Help CKUA Renew Their License

[jon]

By simply adding your name to the list, you can help CKUA get their license renewed by the CRTC. Deadline is April 30th. Form is here: http://www.ckua.com/crtc

Here are some interesting tidbits from the License Renewal Application:

1.6 Compliance

CKUA is in compliance with all conditions of the current licence with the exception of section 2 which states: “The licensee shall broadcast a minimum of 6.5 hours per week of formal educational programming, defined as programming that is presented for accredited study at post-secondary institutions and which is presented by accredited educators, such as hosts and presenters who are teachers or qualified professors.”

CKUA has made educational programs in conjunction with Athabasca University that aired on our overnight schedule until the summer of 2013. These programs, "The Long Weekend", "Bop to Rock" and "The Rocky Road" are currently listening assignments in Athabasca Univeristy’s history of popular music courses, MUSI 285: "Blues to Big Bands" and MUSI 286: "Be-Bop to Beatles".

In 2012, Athabasca University approached CKUA to ask if they could stream the material online in order to offer their students greater flexibility to access the material. CKUA complied with their request. In the summer of 2013, CKUA’s overnight schedule was revamped and we removed the course material from our programming schedule. The material in question, while still relevant from an educational standpoint, has aired on CKUA for over 20 years.

CKUA has made those educational programs available for the University to stream online. Today, most post-secondary institutions no longer require other media like radio stations to help disseminate course materials; the limitations of real-time radio - which requires appointment listening – have been ameliorated by digital on-demand content.

Previous expectations regarding educational programming were built around the activities of an organization with a completely different and more predictably robust revenue base. CKUA’s current organizational structure is as an independent broadcaster which relies primarily on listener donations for its core revenue base. This structure has produced a direct relationship between CKUA and the listeners who support us – we are beholden to these stakeholders, and our success and survival is predicated on programming that is supported by listeners who choose to pay for content that they can get for free.

While we embrace this dynamic with the communities we serve, competition from other sources including the CBC – Radio 2 – and reduced operational revenues have forced CKUA to significantly refine the kind of programming we offer our listeners. In particular, the loss of the Emergency Public Warning System contract in 2010 resulted in a 15% decline in our operational revenue. As such, we have evolved into a much leaner broadcaster with a smaller complement of resources. Spoken word and educational programming is very expensive to produce, and the majority of CKUA’s supporters today prefer music and culture-based programming.

CKUA is committed to programming that educates, enlightens, and informs, and our music-based programs are built on that principle. Our programming has a value far beyond the curated musical selections our hosts build every day, bringing our community of listeners context and well-researched and extensive annotation. CKUA music programming also features interviews, live performances and dialogue with Canadian (and Albertan) artists that unpack the cultural relevance of their material, and our hosts produce feature segments that place the music our listeners enjoy in historical and social contexts.

CKUA still has strong relationships with numerous educational organizations that have resulted in many current initiatives, including our Connections Concert Series (featuring live concert performances by music students from Grant MacEwan University) as well as experiential on-site programming for primary grades and University classes in Alberta schools. Students learn about the history of radio broadcasting in Alberta, the importance of media in the past and today, and enjoy hands on experience with a CKUA technical producer, illustrating contemporary radio broadcasting production.

CKUA has a proud history of collaborating with the educational community to bring accredited educational materials to students over the airwaves. However, the media climate has changed, new technology has provided campuses with more and better options to reach students with course materials, and lastly CKUA is a vastly different organization today than it was when this standard was applied.

1.7.d Ethnic SCMO Services

CKUA continues to support Alberta minorities through community partnerships to deliver East Asian language programming to Edmonton and Calgary’s burgeoning East Asian communities via our SCMO channels. Specific languages are Urdu, Punjabi, Gujrati and Hindi.

4.3 Emerging artists
a. Currently, what total percentage of musical selections aired by the station in a broadcast week features Canadian emerging artists?

On average, selections from emerging Canadian artists comprise 20% of total music selections in a broadcast week on CKUA. A survey of playlists from random broadcast weeks over the past year demonstrates CKUA’s unique commitment as a commercial broadcaster who supports emerging Canadian talent.

CKUA has programs that are devoted to playing exclusively (100%) emerging Canadian talent, including “Untapped”, “Alberta Backstage”, and “Notes From Home” but our commitment to connecting listeners with great music from new Canadian artists isn’t an endeavour we relegate to just ‘specialty’ programs – you’ll find vital new music from emerging Canadian artists across the greater CKUA program schedule as those tracks mix with great established Canadian and International artists on our variety and genre-focused programs.

b. What percentage of musical selections featuring Canadian emerging artists do you intend to broadcast in the next licence term?

CKUA is committed to maintaining the current ratio of 20% of total music selections.

c. How, beyond the provision of airplay, do you intend to promote Canadian emerging artists?

CKUA has a well-earned reputation across the country as a radio station with a unique and distinct commitment to emerging Canadian artists and musicians across multiple genres. CKUA’s online events calendar – which is a free service for artists to post and promote their tours and performances – is a popular resource for Albertans who want to connect with live music from emerging touring and local Canadian artists.

CKUA also brings live music to the many communities we serve. Thanks to our partnerships with not-for-profit arts groups like Alberta Music and corporate sponsors like Alberta Treasury Branch, and TransCanada we can bring great emerging Canadian artists like Colleen Brown, Joe Nolan, and Del Barber to communities across the province for live concerts and broadcasts – resulting in the aforementioned radio series “Untapped” and “Alberta Backstage”.

CKUA has a reputation for connecting Albertans with music and cultural events happening in their own backyards. From Fort McMurray to Waterton Lakes, Edson to Nanton and all points in between, CKUA programs constantly offer timely information across each program to keep our audience apprised of events, so they can support touring and local artists.

Likewise our social media channels frequently feature stories related to the activities and music of emerging Canadian talent.

ref. - http://www.ckua.com/common/medialib/376/727887.pdf

[jon]

The CRTC decision came on June 12th, and CKUA is now licensed until August 31, 2021, and no longer has a requirement to broadcast formal educational programming: http://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2014/2014-319.htm

There were no other changes to the license.

For interest, CKUA is currently licensed as an "English-language specialty commercial radio station". With the death of the AM transmitter, the (single) license now reads: CKUA-FM Edmonton and its transmitters CKUA-FM-1 Calgary, CKUA-FM-2 Lethbridge, CKUA-FM-3 Medicine Hat, CKUA-FM-4 Grande Prairie, CKUA-FM-5 Peace River, CKUA-FM-6 Red Deer, CKUA-FM-7 Hinton, CKUA-FM-8 Edson, CKUA-FM-9 Whitecourt, CKUA-FM-10 Athabasca, CKUA-FM-11 Fort McMurray, CKUA-FM-12 Spirit River, CKUA-FM-13 Drumheller, CKUA-FM-14 Banff and CKUA-FM-15 Lloydminster.