Come next fall, it looks like one of this space's favourite pastimes, listening to the Queen's Golden Gaels football games over the web from campus station CFRC 101.9 FM, could be finito.Today's Kingston Whig-Standard detailing how Canadian radio regulators, who as usual are oblivious to the greater good (in this case, me entertaining the masses with witty epigrams about the latest Gaels goings-ons), want to charge a fee to broadcast online that is too rich for CFRC's blood. (It's $200 a month, and for a campus station that never has more than 100 listeners at any one time, that's too rich for their blood.)
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is behind this proposal, but it really smacks of pushing around the little guy. Co-blogger Neil Acharya and myself (along with good friend Greg Hughes) were involved with CFRC as students, so we know well the station is constantly having to defend itself from the people who want to put a dollar value on everything.
We won't know how this turns out till April -- but it appears some alternative might have to be arranged if Queen's alums such as myself who don't live in Kingston are going to get their Golden Gaels fix. Not that anyone asked for it, but my two cents would include Queen's Athletics, or maybe the Queen's Football Club looking at some sort of partnership to either develop a webcast or help CFRC continue to broadcast online, at least during the school year.
One could also go off on a rant about how it always seems like the school's administrators and the student government (especially right-wing types) are always quick to target the campus media, but that's another column.
Related:
Radio fee makes waves (Kingston Whig-Standard)
Back with more later. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
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