made against CKMS - 90% of the funding and barely half the executive representation and a third of the volunteers? That does seem out of whack and it seems the management could've easily saved themselves.

    I don't see this as dooming it, though - otherwise why would their staff be of the opinion they could keep it going?

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