Ryerson radio station off the air

After months of legal battles, Ryerson University’s radio station, CKLN, is off the air. Broadcasting officially ceased at 6:45pm Friday, but the station will continue programming online, and staff and volunteers have been advised to continue their regular schedules.

The CRTC had initially revoked CKLN’s license in January, following an investigation into complaints over the station’s management structure and purported lack of involvement from the Ryerson community. Last summer, “the station experienced significant infighting and the volunteers, staff and management were locked out of the studio premises by the building manager,” a CRTC press release stated. During the lockout that lasted seven months, CKLN “broadcast an intermittent loop of programming without any ongoing community involvement.” When the station resumed operations, there were concerns over “quality-control” and “little involvement from the Ryerson University student body despite its status as a campus radio station.”

The station acknowledged its past problems, and had elected a new Board of Directors and hired a new station manager.

In February, a Judge stayed the CRTC decison, until Federal Court could rule on CKLN’s appeal, but that bid was denied Friday. “CKLN is one of only a handful of few campus-community radio licensees in Toronto and losing it is part of an emerging and troubling trend of dwindling access to public airwaves that are federally mandated,” station manager Jacky Harrison said in a statement.

Staff are meeting today to discuss whether CKLN will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, or whether it will seek other options such as broadcasting on closed circuit radio.