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Decision
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Ottawa, 17 November 1988
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Decision CRTC 88-812
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La Radio communautaire du Comté
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Rimouski/Mont-Joli, Quebec -873925200
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Following a Public Hearing in Trois-Rivières, Quebec on 5 July 1988, the Commission denies the application by La Radio communautaire du Comté (RCC) for a broadcasting licence to operate a French-language FM community radio station, Type B, at Rimouski, with an auxiliary studio at Mont-Joli, on a frequency of 96.5 MHz (channel 243B) at an effective radiated power of 4,000 watts.
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The city of Rimouski, with some 30,000 residents, is the principal urban centre in this part of the Lower St-Lawrence and is the focal point of regional administration. Mont-Joli, located some 20 kilometres to the northeast of Rimouski, has about 8,000 residents.
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In terms of radio services, the area is served by the CBC's French-language AM and FM networks services, re-broadcast by CJBR and CJBR-FM Rimouski, respectively. Also, La Compagnie de Radiodiffusion Rimouski Limitée operates two private stations on a joint basis; CFLP Rimouski, a Télémédia network affiliate, and CIKI-FM Rimouski which commenced broadcasting on 14 February 1988 and broadcasts "dance music", operating in a Group IV musical format.
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Until September 1987, the region was also served by community radio station, CKLE-FM Rimouski. Due to CKLE-FM's serious and persistent non-compliance with its commitments, the Commission decided in Decision CRTC 87-753 dated 17 September 1987, that the station's licence which was to expire on 30 September 1987 would not be renewed. In that decision, the Commission stated, however, that it would be prepared to consider new applications to operate a community radio station in the same market "proposing commitments commensurate with the human and material resources available in the communities to be served".
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RCC's proposal for a community radio station was filed pursuant to the Commission's call for applications announced in Decision CRTC 87-753. In some respects it is related to the defunct community station CKLE-FM, as one of the principal promoters of the new undertaking is the former director of programming at that station and because the applicant, with regard to the technical aspects plans to acquire the former station's broadcasting equipment and facilities and to operate on the same frequency as did CKLE-FM. However, RCC planned to relocate the antenna and to transmit at a higher power in order to improve coverage in the Mont-Joli area.
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The application as submitted proposed the operation of a super-regional community radio station which would extend service to the regional municipalities of Rimouski-Neigette and Mitis. At the outset, 86 hours or 70% of the programming each week would be produced in the Rimouski studios and 40 hours each week, or 30%, in the Mont-Joli auxiliary studio. However, the applicant pointed out at the hearing that these figures are not firm and could vary according to the availability of volunteer resources and the training period which would be required during the first year of operation.
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The Promise of Performance proposed a station which would operate in a Group IV (MOR) musical format. However, by proposing to carry 67.9% popular music (category 5) selections drawn from subcategory 51 (Pop and Rock -Softer), with 40% hits, a considerable portion of which would be current hits (40%), and a maximum repeat factor of 18, the applicant's proposal is very similar to the more specialized Group I musical format. This appears to be contradictory to the wide diversity of music claimed in the application. The Commission notes in this regard that in Decisions CRTC 88-720 to 88-726 dated 30 September 1988 relating to licence renewal applications for community radio stations considered at the same public hearing, it denied the proposals of Group IV licensees who wished to draw more than 50% of all musical selections (that is, the combined total of categories 5 and 6) from any one subcategory.
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The application also included an undertaking to broadcast 35.5% spoken word, including 10 hours 55 minutes of news and 17 hours 20 minutes each week of enrichment material (category 3). The applicant proposed to broadcast each weekday nine three-minute news capsules and four major newscasts of five to eight minutes duration, produced at Rimouski and Mont-Joli. A 15-minute newscast would be carried on Saturdays, and a one-hour foreground-format review of the week's events on Sundays. The applicant stated that 85% of its news content would be of local or regional interest, and that enrichment programming from both Rimouski and Mont-Joli would consist of interviews and discussions, link these two communities. RCC also undertook that a minimum of 20% of its programming would be locally-produced foreground and at least 50% would be combined foreground/mosaic programming.
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The commitments set out in RCC's Promise of Performance are ambitious and demanding and, on the whole, they go beyond what the policy on community radio encourages. This Promise of Performance is comparable in more than one respect to that of the former community station CKLE-FM, and in some areas it is even more exacting in that it attempts to satisfy the needs of two communities, Rimouski and Mont-Joli, rather than one. Under the circumstances, the Commission is particularly concerned about the human, material and financial resources at the applicant's disposal, and the extent to which the two communities support the project, in order to ensure that the undertaking would be viable and that the applicant would be able, from the outset, to abide by the Commission's policies and regulations as well as the commitments set out in its Promise of Performance.
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RCC stated at the hearing that it had some 372 members, including 297 individuals, 41 corporate members and 34 businesses, 60% of which are located in the Rimouski area and 40% in and around Mont-Joli. It also indicated that a provisional Board of Directors is in place, comprising five persons from the Mont-Joli area and three from the Rimouski area. The permanent Board of Directors would be made up of 18 persons representing both regions on an equal basis. Administration, sales and promotion, self-financing and volunteer training committees were also planned.
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Further, the applicant stated that at least 40% of its programming would be produced by volunteers. It envisaged a permanent staff of fifteen, no more than five of whom would be assigned to programming and news, along with only 23 volunteers and six freelance journalists for the 126-hour broadcast week. There would be only one full-time journalist at both Rimouski and Mont-Joli who, aided by the freelancers, would be responsible for providing the proposed news service. The application indicated that the proposed spoken word content and the 20% locally-produced foreground programming would be largely assigned to the volunteer workers, who would also have to devote some of their time to hosting programs. At the hearing, the applicant indicated that people in the Mont-Joli area would eventually be taking a greater part in the station's programming, admitting, however, that this participation remains hypothetical and that a large part of the human resources are from the Rimouski area.
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RCC calculated that the project would require $200,000 in capital expenditures. Financing was to come from three sources: $50,000 from government grants, $50,000 from a fund-raising campaign, and a $100,000 loan from the Mont-Joli Caisse Populaire. Documents submitted in support of these funding sources included a letter dated 24 March 1988 from the Quebec Department of Communications, indicating that the applicant would be eligible for an infrastructure grant "of an amount as yet undetermined" and a yearly operating subsidy of at least $25,000. RCC also submitted a letter from the Mont-Joli Caisse Populaire dated 23 December 1987, which stated that it would be prepared to lend RCC up to $100,000 on certain conditions, notably [TRANSLATION] "that the organization raise seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) in the form of contributions from the public or grants or both". The loan would also be subject to approval by the loan office of the Fédération des Caisses Populaires du Bas Saint-Laurent.
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When asked at the hearing about its funding projections, the applicant stated that it was optimistic about obtaining the capital required, but admitted [TRANSLATION] "I agree with you, it is all hypothetical". In this regard, the Commission notes the statements of the applicant at the hearing to the effect that its fund-raising campaign had not yet been launched and that its loan had not been approved by the Fédération des Caisses Populaires [TRANSLATION] "because, to date, the formal loan request has not made."
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After a thorough and careful analysis of all the elements of the application, the Commission has determined that there are serious doubts as to whether the project can be successfully implemented as proposed, due mainly to the limited human resources in light of the very demanding nature of the commitments set out in the Promise of Performance, and the very real uncertainty about funding sources. Further, various aspects of the proposed musical format are not in line with the Commission's community radio policy.
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The Commission notes that the applicant has not provided to the Commission convincing evidence that it has met three of the main criteria by which the Commission assesses applications for new community radio stations; namely, that there is available sufficient human resources and adequate funding, and that the station will indeed offer diversified musical programming.
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The Commission has taken into consideration five interventions in support of the application, four of which are from the area. The Commission has also considered the intervention presented at the public hearing by La Compagnie de Radiodiffusion Rimouski Limitée expressing its concerns about certain aspects of the application, particularly the proposed musical content and the capacity to respect the station's community orientation.
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Fernand Bélisle
Secretary General
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