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Decision
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Ottawa, 12 September 1990
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Decision CRTC 90-880
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Atlantic Broadcasters Limited
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Antigonish, Nova Scotia- 894329200
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Following a Public Hearing beginning on 3 April 1990 in St. John's, Newfoundland, the Commission approves the application by Atlantic Broadcasters Limited (Atlantic Broadcasters) to amend the licence for CJFX Antigonish, by increasing the transmitter power from 10,000 to 25,000 watts and by relocating the transmitter from Post Road to a new site on Pleasant Valley Road, approximately 13 kilometres to the north-northwest.
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CJFX now serves an area that includes the counties of Antigonish, Guysborough, Inverness and Richmond, Nova Scotia. It provides varied programming fare, including a mix of softer and harder rock and country music, and it continues to feature Acadian, Cape Breton, Scottish and Irish music on a regular basis. According to the applicant, the provision of its community-oriented spoken word programming is of "vital importance to the listeners within the station's large and sparsely-populated region". Atlantic Broadcasters explained at the hearing that "more than 90% of (its) weekly circulation is outside the boundaries of the community" in which Atlantic Broadcasters is located. It stated that there is a particular need to improve the CJFX signal in the areas of northeastern Antigonish County, Inverness County and western Cape Breton Island, if it is to maintain the loyalty of its audience in those areas.
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Atlantic Broadcasters indicated that, through this application, it intends to improve the station's service to certain areas located on the fringe of the station's market, and that the extension of the station's 5 millivolt/metre signal to encompass communities in these areas would accomplish this goal.
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The Commission notes that Atlantic Broadcasters filed a similar proposal for a power increase and change in transmitter site in 1988. That application was the subject of an opposing intervention from another radio broadcaster in the area, namely Eastern Group of Companies (Eastern), licensee of CIGO Port Hawkesbury. After consideration of all the evidence available at that time, the Commission denied the application (Decision CRTC 89-194 dated 26 April 1989).
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The Commission scheduled the current proposal as part of the 3 April 1990 public hearing in order to provide the applicant and all interested parties the fullest opportunity to express their views and concerns on this matter.
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Eastern submitted a written intervention, expressing the concern that such a power increase would produce "an enhanced CJFX signal in areas which are not part of (CJFX's) market" and would, in turn, have a detrimental effect on the advertising revenues derived by CIGO. Moreover, Eastern stressed that its concerns are reinforced by a recent slowdown in the area's economy.
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The Commission has taken into account the fact that the currently authorized CJFX service area completely encloses CIGO's existing service area and that the CJFX signal is of good reception quality throughout CIGO's market area. Based on this determination, the Commission is satisfied that the proposed technical changes should not alter to any substantial degree the competitive relationship that currently exists between CJFX and CIGO.
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In its written intervention, Celtic Investments Limited, licensee of CJCB and CKPE-FM Sydney, stated that, if the effect of the proposed amendments would be to extend the CJFX signal into new territory, particularly in the industrial sector of Cape Breton, it would oppose the application on the grounds that it could lead to the solicitation of advertising by CJFX within the Sydney, Glace Bay, North Sydney market.
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Atlantic Broadcasters undertook at the hearing that it would not solicit additional commercial revenue from businesses in Sydney or the industrial area of Cape Breton. The Commission has taken note of this undertaking and expects the applicant to respect fully this commitment.
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Regarding the proposed relocation of the transmitter site, Atlantic Broadcasters stated that any improvements to its transmission system would "best be done at a new location far removed from an area of concentrated population with its attendant problems of commercial and residential electrical interference". The applicant's technical brief stated that the licensee's desire to improve the CJFX signal in particular areas "makes it necessary to relocate (the transmitter) since a power increase at the present site would likely aggravate the existing receiver overload situation". In this respect, Atlantic Broadcasters referred to complaints received from local residents regarding receiver overloading and interference to telephone lines located near the existing transmitter site. Further, the Commission notes that the DOC has advised that the technical changes proposed in this application are technically acceptable.
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The Commission is satisfied that the proposed change in transmitter site from Antigonish to a location closer to the Gulf of St. Lawrence will improve significantly the existing CJFX service available to listeners, specifically those on the coast of Inverness County, without causing undue harm to existing broadcasters.
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In light of all the foregoing, the Commission is satisfied that an approval of the application is in the public interest.
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The Commission acknowledges the interventions received from two members of the provincial legislative assembly and elected officials of several municipalities in support of the application.
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Alain-F. Desfossés
Secretary General
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