From the RADIO WEST ARCHIVES ...viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10788&p=12816544&hilit=CHQR+CRTC#p12816544Ottawa, 24 May 2012
CKIK-FM Limited
Calgary, Alberta
Application 2011-1347-2, received 28 September 2011
Public hearing in Calgary, Alberta
6 February 2012
CHQR Calgary – New FM transmitter in Calgary
The Commission finds that the additional FM presence that would result from approval of the application to amend the broadcasting licence for the AM radio station CHQR Calgary by adding an FM transmitter in Calgary would undermine the Common Ownership Policy by adversely affecting competitive balance and diversity in this market. The Commission also finds that the applicant has not provided sufficient justification to warrant the granting of its application on its own merits. Accordingly, the Commission denies the application.
Introduction
1. In Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2011-398, the Commission called for applications for a broadcasting licence to operate a commercial radio service for Calgary. In Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2011-694, the Commission announced that it had received and retained 11 applications for broadcasting licences to operate new radio programming undertakings to serve Calgary. The Commission’s determinations with respect to the competitive applications for a new commercial radio service in Calgary are set out in Broadcasting Decision 2012-308, also issued today.
2. In response to Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2011-398, the Commission also received an application by Corus Entertainment Inc. (Corus), on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary CKIK-FM Limited. Corus proposed to amend the broadcasting licence for the commercial AM radio programming undertaking CHQR Calgary by adding a nested FM rebroadcasting transmitter1 in Calgary. The transmitter would operate on frequency 106.9 MHz (channel 295A) with an effective radiated power of 1,000 watts (non-directional antenna with an effective height of antenna above average terrain of 243.6 metres). The applicant stated that the proposed transmitter would provide a reliable high-quality signal on the FM band to listeners in downtown Calgary who are no longer able to obtain satisfactory reception of CHQR on the AM band.
3. Corus currently owns two FM radio stations in Calgary, CFGQ-FM (through CKIK-FM Limited) and CKRY-FM (through Corus Radio Company). There are currently 17 commercial radio stations operating in the Calgary market.
4. According to the Commission’s Common Ownership Policy, which was confirmed in Broadcasting Public Notice 2008-4, a person may be permitted to own or control as many as two AM and two FM stations in a given language in markets with eight or more commercial stations operating in that language.
5. Corus submitted that the addition of the FM rebroadcasting transmitter to the broadcasting licence for CHQR would not represent a new FM service as the new transmitter would simply rebroadcast the programming of CHQR within its existing contours and that it would therefore be fully compliant with the Common Ownership Policy. Corus added that if the Commission were to consider that the proposed FM transmitter would count as a third FM presence in the market under the Common Ownership Policy, it requested that the Commission grant an exception to this policy in light of the unique circumstances associated with its application.
6. Accordingly, in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2011-695, the Commission called for comments on whether the proposed FM rebroadcasting transmitter would constitute a third Corus-owned FM station in the Calgary market and if so whether the Commission should consider granting an exception to its Common Ownership Policy for radio and maintain the consideration of Corus’s application as part of the Calgary public hearing announced in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2011-694.
7. In response to Broadcasting Notices of Consultation 2011-694 and 2011-695, the Commission received interventions in support of the application, comments by Astral Media Radio Inc. (Astral) and Rogers Broadcasting Limited (Rogers) and opposing interventions by Bell Media Inc. (Bell) and Multicultural Broadcasting Corporation Inc. (MBC).
8. The Commission maintained the consideration of Corus’s application at the Calgary hearing in order to discuss with the licensee and other parties the specific merits of the application and the best use of the proposed frequency, as well as to complete the record relating to Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2011-694.
9. The public record for the above-noted proceedings is available on the Commission’s website at
http://www.crtc.gc.ca under “Public Proceedings.” Having examined the public record for these proceedings in light of applicable policies and regulations, the Commission considers that the issues it must address are the following:
Would authorizing the proposed FM rebroadcasting transmitter for CHQR Calgary be consistent with the Common Ownership Policy?
If not, should the Commission consider granting Corus an exception to the Common Ownership Policy?
Read the full decision here:
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2012/2012-307.htmThe CRTC's Conclusion:
Conclusion
31. As noted above, the restriction of ownership is a tool the Commission uses to ensure diversity in a given market. This was the primary objective of the Common Ownership Policy for radio as stated in the Commission’s 1998 policy and remains a key concern in its most recent Diversity of Voices Policy. The Common Ownership Policy for radio has been implemented in a more flexible fashion in areas where communities and radio markets are close together in order to ensure that a minimal overlap between contours does not necessarily prevent the introduction of a new service that would otherwise benefit residents of one or the other market (see Broadcasting Information Bulletin 2010-341). In this case, the Commission finds that the additional FM presence that would result from the Corus proposal would undermine the Common Ownership Policy by adversely affecting competitive balance and diversity in the Calgary market.
32. Further, notwithstanding the determinations made above on the basis of the Common Ownership Policy for radio, the Commission finds that Corus has not provided sufficient justification to warrant the granting of its application on its own merits.
33. In light of all of the above, the Commission denies the application by Corus Entertainment Inc., on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary CKIK-FM Limited, to amend the broadcasting licence for the AM radio programming undertaking CHQR Calgary by adding an FM transmitter in Calgary.
Secretary General