Students were finally able to broadcast on DCUfm last Wednesday, after a computer virus delayed the station in getting on air this semester.
Station management explained that the ‘On-Air’ studio PC picked up a virus over the summer and had to be replaced by expensive hand-built equipment which was delivered from central Europe.
“We’re just trying to play catch up at the moment” said DCUfm’s Deputy Manager, James Shearer who explained how management were reluctant to make any big changes without first examining the source of their problems. “We had a good few people come in and look at it before we decided to spend a lot of money replacing it.”
‘Happy Hour’ was the first show to use the new equipment when they broadcast last Wednesday at 1pm.
Shearer, however, was not wholly frustrated by the delay in getting on air. “By delaying broadcast by only a week we’re probably after saving ourselves so much time coming in and fixing things for shows. It runs so much quicker now”, he said.
With regular broadcasting set to commence after Reading Week, plans are being put in place for the coming year. As part of Media Week, DCUfm Fest will take place involving collaborations with Music Soc and other societies.
Student radio intervarsities will be held by DCUfm next semester, with representatives from student stations across the country broadcasting from DCUfm for 12 hours.
The Deputy Manager is optimistic the event will create publicity for DCUfm. “We’ll try to get DCUfm back on the map as all the streams will be going off our homepage”.
Martina Brophy
Image Credit: Annemarie Kelly
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