CJOB applies for a 100KW repeater.

[Dan Sys]

CJOB 680 has applied for a 100,000 watt "nested" repeater on 106.3 for Winnipeg:
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notic ... 7-57.htm#2

Several stations have done this during the past few years, including CFCO Chatham, CKDO Oshawa, CKYL Peace River, CKRW Whitehorse, CHOK Sarnia (decision pending), and CBC facilities in the Canadian Prairies, but these have all been granted with much lower power. It will be interesting to see if the CRTC accepts this application with 100,000 watts. It could set a whole new precedent for stations that want to flip to FM but also wish to leave their AM transmitters on the air.

[Aaron]

Applying for a flip would trigger a call for applications, a "repeater" wouldn't. I think the CRTC will see right though it and issue a call.

[WPGGUY]

Applying for a flip would trigger a call for applications, a "repeater" wouldn't. I think the CRTC will see right though it and issue a call.

They have not issued a call yet. Looks like it got past them ....

[Heard It On The X]

More AMs should have FM repeaters -- particularly news stations.

[jon]

Were CHED Edmonton ever to do a straight flip to FM, they'd lose a lot of listeners outside Edmonton unless they got enough FM repeaters to blanket the Northern half of the province. Like CJOB, I could see a 100KW FM repeater in Edmonton for CHED as a good idea, using the AM to serve areas outside Edmonton where the FM doesn't reach.

With the increasing number of people living in high rises (i.e. - anything with concrete rebars) and the vast majority of office workers in concrete buildings, FM has a definite advantage over AM for those people. And Edmonton still has electric buses with relatively high voltage overhead DC power lines, and AM can be unlistenable anywhere around them, especially when a bus is approaching. Probably the worst case is CFRN on 1260 KHz, which is twice the frequency of CHED (630 KHz). Those bus power lines create a horrible harmonic of CHED's signal on 1260 KHz, making CFRN unlistenable most of the time. Almost any station, CHED included, is also subject to all kinds of weird mixing products of the signals of local stations near those lines. Not to mention just the loud electrical noise.

CKNW is probably the station most in need of an FM repeater, and a high powered one, now that high rise buildings are no longer restricted to Downtown Vancouver (e.g. - Metrotown). And the CKNW transmitter so far away from downtown Vancouver.

Overall, I think FM repeaters could be a real boost to AM stations. Of course, the real issue will be CRTC ownership limits. Corus already has the maximum number of FM stations in Edmonton (two). Would an FM repeater for CHED be counted as a third?

In Winnipeg, Corus only owns one AM and one FM right now, correct?

[radiofan]

CKNW is probably the station most in need of an FM repeater, and a high powered one, now that high rise buildings are no longer restricted to Downtown Vancouver (e.g. - Metrotown). And the CKNW transmitter so far away from downtown Vancouver.

Overall, I think FM repeaters could be a real boost to AM stations. Of course, the real issue will be CRTC ownership limits. Corus already has the maximum number of FM stations in Edmonton (two). Would an FM repeater for CHED be counted as a third?

In Winnipeg, Corus only owns one AM and one FM right now, correct?

In Vancouver Corus is at the limit .. 2 AMs and 2 FMs .. on top of that, there are no frequencies available for a high powered FM in Vancouver. I'm sure if something was workable, CBC would get first crack at it for CBU to move to FM.

In Winnipeg, did Corus not just take possession of the Jazz FM that was part of the Asper empire?

[jon]

Yes, Radiofan is correct: the CRTC approved the Corus purchase of CJZZ-FM a month ago, on July 6th.

So, that makes it extremely interesting to watch and see if the CRTC approves the FM repeater for CJOB, effectively giving Corus three FMs in Winnipeg.

[WPGGUY]

Were CHED Edmonton ever to do a straight flip to FM, they'd lose a lot of listeners outside Edmonton unless they got enough FM repeaters to blanket the Northern half of the province. Like CJOB, I could see a 100KW FM repeater in Edmonton for CHED as a good idea, using the AM to serve areas outside Edmonton where the FM doesn't reach.

With the increasing number of people living in high rises (i.e. - anything with concrete rebars) and the vast majority of office workers in concrete buildings, FM has a definite advantage over AM for those people. And Edmonton still has electric buses with relatively high voltage overhead DC power lines, and AM can be unlistenable anywhere around them, especially when a bus is approaching. Probably the worst case is CFRN on 1260 KHz, which is twice the frequency of CHED (630 KHz). Those bus power lines create a horrible harmonic of CHED's signal on 1260 KHz, making CFRN unlistenable most of the time. Almost any station, CHED included, is also subject to all kinds of weird mixing products of the signals of local stations near those lines. Not to mention just the loud electrical noise.

CKNW is probably the station most in need of an FM repeater, and a high powered one, now that high rise buildings are no longer restricted to Downtown Vancouver (e.g. - Metrotown). And the CKNW transmitter so far away from downtown Vancouver.

Overall, I think FM repeaters could be a real boost to AM stations. Of course, the real issue will be CRTC ownership limits. Corus already has the maximum number of FM stations in Edmonton (two). Would an FM repeater for CHED be counted as a third?

In Winnipeg, Corus only owns one AM and one FM right now, correct?

In Winnipeg they now have 2 FM and 1 AM station. Another FM (even if its a repeater) would take them over the limit.

[Dan Sys]

I wonder if there might be some kind of a loophole in the ownership regulations that would allow repeater stations such as the proposed CJOB-FM to not be included in the total stations per market count. Otherwise you might think that Corus would have withdrawn the application knowing that it's probably just a waste of time.

[Aaron]

Yes, an FM fill-in repeater wouldn't count toward the limit. (See the Durham group in Oshawa and Bayshore in Owen Sound).

[Dan Sys]

The CJOB application was rejected:

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decis ... 07-350.htm

[Aaron]

As they should have.

[jon]

I find it interesting that neither Corus (owner of CJOB) nor the CRTC made reference to the CRTC's precedent setting decision so close geographically: CFRY Portage La Prairie.

In fact, that decision makes very interesting reading: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decis ... 95-676.HTM

CFRY-AM was granted a 27,000 watt FM repeater, also in Portage La Prairie. But there are several differences from the CJOB application:
* it was 1995, when the CRTC considered the Canadian radio industry "in trouble", and also noted the poor ecomomic conditions in Portage La Prairie
* CFRY was independently owned, i.e. - the owners owned no other radio stations
* CFRY was the only station in town, other than a new TV station that was also competing for the few advertising dollars in town

The world has changed, even for CFRY. Golden West bought them in 2000, and obtained a license for another FM station in Portage La Prairie in 2003.