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Ottawa, 19 August 1993
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Decision CRTC 93-442
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Radio Centre-Ville Saint-Louis
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Montréal, Quebec - 922211800
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Licence renewal for CINQ-FM
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Following a Public Hearing in Quebec City beginning on 4 May 1993, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence of CINQ-FM Montréal, from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1995, subject to the conditions in effect under the current licence, as well as to those conditions specified in this decision and in the licence to be issued. This two-year term will enable the Commission to assess at an early date the licensee's compliance with the provisions of the Radio Regulations, 1986 (the regulations) and the commitments contained in its Promise of Performance.
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Subsections 8(5) and 8(6) of the regulations require each licensee to retain, for a period of at least four weeks from the date of broadcast, and furnish to the Commission upon request "a clear and intelligible tape recording or other exact copy of all matter broadcast".
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In this regard, the Commission requested that the licensee submit the station's logger tapes of the programming broadcast during the week of 3 to 9 November 1991. In responding to this request, the licensee submitted tapes from which certain periods were missing; as a result, the Commission was unable to complete the planned assessment of CINQ-FM programming. The licensee explained that, despite all the measures that it had taken, including the purchase of new recording equipment and the implementation of a failure warning alarm, a tape-handling error occurred and segments were inadvertently erased.
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At the public hearing, the licensee reported that it had since taken additional corrective measures to ensure that there were no more tape-handling errors and that it had assigned a member of its staff to change the reels each day. It added that its priority:
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[TRANSLATION]
... is the regulations and to ensure that everything is in conformity with them, especially the logger tapes.
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The Commission views with very serious concern the licensee's non-compliance with this regulatory requirement. It notes that this is the third time in five years that the licensee has been unable to submit the logger tapes requested by the Commission (see Decisions CRTC 88-831 and 90-689). In light of these repeated instances of non-compliance, the Commission has decided to renew the licence of CINQ-FM for two years only. Further, it puts the licensee on notice that any subsequent infraction of the regulations may result in it being called to a public hearing to show cause why an order should not be issued by the Commission. As stated in Public Notice CRTC 1993-122, of today's date, entitled "Compliance with the Provisions of the Radio Regulations, 1986 Relating to Logger Tapes", the Commission reminds licensees of the requirement to ensure the availability at all times of complete and intelligible logger tapes, and informs licensees that it intends to use all means available in ensuring that the regulations are enforced in this regard.
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The Commission had also called the licensee to this public hearing to discuss its apparent contravention of subsection 13(2) of the regulation concerning Canadian content, and its apparent non-compliance with its commitment concerning the level of French-language vocal music. According to the licensee, there was a certain amount of confusion on its part, both with respect to the Promise of Performance filed at the time of its last licence renewal, and with respect to the proper method to be followed in calculating Canadian content during ethnic, as opposed to non-ethnic, broadcast periods. Notwithstanding the licensee's explanations, based upon the available evidence, the Commission has concluded that the licensee contravened both the regulations and the conditions of its licence during the week in question in November 1991.
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In this regard, the Commission notes the control measures described by the licensee at the hearing to ensure that its programming complies with the regulations. Under these measures, each volunteer producer must undertake in writing to comply at all times with the station's rules, which are, themselves based on the Commission's regulatory requirements. Also, each production team must submit its play list in advance to a programming official; the play list must contain information regarding Canadian content, music categories and other details concerning the broadcast it plans to air.
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The Commission also reminds the licensee that for a station broadcasting ethnic programming, such as CINQ-FM, there are two methods that may be used to calculate the Canadian musical content for a broadcast week. Under the first method, a distinction is made between non-ethnic broadcast periods and ethnic broadcast periods; in this case, the licensee must maintain a minimum of 30% Canadian musical selections for all non-ethnic broadcast periods and a minimum of 7% for all ethnic broadcast periods. Under the second method, calculations are based on the full week's programming, with no distinction being made between ethnic and non-ethnic periods. In this case, the licensee must maintain a minimum of 30% Canadian selections. With respect to French-language vocal music, the Commission informs the licensee that the calculations must be based solely on the Category 2 music (General) broadcast, and that its commitment in this regard must be respected during the entire broadcast week. Should the licensee have any remaining questions concerning French-language vocal music, Canadian content or any other matter, the Commission urges the licensee to meet with its staff as soon as possible, in order to clarify such outstanding issues.
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It is a condition of licence that the licensee devote no more than 40% of its weekly broadcast time between 6 a.m. and midnight to any combination of Type A, B, C or D ethnic programming, as defined in the Schedule to the Regulations. It is also a condition of licence that a minimum of 50% of ethnic programming broadcast be Type A and B ethnic programming. It is a condition of licence, that the licensee broadcast at least 7% Canadian musical content during Type A, B, C and D ethnic broadcast periods. It is a further condition of licence that the licensee provide ethnic programming aimed at a minimum of 5 cultural groups in at least 5 languages.
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The Commission approves the application to amend the licence of CINQ-FM by deleting the existing condition of licence concerning advertising and replacing it with the following:
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It is a condition of licence that the licensee broadcast no more than 6 minutes of advertising in every hour of broadcasting and that, on average, it broadcast no more than 4 minutes of advertising per hour of broadcast, up to a total of 504 minutes of advertising per week.
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Notwithstanding the above, the Commission authorizes the licensee to broadcast up to 8 minutes of advertising per hour during ethnic programs. The Commission notes that these two amendments are in compliance with the community radio policy for Type B stations, announced in Public Notice CRTC 1992-38 dated 29 May 1992.
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The Commission notes that the licensee will maintain a minimum of 15% Category 3 music (Traditional and Special Interest) within its overall music programming.
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The licensee reported during the hearing that it has access to a pool of some 5,000 individuals who support the station financially through annual memberships. Of this number, there are approximately 300 volunteers, and 180 of these are members in good standing who work actively at the station. The Commission also notes the introductory courses on community radio and radio journalism offered by CINQ-FM in co-operation with the Rosemont CEGEP.
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In Public Notice CRTC 1992-59 dated 1 September 1992 and entitled "Implementation of an Employment Equity Policy", the Commission announced that the employment equity practices of broadcasters would be subject to examination by the Commission. It considers that community radio stations should be particularly sensitive to this issue in order to reflect fully the communities they serve. It encourages the applicant to consider employment equity issues in its hiring practices and in all other aspects of its management of human resources.
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The Commission acknowledges the written intervention submitted by the Association des radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Québec in support of this licence renewal.
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Allan J. Darling
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Secretary General
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