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College Radio Station KICK FM Going Off the Air

July 3, 2012 02:57 PM in News • 9 Comments

After nearly 10 years, 92.9 KICK FM is going off the air.

The Red River College radio station will go silent at 4 p.m. on Wednesdsay, forced to power down after new CRTC regulations regarding campus and community radio stations, as well as financial challenges.

Despite hoping to once become a self-sustaining station, Red River College continued to fund KICK FM and provided the transmitter, equipment and facilities.

The station will continue to train students for a career in radio and has a plan to resume Internet streaming in the fall.

Tags: 92.9 KICK-FM, CRTC, Radio, Red River College, Winnipeg

Yer Pal

That’s a damn shame.
guest

ugh, well I guess now I will have to put the money down for satellite radio. no way in hell I am listening to powercrap 97 on the drive to work.
Tyson Roll

I guess Marty Gold won… what he won exactly, only Marty Gold knows. It’s too bad that he took everyone down around him to prove a point

I wonder if he’s going to react the same when Shaw ‘cancels’ his show
McLeod

It’s Marty Gold’s fault the College is unable to follow the rules outlined in the conditional licence, granted to them by the CRTC?

The station manager at KICK-FM did a wonderful job. I am sincere about this.

Those who sat on the “board” of Cre Comm. Radio Inc.weren’t acting in the interest of students or the spirit of the station. I’m glad the licence was pulled. Hope it wakes up the College and they come to realize what they lost.

I proudly volunteered at the station from 2005-2006 and will remember the station as an excellent environment for motivated students to gain experience.

Maybe KICK-FM will return to the airwaves some day under new direction and leadership. Again, I can’t stress enough how crucial a role the station manager, Mr. Rick Baverstock, played in helping prepare students for a real career in radio. I wish Rick all the best and hope there’s a better opportunity for him elsewhere.
Marty Gold

The station was far out of compliance with regards to mandatory Board composition and operation, and key documents the CRTC wanted to see had been declared “lost”. This was a serious breach of the Corporations Act and that alone could have scuttled the renewal.

Interveners who had personal dealings with the station had opposed the renewal due to the unethical behavior of Directors and the interference of the funder, Red River College and provided emails with stark contradictions and evasive answers. What did they have to hide?

A hearing would have revealed many other financial and governance issues including the improper influence of commercial radio that stifled the station’s ability to sell advertising,

Regarding the cancelation of The Great Canadian Talk Show, documents the station filed with the CRTC last May admitted the real reason for my ouster, which was associated with an uninvestigated “complaint” that was in and of itself totally false and not the excuse of “student opportunities” given at the time, in other words they lied.

You want to blame someone for this, start with Stephanie Forsyth and Margo Goodhand who went outside the official complaint protocol on a mission to silence dissent and criticism from the community. All I did was fight for my rights and challenge the censorship of community hosts who were being driven off the air in contravention of the conditions of licence.

As for my Shaw TV show City Circus, keep watching the show, I appreciate it !
Tyson Roll

No. But it is Marty Gold’s fault for not understanding that sometimes (especially in this business) that people get fired. It happens all the time. And sometimes, the people firing you, lie about their reasons

As for being happy that they pulled the license? Isn’t that like saying that you’re glad your house burned down so you wouldn’t have to repaint?

And I ask Mr. Gold… what was the end game for his battle against the Board? What would have made him happy in this situation? Where did he envision all this ending up?
McLeod

I’m only “happy” they shut the transmitter off because it wasn’t being operated within the conditions of the licence. Otherwise, I will miss the station like everyone else. I’m very fond of KICK-FM.

I will be up front and state I have personal issues with the political agendas of some of the board members, and I do favour Marty Gold’s position on the issues associated with the actions which took place in the background.

Tyson, regardless of either of our political beliefs, it’s important to review the facts behind what happened to Mr. Gold. Like a mad-hatter, he has spent thousands of hours chasing down and investigating (mainly through FIPPA disclosure) the emails and other relevant particulars behind the decision to get him off the air. And I would have done the same thing, if I was him. He got dicked over. Severely.

I am a graduate of the Cre Comm. program. (2007) I did not work with Marty when I was in the program, but I do know from others that he did mentor other students and community members, who had an interest in learning the ropes in commercial radio.

Marty does have a right-of-centre political stance which he makes no secrets about. It’s no different than some lefty doing a show. Marty’s show-prep, on-air conduct, investigative journalism, attitude, punctuality, dedication and technical knowledge was shared with students who volunteered to work his show. He was an asset to the College, whether people realize that or not.

It’s critical to keep in mind Red River College is a PUBLIC institution, funded by taxpayer money. They are not a private institution — which is why Marty held them accountable. A taxpayer institution, manipulated by the Winnipeg Free Press. THAT alone, is a story.

When Dr. Jeff Zabudsky (former president of RRC) left for a new career elsewhere, the Winnipeg Free Press editor (Margo Goodhand) immediately contacted the incoming president — Ms. Stephanie Forsyth and manipulated her to get rid of Marty. This has been proven through FIPPA disclosure.

Here’s the email from Goodhand which started it all:

http://tgcts.com/cancellation/red-river-college-emails-prove-fp-editor-margo-goodhand-prompted-cancellation-of-tgcts-2

Goodhand is guilty of political interference. The “defamation” the Freep speaks of is BS; otherwise they would’ve lawyered-up.

But it gets better. When Marty’s show was canned, the National Post picked up on it: (Orig NP link is dead)

http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?v-print/m-1290010526/

When they interviewed Goodhand, she played stupid:

“…In an email to the National Post, Ms.
Goodhand said: “I’ve never met Mr. Gold, I’ve never actually heard his
college radio show, and I don’t know why it was cancelled…”

That’s what most of us call LYING. Margo is busted. She cannot deny she LIED to the national media. Margo is the editor of the Winnipeg Free Press. What an example she set. I’d go so far as to say the KICK-FM avalanche was initiated by Goodhand’s actions. She should resign immediately. No integrity whatsoever.

And before anyone suggests Marty’s actions (or the sign-off of KICK-FM) is selfish and will affect future students, you must realize the College will instead stream the station on the net. The wonderful control-room and talk-studio will still be available for students in Cre Comm. to utilize. It is a top-notch facility. The lack of a radio-transmitter will only affect the egos of students who want their friends to hear them on the air. In 2012, it’s fair to say a majority of us can listen to and record a stream without much difficulty.

Sorry for the long-winded post, but there are many facts which need to be included in this blog post so people can be aware of the truth behind everything which has transpired.
Moondog

I have no knowledge of or interest in the fate of a single show more or less. That is not the point. However Red River College has been, at the very least, disingenuous if not outright dishonest about why they gave up their license. The claim that the CRTC “changed the rules” to “prohibit training students” is clearly untrue, as even a cursory reading of the revised 2012 CRTC guidelines for Campus/Community radio makes clear. The revised rules simply and clearly stated that all C/C stations must have a “balance” of community and student involvement on air and as well as at the Board level. Every other C/C station in Canada is able to follow these rules. Red River was not. When KICK fm originally announced their decision some months back they originally claimed that they were being forced off the air by the CRTC, and cited mysterious “off the record” regulatory changes and threats from the CRTC. I am well familiar with the CRTC and they simply do not, ever, operate that way. KICK fm claimed as much on their website and Facebook/Twitter pages. Leading to the usual “curse you CRTC” type comments. In fact as soon as I heard about this I actually contacted KICK fm myself from Toronto (where I work in radio) assuming they had simply misread the CRTC and panicked. I briefly outlined how they could stay n compliance. I understand a few other people posted comments challenging their claims. A few days later all such claims were deleted from their web pages and replaced by a bland assurance that KICK fm was “studying” the regulations and would comply. I was truly hoping that would be the end of the problem. Now this? Simply stated Red River did not want to share total control of the station so they’d rather just give up and blame the CRTC. I am not impressed.
Marty Gold

“End game”? What would have made me “happy”? Times have changed Tyson, your orientation on this is from the 1980′s.
This concept I am at fault for fighting for my rights and that of the community shows a serious lack of ethical standards among certain critics.
Let’s start with what you don’t understand.
People getting fired by illegally operating Boards of non-profits ducking an established complaint handling procedure at the direction of the funder does NOT “happen all the time”.
You don;t understand that, it appears.
People getting fired because of a conversation involving 2 people who have never worked for a single minute in the radio business, over a “complaint” that someone’s wrote something that made a reporter cry- which also turned ot to be 100% false when the girl was asked – also does not “happen all the time”.
What did happen all the time was I stayed within the rules of the CRTC and CBSC and at the end was personally attacked for my success and that of my interns.
I was defamed by Margo Goodhand, lied to my face by Graham Thomson, lied about by Goodhand and Cathy Rushton ie her saying Sam Katz and Vic Toews had also complained about me, and had my business stolen out from underneath me by a cheating group of “community leaders” — one of whom, Chris Stevens went into business, in the same time slot no less, with my “accuser” the Free Press within 2 months.
All the while, no one cared if the students had genuine learning opportunities – and mic time without guidance and feedback is not learning anything by the way – no one cared about the right of community access, and then there’s that little thing called freedom of speech which was irrefutedly denied me and everyone else, including bloggers and callers, who appeared on TGCTS.
All anyone in control cared about was making sure that the Free Press and NDP was appeased, and that the commercial radio stations didn’t lose a penny to a local syndicator whose on-air production was embarassing their largely pathetic drive-time offerings every day.
Check out where CJOB is in the 18-44 demos. There is a reason why they pull less than a 2.0 for women and a 1.0 for men. (Yes I have the spring book in front of me and can quote exact numbers.) It’s because their product stinks. Mine didn’t.
I could sell ads for the same or better price than Groove and Hank could at the time, $18- $30 per thirty second spot. That got the radio execs upset, god forbid I earn my own living while teaching the art of radio, provide vibrant and alternative content while keeping the station in compliance with the spoken word quota as my contract specified.
This Board milked the taxpayers very deliberately and illegally of over $300,000 because the College was more than happy to pay the freight even though the CRTC required balanced funding sources. You know why that was the rule? So one single source couldn’t pull the strings over programming.
Which is exactly what Stephanie Forsyth did and tried to cover up, and Rick could not find a way to stop because the College signed his paycheque.
I envisioned this ending with the community – NOT commercial radio execs keeping the signal at half strength and refusing to let Rick have students sell ads as the CRTC was promised – with the public having a say in the Board. That’s the balanced representation the CRTC rules demanded and was being very deliberately violated.
I envisioned the volunteers having real Board representation instead of what happened to Kenny when he blew the whistle on the Executive Committee being a fake illegal group and was ignored by gutless, yes I said gutless, students reps who clearly could care less about their ethical obligations to the CRTC and public than their status with the RRC administration.
I envisioned the Board and Executive Committee and College lawyer who straddled both ends with his own unique conflict of interest, facing administrative and other proceedngs about lying to the CRTC, the students, volunteers and the community and “losing” the corporate records.
If these clowns think ditching the licence will help them avoid scrutiny and accountability after doing what they did to me, the community and to students, they are mistaken.
Ask the question- when was the vote taken to return the licence and who took part in it? and see if you get an honest answer.
See if it met with the quorum and notice requirements of Cre Comm Inc’s bylaws, or if you get doubletalked with the “Members of the Board” BS like they did with my appeal. Who, EXACTLY, decided to kill the station?
“It’s too bad that he took everyone down around him to prove a point”
They took themselves down, to try and avoid testifying at the CRTC to account for their actions and be held accountable.
Don’t blame my listeners and myself for putting the facts before the CRTC and demanding the truth be told before handing these goofs a taxpayer-funded radio licence again. And I assure everybody, this is far from over.