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Ottawa, 26 June 1986
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Decision CRTC 86-607
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Radio communautaire de Châteauguay CHAI-MF
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Châteauguay, Quebec - 853141100
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Following a Public Hearing in Montreal on 18 March 1986, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence for CHAI-MF Châteauguay for a period of two years only, from 1 October 1986 to 30 September 1988, subject to the conditions specified in the licence to be issued.
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In accordance with the licensee's proposal and the Commission's policy statement on The Review of Community Radio (Public Notice CRTC 1985-194 dated 26 August 1985), the Commission will issue a special FM licence for community radio, Type B, to this station, which will be operated in the Group IV music format.
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A self-assessment of CHAI-MF's programming from 21 to 27 October 1985, revealed many significant deviations in performance, particularly an unauthorized increase in the amount of broadcast time from 84 hours to 117 hours per week; spoken word programming with little community-oriented content; the broadcasting of 67 hours 40 minutes of Music-General, compared with its commitment of 32 hours, resulting in an unauthorized change in the station's music format from Traditional MOR to Contemporary MOR; the broadcasting of only 25 minutes of Music-Traditional and Special Interest, compared with its commitment of 8 hours 15 minutes; and numerous contraventions of the permissible hourly amount of restricted advertising.
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The Commission views with grave concern the licensee's failure to abide by its Promise of Performance and to adhere to Commission policies and regulations. In renewing CHAI-MF's licence for two years, the Commission has taken into account the fact that the new community radio policy is still very recent and could be of assistance in resolving some of the problems faced by community radio stations, especially with respect to advertising.
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The Commission approves the proposal to increase CHAI-MF's broadcast time from 84 to 116 hours per week. The Commission's policy on community radio contains the provision that a community station may increase or decrease by 20% the number of hours it is authorized to broadcast per week without having to apply to the Commission, in order to take into account the needs of the community and the availability of volunteers and community groups. The Commission reminds the licensee that if increased broadcast time results in non-compliance, it should reduce its broadcast week to a level that would enable it to adhere to its commitments at all times.
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The Commission also approves the licensee's proposal to reduce the level of news from 7 hours to 6 hours per week, given the proximity of Châteauguay to metropolitan Montreal and the great number of radio stations available within the licensee's coverage area. It expects, however, that greater emphasis will be placed on local and regional news.
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The Commission notes the licensee's commitment to broadcast 40 hours 30 minutes of spoken word programming per week, including 10 hours 30 minutes of community-oriented services. The licensee has also undertaken to broadcast 15 hours of English-language programming per week to serve the anglophone minority within its coverage area. In accordance with its Promise of Performance and its Group IV music format, the licensee is to offer a diversity of musical selections from category 5 (Music-General) including at least 45% Canadian content and 65% French-language vocal music, and to broadcast at least 8 hours of traditional and special interest music per week.
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The Commission approves the proposal to broadcast an average of 4 minutes of advertising per hour per day, with a maximum of 6 minutes per hour, in accordance with the community radio policy for Type B stations.
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Further, the Commission requires the licensee to submit, within six months of the date of this decision, a report on CHAI-MF's compliance with its Promise of Performance and with Commission policies.
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The Commission reiterates its concern with the licensee's failure to adhere to its commitments and to regulatory requirements and it requires the licensee, from now on, to abide by its Promise of Performance at all times. Any failure by the licensee to remain in full compliance with the terms of this decision, its conditions of licence including the commitments contained in its Promise of Performance, as well as with Commission policies and regulations, may jeopardize the next renewal of its licence.
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The Commission acknowledges the written intervention submitted by the Association des radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Québec, in support of the renewal of this licence.
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Fernand Bélisle
Secretary General
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