SoundFM (aka CKMS), after an unsuccessful attempt to win back their student levy, has to create a new financial model. In early 2008, Waterloo students voted in a referendum to stop paying a student levy to support the community-based campus station. Last week, after SoundFM had rebranded and restructured to ask the students anew for their support, the student body voted down a $2.50-per-term levy.

It's a big development for campus and community radio whenever a station's capacity is so severely diminished, and it points to how vulnerable our stations are to financial hardship.

On the bright side, Steve Krysak and the team are weighing their options to deal with the smaller budget.

The Gazette at the University of Western Ontario just published an article and an editorial on the subject. See these at:

http://www.uwogazette.ca/2009/11/19/campus-radio-crunch

http://www.uwogazette.ca/2009/11/19/the-future-of-radio