I got into this business through campus radio. As a freshman in 1980, I applied for a slot on CKUW, the then-closed-circuit radio station at the University of Winnipeg.
It was a dreadful facility, stuck in the basement with barely functioning equipment and with a broadcast reach that extended to one hallway, the Bullman Students Centre, Lockhart Hall lounges, and one cafeteria (the “Buffeteria”). My shift was 8:30-9:30 on Friday mornings, which, if you’ve ever been to university, means that the campus is practically empty.
For me, though, it was heaven. It’s where I learned to cue up and mix records and to talk on a microphone for the first time. And 18 months later, I was able to land a part-time job at a real commercial radio station in Selkirk, Man., which only existed because the owner was able to buy the transmitter equipment from CJUM-FM, the campus station over at the University of Manitoba.
The station went off the air in June 1980 when it ran into financial difficulties, and a referendum on using student fees to support it was voted down. That in itself was sad because CJUM-FM was only the second campus station in Canada to be granted a broadcast license (CKCU-FM at Carleton in Ottawa was the other).
Over the years, campus radio has served many important purposes. Because revenue from advertising usually isn’t essential (it does help, of course), these stations can afford to play on the fringes of commentary, spoken word, multilingual shows and also give voices to marginalized groups. They offer programming that no one, not even the CBC, will offer. The audiences may be small, but the job is huge.
When it comes to music, campus stations offer an incredible variety, from unsigned indie acts and jazz to material from around the world.
In the early ’80s, “college rock” — the original label for alternative music — became so influential that record labels began to court campus stations as they did commercial outlets. College stations began to break artists, including R.E.M., Sonic Youth and The Pixies.
U2 got its first North American exposure on campus radio. In November 1988, KCMU at the University of Washington was the first to play Nirvana. That test pressing of Love Buzz, played by Sub Pop employee and volunteer DJ Scott Vanderpool, was recently auctioned off for US$8,500. The Alternative Nation of the 1990s might not have ever been born if not for campus radio.
For many of us, our most important years for music discovery are between 18 and 21, right when we might be at college or university. For those who care to listen, campus stations are a goldmine for that. And if you want to get into the music business, volunteering at campus radio is an excellent way to get started.
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But times change, and campus radio is struggling, and in some quarters, disappearing. Beginning in about 2011, college stations began signing off across the U.S. due to perilous financial situations, declines in support from student bodies and the realization that the real estate taken up by studios and transmitter sites is more valuable if it’s used for something else.
Toronto’s CKLN died in 2011 when it failed to live up to its CRTC commitments. This, at the time, was a terrible blow to local culture.
Others have sold their licenses or transferred them to non-student operations. For example, KUMD at the University of Minnesota Duluth transferred its license to the local PBS affiliate. But with U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent cuts to public broadcasting, who knows how long that will continue?
The trend has accelerated, with 2025 being a particularly bad year.
- Humber College in Toronto (a training ground for hundreds of students who went on to become broadcast professionals), Loyalist College in Belleville, Mohawk College in Hamilton and Algonquin College in Ottawa have all suspended their broadcasting programs, citing reduced interest. Courses at other schools are also under pressure.
- On Dec. 15, CHUO-FM at the University of Ottawa stopped live broadcasting. It will continue with pre-recorded shows until March, when it will go dark. They can’t afford the rent anymore.
- 106.9 The X at Fanshawe College in London — a fantastic facility — is desperately looking for an external party to take over operations, saying that it just can’t handle it financially. Fanshaw also cut its radio program.
- On Oct. 3, WCSB-FM, the radio station at Cleveland State University, transferred its operations to a non-profit. Ironically, the move happened on College Radio Day.
- Other lost Canadian campus stations include CIMN-FM at the University of Prince Edward Island (d. 2000) and CJUS-FM at the University of Saskatchewan (d. 1985 but resurrected as an online station in 2005).
- Those in existing radio stations are now concerned about where new, up-and-coming talent will come from. College stations are fantastic farm teams, but with fewer institutions offering courses in broadcasting and with stations in danger of closing, the industry has a looming problem.
But let’s end on some good news.
At last count, there are still more than 120 campus and community radio stations across Canada (some online only), represented by the NCRA/ANREC. The U.S. has about 420 AM/FM stations and plenty more online.
After a decade of fundraising, CKUW won a broadcast license in April 1999. CJUM returned to the air in 1998 as UMFM. The University of Toronto’s CIUT-FM is still very much with us. KCMU is now known as KEXP and is one of the most-streamed stations of its kind.
Long may they last. Tune in while you can.
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