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Decision
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Ottawa, 9 July 1985
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Decision CRTC 85-521
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CHEZ-FM Inc.
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Smiths Falls, Ontario - 850141300
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Following a Public Hearing in Hull, Quebec on 30 April 1985, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence for CHEQ-FM Smiths Falls, from 1 October 1985 to 30 September 1988, subject to the conditions of licence specified in the licence to be issued. This three-year term will allow the Commission sufficient time to assess the licensee's progress in implementing the commitments contained in Decision CRTC 84-28, dated 17 January 1984, to provide the Smiths Falls area with an improved and distinct local FM service.
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In that decision, the Commission approved the licensee's applications for transfer of control of Rideau Broadcasting Limited (now CHEZ-FM Inc.), licensee of CJET and CHEQ-FM (formerly CKUE-FM) Smiths Falls, and a change in the transmitter site and an increase in power for CHEQ-FM. While acknowledging the fact that, under the revised technical parameters, CHEQ-FM would provide a strong signal into the Ottawa area, the Commission emphasized in the decision the importance of the licensee's commitments to maintain the station's distinct orientation to the "Golden Triangle" area of the Ottawa Valley, which includes Smiths Falls, Perth and Carleton Place, and required the licensee to adhere to these commitments as a condition of its approval.
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The Commission also underlined the licensee's commitments to provide adequate news coverage of events and issues of local and regional interest. Other programming commitments noted in Decision CRTC 84-28 included:
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- a daily public affairs program to cover human interest topics of direct relevance to this region;
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- a creative spoken word program to be broadcast devoted to the expression of Ottawa Valley poetry, prose and drama;
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- the music policy was to remain unchanged but was to include foreground format features such as a weekly program on the Ottawa Valley's folk music heritage; and
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- a minimum of four live music concerts to be broadcast each year, financed from a budget separate from that of CJET.
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The Commission also noted that the FM station's studio would remain in Smiths Falls, under a local management team and sales force, and with no shared personnel, facilities, joint rate card or sales packaging between CHEQ-FM and CHEZ-FM Ottawa.
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At the 30 April 1985 hearing, the licensee reiterated its financial and programming commitments to the Smiths Falls area, and said that it would continue to serve as a valuable communication tool for the residents in the various communities comprising the Ottawa Valley . The licensee advised that it had already invested heavily in Smiths Falls in 1984, spending $425,000 to rebuild completely the Smiths Falls facilities, $125,000 on studio equipment and over $250,000 to relocate and rebuild the CHEQ-FM transmitter. The licensee also indicated that the Smiths Falls stations were being operated in an autonomous manner, and that it had hired a manager, who is a Smiths Falls resident, and five sales staff to work full-time at CJET and CHEQ-FM.
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The licensee said that, despite the difficulties in operating from temporary facilities, pending the completion of the new studio, and the short period of time since it took over the station, it has made, and will continue to make, every effort to meet its programming commitments. With a full-time news staff, and correspondents in Almonte, Carleton Place, Kemptville, Brockville, Arnprior and Winchester, the licensee advised that it had achieved a level of more than 50% of local or regional news content. Since August 1984, it has been broadcasting a daily public affairs program dealing with various topics of interest to the Ottawa Valley region and has also instituted a weekly folk-oriented music feature. The licensee has also lent its support to local and regional talent through the broadcast of four live concerts during the past year on CHEQ-FM, at an approximate cost of $4,500.
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Notwithstanding such efforts, an analysis of CHEQ-FM's broadcasting conducted by the Commission for 14, 17 and 18 November 1984 indicated several shortfalls in the licensee's adherence to its Promise of Performance. The Commission's analysis indicated that the licensee had achieved a level of 13.2% for Foreground format programming, whereas it was required, as a joint FM licensee and in accordance with its Promise of Performance, to adhere to a minimum level of 20% over the course of a week. In explaining this shortfall, the licensee advised that some of the CBC programs which CHEQ-FM carried did not meet expected Foreground criteria, and that some of the licensee's own programs had not met the criteria because of technical problems which had now been resolved. The licensee assured the Commission that it would adhere to its commitment of 20% Foreground programming and that sufficient Enrichment material would be included to achieve this purpose.
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At the same time, the licensee requested an amendment to its Promise of Performance by reducing the level of Spoken Word content broadcast from 32% to 23%. The Commission approves the proposed decrease and considers that the licensee should be able to provide an acceptable level of Spoken Word programming to its audience.
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The Commission found during its analysis that the licensee's folk music program did not sufficiently reflect this region's rich folklore heritage. The licensee stated that, at that time, it was still developing the program and collecting local recordings, but that the careers and music of Ottawa Valley artists are now profiled on a regular basis. Given the considerable number of folk musicians in the Ottawa Valley region, the Commission expects the licensee to ensure that this program provides a much-needed outlet for their talent.
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The Commission notes that the licensee's original commitment for a creative spoken word program consisting of Ottawa Valley poetry, prose and drama will be implemented by the end of this summer.
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The Commission acknowledges the licensee's commitments with respect to local and regional news. Consistent with the licensee's original commitments, the Commission expects the news programming to be complemented by, wherever possible, human interest and background information features of direct relevance to the Smiths Falls region.
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The Commission notes that the station will be operated in the "Group I" music format, defined in Public Notice CRTC 1984-151 on the Review of Radio, which encompasses its current "Contemporary MOR" format.
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The licensee proposed to reduce the amount of Traditional and Special Interest music (category 6) from 11 hours 30 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes per week.
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In its Policy statement on the Review of Radio in March 1983 and in a number of subsequent decisions, the Commission reaffirmed that FM stations authorized to broadcast Music-Traditional and Special Interest would generally not be permitted to reduce this programming to a level less than 8 hours per week. In doing so, the Commission emphasized the importance of providing an adequate level of specialized music in order to ensure that varied and comprehensive listening fare is available in that market. At the same time, it offered greater flexibility to FM licensees in the scheduling and selection of category 6 music.
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The Commission recognizes that certain types of traditional and special interest music are not compatible with some forms of popular music and reminds the licensee that it has the freedom to choose the type of category 6 music which is most compatible with its music format. The licensee also has the choice of presenting these musical selections in identifiable blocks of programming, or interspersed with other selections.
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The Commission considers that a departure from the policy is not warranted in this case. Accordingly, the licensee's proposal to reduce the amount of category 6 music from 11 hours 30 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes per week is approved in part. The Commission approves a reduction of music from this category to 8 hours per week, with a commensurate decrease in the amount of category 5 programming.
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With regard to the usage of music selections that qualify as hits, the licensee stated that "our rotation patterns and controls ensure that our hit ratio is now regularly and consistently below the 50% mark, as called for by our licence." It also advised the Commission that the size of its playlist has been expanded to "900 distinct musical selections per week."
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In keeping with the Commission's policy, the licensee is required, as a condition of licence, to provide 30 minutes per week of commercial-free community access time and promote, on air, the availability of such time. At the hearing, the licensee confirmed that it has taken appropriate measures to ensure that this access time is promoted daily.
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A number of interventions were received in support of the renewal of CHEQ-FM's licence. An intervention was also presented at the hearing by Mr. Perry Weagle, a Smiths Falls businessman, who opposed the application on the grounds that the station's programming was too oriented to Ottawa listeners and, most particularly, that its advertising policy favoured Ottawa merchants at the expense of those in the Golden Triangle region.
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In response, the licensee argued that, since it has taken over the operation of the station, it has worked diligently to improve CHEQ-FM's programming service for Ottawa Valley residents and has taken concrete measures "to reactivate the interest of advertisers in our region for their own radio services." The licensee indicated that it has adopted a grid card system, according to which advertising rates are in proportion to the target audience of a particular buyer of advertising time. While the system did not guarantee quotas of advertising time to any groups of buyers, including local advertisers, the licensee said that the FM service "would remain affordable and accessible to local advertisers." The Commission considers that access to local and regional advertisers is fundamental to the licensee's Smiths Falls orientation, and that such access should reflect all sectors of the audience which the licensee is authorized to serve.
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Consistent with the licensee's commitments and the requirements set out in Decision CRTC 84-28, it is a condition of licence that the licensee continue to provide, as originally licensed, a distinct programming service, heavily oriented towards the Smiths Falls region.
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Fernand Bélisle Secretary General
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