ARCHIVED -  Decisions CRTC 90-809

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Decision

Ottawa, 28 August 1990
Decision CRTC 90-809
CIRC Radio Inc.
Toronto, Ontario - 894522200 - 890909500
Following a Public Hearing in Toronto commencing 5 April 1990, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence for CIRV-FM Toronto from 1 October 1990 to 31 August 1992, subject to the conditions specified in this decision and in the licence to be issued. This term will enable the Commission to consider renewal of this licence at the same time as that of other FM stations in the area, following the review of FM policy announced in Public Notice CRTC 1990-20 dated 16 February 1990.
The Commission also approves the application by CIRC Radio Inc. for a licence amendment authorizing it to increase the effective radiated power of CIRV-FM from 22 to 250 watts.
CIRV-FM, an ethnic station, was first licensed by the Commission on 20 March 1986 (Decision 86-236) to provide programming 'directed to a minimum of six cultural groups in six or more different languages'.
Consistent with the licensee's current programming commitment in this respect, it is a condition of licence that CIRV-FM devote a minimum of 118 hours 40 minutes each week to ethnic programming of Types A and B, and provide programming directed to a minimum of six cultural groups in six or more languages.
As part of its renewal application, CIRV-FM has proposed to increase the current level of Canadian musical selections drawn from category 5 and to maintain the current level of Canadian music drawn from category 6. In this respect, it is a condition of licence that at least 8% of all category 5 musical selections and 3% of all category 6 musical selections broadcast on CIRV-FM each week be Canadian, as defined in the Radio Regulations, 1986.
The Commission expects the licensee to exceed the minimum level of 3% Canadian content in its category 6 musical selections whenever possible with a view to achieving a 7% level during the new licence term.
The Commission notes the licensee's commitment to increase its financial support for the development of Canadian talent. Specifically, the Commission notes CIRC Radio Inc.'s commitment to make a yearly contribution of $1,500 to FACTOR and to allocate $12,000 for an annual song festival.
Decision CRTC 86-236, which first granted the licence for CIRV-FM, was unusual in that it authorized use by the proposed commercial FM station of a frequency in a portion of the FM band (channels 201 to 220) that, under the policies of the Department of Communications (DOC), is reserved for non-commercial, educational uses. The 1986 policy exception by the DOC in certifying the proposal was made on the basis that the proposed frequency would be used at a low power, and would thus remain unprotected and available for possible future re-assignment.
The Commission stated in that original licensing decision that it was satisfied the proposed station would 'fill a niche between existing multilingual stations and closed-circuit stations' in the Toronto area. The Commission added that it considered the proposal to represent an efficient use of the broadcasting spectrum, and that the applicant:
 ...should be able to provide an interference-free service to northwestern Toronto and the surrounding area enclosed by the 3mV/m (primary) contour and an adequate signal to a much larger area, including parts of Metropolitan Toronto and Mississauga.
Some time before the 1985 public hearing of CIRV-FM's original licence application, a radio station in Buffalo, New York operating on the same frequency as that subsequently authorized for CIRV-FM increased its power. As a result, when CIRV-FM commenced operations, it was discovered that the station's actual interference-free contour fell approximately 2 kilometres short of the theoretical contour the applicant had estimated would be generated by its transmitter, and the reliability with which the signal could be received was found to vary widely from location to location throughout the service area.
Subsequently, in Decision CRTC 88-293 dated 25 April 1988, the Commission denied an application by CIRC Radio Inc. for a licence amendment that would have changed CIRV-FM's frequency, power and transmitter site, and would have brought about a major expansion in the station's licensed service area. The Commission noted that, had the licensee wished to serve that larger area, it could have submitted a competing application in 1986 for one of the high-power frequencies that were still available for use in the Toronto area at that time. The Commission concluded that, in the circumstances, to approve the application and the resultant extension in CIRV-FM's coverage area would have undermined the integrity of the licensing process.
In its current application for licence amendment, CIRC Radio Inc. acknowledged that the proposed power increase would change the status of CIRV-FM to that of a 'regular, protected' operation. At the same time, it stressed that the increase would extend the station's interference-free contour outwards, but only so far as to effectively encompass the same service area for which it was originally licensed. It also noted that the DOC is again prepared to make a policy exception in respect of CIRV-FM, as a special case, by certifying the proposed power increase and changing the class of the channel occupied by the station to 'Class A, protected'.
Interventions opposing the proposed power increase were submitted by, among others, CHRY Community Radio Inc. (CHRY) and by Radio communautaire francophone de Toronto (RCF). Both of these intervenors appeared at the hearing to present their views. CHRY is the licensee of CHRY-FM Toronto, a low-power FM station operated by and for the students of York University. It objected to the use of a non-commercial frequency by CIRC Radio Inc. and suggested that CHRY-FM be permitted to use the present CIRV-FM frequency of 88.7 MHz (channel 204). For its part, RCF advised the Commission of its intention to seek licences for a number of low-power FM stations to serve Toronto and, like CHRY, argued that, as a non-commercial operator, it should be given priority over CIRC Radio Inc. for the use of frequencies in the non-commercial sub-band.
The Commission once again acknowledges the objectives of the policy reserving the FM sub-band between channels 201 and 220 for use by non-commercial, educational operations, and has taken into account the concerns of those intervenors whose opposition to the proposed amendment is based on that policy. In the absence, however, of bona fide applications from these or any other parties seeking authority to use channel 204 in the Toronto area, the Commission scheduled the licence amendment application by CIRC Radio Inc. for consideration at the 5 April 1990 Public Hearing.
Based upon all of the evidence before it, the Commission agrees with the licensee that the proposed power increase represents the only feasible technical means of enabling CIRV-FM to provide a reliable and consistent signal throughout the area it was originally licensed to serve, that does not also have the unwelcome effect of extending the station's primary service contour substantially beyond its originally-licensed service area.
As noted earlier, the Commission's original purpose in licensing CIRV-FM was that it fill a niche between existing multilingual stations and closed-circuit stations in northwestern Toronto and surrounding area. Although undiminished in relevance and importance, that purpose has, to a significant degree, remained unfulfilled. The Commission is satisfied that the proposed power increase will now allow CIRV-FM to achieve its original licensing mandate. Accordingly, taking into account the exceptional circumstances of this particular case, the Commission has approved the licence amendment.
It is a condition of licence that the licensee adhere to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) self-regulatory guidelines on sex-role stereotyping, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.
It is also a condition of licence that the licensee adhere to the provisions of the CAB's Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.
In renewing this licence, the Commission also authorizes the licensee to make use of the Subsidiary Communications Multiplex Operation. The Commission expects the licensee to adhere to the guidelines set out in Appendix A to Public Notice CRTC 1989-23 dated 23 March 1989 entitled Services Using the Vertical Blanking Interval (Television) or Subsidiary Communications Multiplex Operation (FM). This authority may only be implemented when the DOC gives the technical approval required by the Radiocommunication Act and regulations made thereunder.
The Commission acknowledges the interventions submitted by more than 90 interested groups and individuals expressing support for approval of these applications.
Alain-F. Desfossés
Secretary General

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