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Decision
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Ottawa, 19 March 1987
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Decision CRTC 87-191
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Les Éditions Le Canada Français Ltée
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Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec - 861706000
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At a Public Hearing in Montreal on 24 November 1986, the Commission considered an application by Les Éditions Le Canada Français Ltée for a licence to operate a French-language FM radio broadcasting transmitting undertaking in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
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The applicant owns two newspapers in the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu area, including Le Canada Français, one of the oldest newspapers in Quebec. It proposes to operate a local FM radio station using staff assigned to the station and drawing on the human and technical resources of its two local weekly newspapers for the preparation of local and regional newscasts as well as foreground and mosaic programming.
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The proposed FM station would be operated in the Group I music format (Music - Pop and Rock Softer) with a vocal/instrumental ratio of 40:60, and would be aimed at listeners in the 25 to 49 age group. The applicant plans to broadcast 18 hours per week of Music - Traditional and Special Interest (category 6), 12% foreground format programming of a musical nature all of which would be produced locally, as well as 7 hours 45 minutes of news each week, 30% of which would be local or regional. No local or regional newscasts would be broadcast on weekends.
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The Commission received an intervention from Michel Mathieu Broadcasting Inc., licensee of CHRS Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, opposing the application. In the intervener's view, granting an FM licence to a new licensee in this market would have disastrous consequences that could [TRANSLATION] "threaten the survival of our undertaking and the jobs of the 16 people who work for it". The intervener also argued that the Saint-Jean market [TRANSLATION] "could not ensure the financial viability of two competing radio stations".
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The intervener also referred to its efforts in recent years to secure a place for CHRS in the Haut-Richelieu market and to make its station profitable. It also mentioned recent major technical improvements, including in particular the relocation of its studios to Saint-Jean-surRichelieu and a change in frequency to permit it to broadcast in the evening and at night (decisions CRTC 85-841 and 86-796). The intervener also referred to the concentration of news voices which would result form the granting of a licence to this applicant.
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In considering this application, the Commission noted that, despite the applicant's demonstrated interest and enthusiasm, the application itself proposed minimal local and regional content and no public affairs programming, and gave no firm indication of the division of staff between the weekly newspapers and the radio station.
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The Commission also took into account the arguments advanced by the intervener, in particular the impact a competing FM station in Saint-Jean would have on the financial status and survival of CHRS.
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On the basis of the evidence available to it, the Commission is of the opinion that the Saint-Jean market cannot support two local stations as proposed in this case.
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Furthermore, the Commission is not convinced that the applicant has succeeded in demonstrating to its satisfaction that the proposed FM station would offer a genuinely different local service in Saint-Jean.
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Accordingly, the Commission denies the application by Les Éditions Le Canada Français to operate an FM radio station in Saint-Jean-surRichelieu.
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Fernand Bélisle
Secretary General
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