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Public Notice
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Public Notice CRTC 1986-152
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The Licence Renewals of a Number of Community FM Stations
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At a Public Hearing on 18 March 1986 in Montreal, the Commission considered applications for the renewal of a number of community FM stations in Quebec. This hearing followed the publication of the Commission's policy statement on The Review of Community Radio (Public Notice CRTC 1985-194) and provided a forum for discussing problems encountered by these licensees in terms of their commitments, their conditions of licence and Commission regulations. At the same time, the licensees were given the opportunity to submit solutions to rectify these problems and to discuss their program proposals and general orientation.
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For several years, the Commission has been concerned with non-compliance by certain community radio licensees with conditions of licence pertaining to the broadcast of restricted advertising and with their Promises of Performance.
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In 1984 (Decisions CRTC 84-301 and 302 dated 29 March 1984), the Commission stated that it intended to review the issue of advertising activity within the broader context of a public hearing on the nature and role of community radio and the regulations that should govern it. In the same year (Public Notice CRTC 1984-201 dated 31 July 1984), the Commission announced that it wished to consult with community and student broadcasters, their respective organizations and with private broadcasters, before holding a public hearing on the matter. The consultations took place in October 1984.
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In 1985, after publishing a working paper on community radio (Public Notice CRTC 1985-34 dated 22 February 1985), the Commission held a public hearing in April, and on 26 August 1985 issued Public Notice CRTC 1985-194 entitled "The Review of Community Radio". In it, the Commission provided a new definition of community radio, clarifying its role and mandate and setting out specific criteria for community programming. The Commission also announced that community stations that met the community ownership and programming criteria henceforth would be issued special FM licences.
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Licence Renewal Applications at the Public Hearing of 18 March 1986
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After reviewing the licence renewal applications of the community radio stations at a Public Hearing in Montreal on 18 March 1986, the Commission has again noted a tendency among a number of community stations to fail to adhere to their conditions of licence, particularly those pertaining to advertising and to their Promises of Performance. The Commission noted that, in many cases, licensees had not submitted any proposals to rectify this situation and that their new Promises of Performance only contained minimal commitments, even though the Review strongly urges licensees to exceed these requirements. A number of licensees appear not to have considered the new policy on community radio. This is reflected in the general orientation of their proposals which is identical to those of commercial stations.
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The performance of each of these stations has been analysed in detail in the decisions accompanying this notice. The Commission notes the excellent performance of certain stations such as CINQ-FM and CIBL-MF Montreal and of CFIM-MF Cap-aux-Meules, which have managed to become genuine community radio stations not only with regard to their ownership and operation but also in terms of their programming.
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However, it also wishes to emphasize that the performances of CHGA-MF Maniwaki and CION-FM Rivière-du-Loup are considerably at variance with their conditions of licence with respect to advertising and programming. Furthermore, the Commission is concerned about the inadequacy of the commitments offered by these stations for ensuring their future compliance. Accordingly, the licences for these stations were renewed for only one year.
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The Commission also singles out the case of CFOU-FM Sainte-Thérèse. This licence was renewed for a one-year period because of serious non-compliance due to a considerable increase in the number of broadcast hours, despite the Commission's denial of such an increase which resulted in the broadcast of an excessive amount of popular music (in the gramophone and rolling formats) with little spoken word programming.
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At their next licence renewal, the licensees of these three stations must demonstrate total compliance with the terms and conditions of their licences, or show cause as to why their licences should be renewed.
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The licences for CIEU-FM Carleton, CHOC-FM Jonquière, CFLX-FM Sherbrooke, CHAI-MF Châteauguay, CFMF-FM Fermont and CIBO-MF Senneterre were renewed for two years for not adhering to their Promises of Performance. A number of these licensees have been required to revise their Promises of Performance in order to meet the Commission's expectations as set out in The Review of Community Radio.
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The licensees of the community stations whose licences have been renewed for a term of one or two years must submit a report to the Commission within six months of the date of this notice as to their stations' compliance.
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Among the most serious deficiencies, which vary from case to case, the Commission notes that in addition to continued non-compliance with the conditions of licence respecting advertising and programming, some of the programming is below the minimum requirements for FM radio. The Commission also observes that there is a very limited amount of spoken word content and a lack of coverage of topics of local interest, particularly in news bulletins; that specialty programming is broadcast during off-peak hours; and that there is an absence of direct community participation in the production of genuine community programs. The Commission also notes an appreciable increase in the number of broadcast hours with no corresponding increase in resources or in the quality of content, resulting in a heavy concentration on popular music in the rolling and gramophone formats at the expense of foreground/mosaic programming. The Commission also notes that the level of French-language vocal music is considerably below what is required.
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A number of community broadcasters appearing at the public hearing justified their community radio status in terms of ownership and management but were unable to explain to the satisfaction of the Commission in what way their broadcast programming was authentically community-oriented. Rather, these licensees tended to emphasize the professionalism of both their announcers and of their productions, even relegating volunteers to secondary roles of administrative support. They also stressed the continuity and regularity of their programming; their musical format; competition from private radio stations; and the importance of ratings.
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The Commission's Comments
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The Commission has specified its expectations with regard to community radio in the Review of Community Radio notice. Although it does not intend to repeat in this notice all of the areas covered in the Review, the Commission does wish to raise the following points with regard to the present renewal applications.
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When the Commission adopted a new definition of community radio, it was careful to specify that such services should be community-oriented not only in terms of ownership and operation but also in terms of programming. This new definition clearly states that community radio programming should be based on community access and should reflect the interests and special needs of the listeners it is licensed to serve, as members of the community at large.
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As a consequence, community radio stations should include the broadcast of innovative forms of community-oriented programming and highly diversified musical fare. Spoken word and foreground/mosaic programming are essential in providing the type of programming necessary for community service of this kind. These community radio licences were granted precisely because of the applicant's commitments to provide a community service. A community station should not, therefore, aim primarily for high ratings.
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The Commission particularly emphasizes the necessity for community groups and for the community at large to participate in program production. It emphasizes, as specified in The Review of Community Radio, that production standards should not be set at a level that only professionals and the most skilled volunteers can attain.
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The Commission cannot agree with statements made at the hearing to the effect that the role of staff is to host programs so as to ensure quality broadcasting and high ratings, whereas the role of volunteers is to increase community awareness among staff in order to ensure such quality. The role of staff in a community station is, in fact, very different from that in a traditional station. Such individuals should act as catalysts in the community to help community groups and individuals to produce programs and to participate directly in programming. This obviously does not preclude efforts to achieve quality programming and audience appeal.
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Since a community station is defined primarily in terms of community access, the Commission expects community broadcasters to devote a large proportion of their broadcast time to programming produced by community groups and individuals in order to ensure optimum access.
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The Commission also expects community radio licensees to endeavour to make programming time available to members of the community and to schedule such programs during appropriate listening hours. These programs, as with all community-oriented programming, could be rebroadcast at different times and on different days of the same week, to ensure that as many members of the community as possible can listen to them.
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In view of its continuing concern about increased commercial activity and its effect on programming, the Commission is of the opinion that licensees should finance their activities from a number of sources, particularly from the community. It again expects community stations, in collaboration with the Association radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Québec, to draw up an advertising code specifically for community radio.
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In its Review of Community Radio, the Commission viewed "a minimum of 35% spoken word programming to be a useful target for Type B stations" (those serving a market in which another AM or FM radio station is licenced to operate in the same language). For this reason, in the decisions that follow, the Commission generally expects these licensees to achieve this minimum objective.
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The Commission requires the community radio licensees, as it does for all others, to remain in compliance with their conditions of licence, including the commitments contained in their Promises of Performance, as well as with Commission policies and regulations. Any failure in this regard may jeopardize the next renewal of their licences. The Commission will conduct analyses to monitor the performance of the community stations. It will forward copies of the results of these analyses to the licensees concerned, and they will be given the opportunity to submit their comments and consult with Commission staff, if they so wish.
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The Commission reiterates that any community radio licensee or new applicant that does not wish to adhere to the criteria set out in The Review of Community Radio may submit an application for an independent FM or a first service FM licence, depending on its circumstances. Such applications will undergo the same analysis and will be considered under the same procedures as applications for licences to operate new radio services. This could include calls for competing applications. The Commission will also take into account the capacity of the market to support such a service.
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In light of the foregoing, the Commission announces the renewals of the special FM licences for the community radio stations, which are listed in the appendix to this notice in the order of their respective terms of licence (Decisions CRTC 86-599 to 86-612).
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Quebec Community Radio Licence Renewals
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CION-FM Rivière-du-Loup
CHGA-MF Maniwaki
CFOU-FM Sainte-Thérèse
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CIEU-FM Carleton
CHOC-FM Jonquière
CFMF-FM Fermont
CIBO-MF Senneterre
CFLX-FM Sherbrooke
CHAI-MF Châteauguay
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CINQ-FM Montreal
CIBL-MF Montreal
CKIA-FM Quebec City/Québec
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