CBC Trades Shortwave for FM LPRTs

[jon]

Dan's article earlier today on the CBC's plans to close their CBC North Shortwave station says a lot about the passage of time and availability of technology:
http://rwcrn.com/crtc-ckcx-9625-shortwa ... november-1
And begs the question: Why did it take a CBC budget crunch to make this happen?

As much as shortwave is funky retro technology, it really does not serve its listener anywhere near as well as the low powered FM transmitters in individual remote Northern Quebec communities will. Plus, the shortwave facility costs a lot more to run, especially when you consider the resale value of the land at the transmitter site.

Shortwave receivers are a lot harder to find than an FM receiver. Remember, these are small communities that have yet to get their first Walmart. On the other hand, you can even listen to FM on most iPods these days.

At 9.625 MHz, CBC's CKCX can only be heard in the daylight hours, and there aren't a lot of daylight hours in the winter in Northern Quebec.

While I'm sad to see one of the last Canadian shortwave stations go the way of the dodo bird, I see this as a big win for the listeners it was intended to serve. Assuming, of course, that FM repeaters are actually up and running in each of these remote communities by the time CKCX goes dark in November.