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Decision
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Ottawa, 1 June 1990
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Decision CRTC 90-472
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NewCap Broadcasting Limited
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St. John's, Newfoundland - 891034100
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Pursuant to Public Notice CRTC 1989-115 dated 17 October 1989, the Commission approves the application by NewCap Broadcasting Limited (NewCap) to amend the broadcasting licence for CJYQ St. John's by increasing the transmitter power from 25,000 watts to 50,000 watts.
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VOCM Radio Newfoundland Limited (VOCM), licensee of VOCM St. John's and CHVO Spaniard's Bay/Harbour Grace, filed an opposing intervention, claiming that approval of this application would make CJYQ competitive with CHVO in the Conception Bay area and would result in NewCap operating two commercial AM signals in the same market (Harbour Grace/ Carbonear), contrary to the Commission's longstanding policy prohibiting service duplication. The intervenor also expressed strong concern about potential interference to its signal in the populated areas near CJYQ's transmitter and requested that, if the present application is approved, the Commission impose a condition of licence requiring CJYQ to reduce power to prevent interference. The Commission notes that VOCM's intervention was supported by independent technical studies by two engineering consulting firms. In particular, VOCM refuted NewCap's claim that there is a pattern null in CJYQ's night-time service to Mount Pearl, a suburb of St. John's. VOCM further argued that signal measurements conducted by one of its engineering consultants indicated that the signal strengths of CJYQ's present operation exceed 30 millivolts/metre. The Commission notes that these measured values are greater than the Department of Communications' (DOC) minimum city grade specifications, of 25 millivolts/ metre.
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In reply, NewCap stated that, since VOCM did not have access to all relevant technical data, its conclusions are based on incomplete field measurements.
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While the Commission does not discount the technical evidence presented by VOCM, it does not consider the issue of whether a null exists in CJYQ's night-time coverage to be a crucial factor in this proposal. Furthermore, in approving this application, the Commission has taken into consideration the fact that DOC has indicated that the application is technically acceptable. The Commission is satisfied that the proposed changes will result in improvement of the quality of CJYQ's signal to the Mount Pearl area. In addition, the Commission notes that the upgraded technical facilities proposed in the present application constitute part of NewCap's commitments when it acquired the assets of CJYQ (Decision CRTC 89-490). In light of all of the foregoing, the Commission is satisfied that approval of this application is in the public interest. The Commission does not consider it appropriate to impose a condition of licence as requested by VOCM. In this regard, the Commission notes that matters relating to potential or actual interference problems are within DOC's jurisdiction. The Commission further notes that, as part of its technical submission, NewCap was required to provide DOC with a commitment to resolve all cases of valid interference attributed to CJYQ as a result of implementation of the authority granted in the present decision.
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Rosemary Chisholm
Acting Secretary General
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