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Ottawa, 12 August 1993
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Decision CRTC 93-335
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Coopérative Radio Restigouche Ltée
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Balmoral, New Brunswick - 930149000
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New French-language community radio
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Following a Public Hearing in Quebec City beginning on 4 May 1993, the Commission approves the application for a broadcasting licence for a French-language FM community radio programming undertaking at Balmoral on the frequency 103.9 MHz (channel 280), with an effective radiated power of 7,295 watts.
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Pursuant to Public Notice CRTC 1992-38 dated 29 May 1992 entitled "Policies for Community and Campus Radio", the Commission will issue a licence for a Type B community radio station. This licence will expire on 31 August 1999, and will be subject to the conditions specified in this decision and in the licence to be issued.
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The Commission expects community radio to develop innovative and alternative forms of community- oriented programming that contribute to the diversity and variety of radio services within a community. It also expects community radio to focus on all aspects of the community, by offering programming which examines issues affecting all of its members, as well as programs which deal with matters of interest to specific elements within it, such as neighbourhoods, surrounding towns, villages, and specific interest groups. Coopérative Radio Restigouche Ltée proposed to establish a community radio station to serve over 17,000 French-speaking Acadians who live in the northern area of New Brunswick from Belledune to Robinsonville, in the Restigouche county, including the communities of Campbellton and Dalhousie. Residents can receive the regional radio services of the English- and French-language networks of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; the French-language stations CIEU-FM Carleton and CHNC New Carlisle, Quebec; and CHRQ-FM Restigouche, which serves the local native population of Campbellton and the immediate area. Although the area's only local English-language radio station, CKNB Campbellton, broadcasts some French-language programming, the Francophone population of this area, numbering more than 17,000 residents is not served by any full-time local French-language radio service.
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In approving this application, the Commission has taken into consideration the results of a market study which was conducted for Coopérative Radio Restigouche Ltée by CIC, as well as the evidence of community support for this local French-language radio service. The Commission has taken particular note of the resources available in the area and the applicant's financial plan.
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With regard to financing, the application filed by Coopérative Radio Restigouche Ltée projects establishment costs totalling approximately $430,000. The applicant indicated that these funds will be raised in part by grants and contributions from governmental sources, partly through donations and contributions from members and organizations, and through fund-raising campaigns and volunteer activities. The applicant also stated that the municipality of Balmoral had donated a piece of land and a building to construct its studios. The Commission notes that, at the time of the public hearing, Coopérative Radio Restigouche Ltée had about 1,000 members. In light of the foregoing and the information on file, the Commission is confident that the applicant will have access to sufficient financial and community support to establish the undertaking.
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The applicant proposed to conduct on-air bingo games in French, English and Micmac as part of its fund-raising activities. The Commission notes, however, that the purpose of the station is to provide a programming service exclusively in the French language. Because Coopérative Radio Restigouche Ltée will not otherwise be broadcasting in English or Micmac, the Commission considers that it would be inappropriate for the applicant to raise funds from within those two communities. Accordingly, the Commission denies this proposal, and expects the applicant to file, within three months of today's date, a revised Promise of Performance reflecting this decision.
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Coopérative Radio Restigouche Ltée projected station operating revenues of $376,000 during the first year, of which $166,000 would be earned from local advertising. Other sources of revenue will include, in particular, government training and job creation programs, the sale of memberships and the proceeds from various benefit events. The Commission notes the applicant's strong resolve to be financially self-sufficient. The Commission encourages Coopérative Radio Restigouche Ltée to diversify its sources of funding as much as possible over the next few years.
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Further, the Commission notes that Maritime Broadcasting System Limited, licensee of CKNB Campbellton, appeared at the public hearing to present an intervention in which it expressed its opposition to the establishment of a new station in the market. The intervener said that this new community radio station will further fragment the advertising base and CKNB's audience, particularly in Campbellton/Dalhousie, which is its principal market, and would therefore jeopardize its survival. At the Public Hearing, Coopérative Radio Restigouche Ltée stated that CKNB is virtually the only radio station deriving advertising revenue in a market whose overall financial health is very strong. Although the applicant acknowledged that part of its revenues will come from the same advertising base, it argued that the proposed service would not jeopardize the operations of CKNB; specifically, it claimed that, as a Type B community station, the new undertaking would operate under a condition of licence regarding the amount of advertising it is permitted to broadcast, thus limiting the impact of the proposed service on the local advertising market.
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In view of the sound financial position of radio station CKNB, whose profits before taxes and interest in recent years have regularly exceeded the Canadian and Atlantic Canada average for radio stations, the Commission considers that the establishment of the proposed French-language community radio station will not jeopardize the survival of the English-language radio service provided by CKNB or unduly fragment the English-speaking audience that it is meant to serve.
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It is a condition of licence that the applicant broadcast no more than 6 minutes of advertising in every hour of broadcast, and that it broadcast no more than an average of 4 minutes of advertising per hour of broadcast up to a total of 504 minutes of advertising per week, in accordance with the community radio policy for Type B stations.
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The Commission notes the applicant's proposal to broadcast 105 hours of local programming per broadcast week, 20 hours of which will be automated programming.
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Given the limited availability of financial and human resources during the implementation phase, the applicant indicated that it would be obliged to broadcast automated programming during the daytime in order to ensure the viability of the station and maintain high-quality, uninterrupted service. The applicant asked the Commission to relieve it of the requirements regarding spoken word content on Type B community radio stations, as well as those regarding the maximum repeat factor, acquired programming, and network programming until the station has attained a more secure financial position and can afford to employ a daytime program host.
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The Commission approves the applicant's proposal to allocate 15% of the broadcast week to spoken word programming. However, the Commission reminds the applicant that the primary role of community radio is to provide a high level of community-oriented spoken word programming. Accordingly, the Commission requires the applicant, by condition of licence, to achieve a level of 25% spoken word before the end of the third year of operations, as required by the Commission's policy for community and campus radio for Type B stations.
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The Commission also approves the applicant's requests to be relieved of the requirements of the above policy relating to the maximum repeat factor, acquired programming and network programming it intends to broadcast. The Commission however reminds the applicant that it must adhere to the condition of licence regarding advertising during those periods when it is broadcasting acquired or network programming.
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The Commission notes the applicant's proposal to broadcast a minimum of 8% Category 3 (Traditional and Special Interest) music as a percentage of overall music programming.
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With regard to the development of Canadian talent, the applicant intends to allow local artists to use its studios for the production of demo tapes and to broadcast their music, performances and concerts. The applicant also intends to produce concerts to promote and develop local talent.
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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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It is a condition of licence that the applicant adhere to the guidelines on gender portrayal set out in the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) "Sex-Role Portrayal Code for Television and Radio Programming", as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.
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It is also a condition of licence that the applicant 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.
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The Department of Communications (DOC) has advised the Commission that this application is conditionally technically acceptable, and that a Broadcasting Certificate will only be issued once it has been determined that the proposed technical parameters will not create any unacceptable interference with aeronautical NAV/COM services.
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In accordance with subsection 22(1) of the Broadcasting Act, the Commission will only issue the licence, and the authority granted herein may only be implemented, at such time as written notification is received from the DOC that its technical requirements have been met, and that a Broadcasting Certificate will be issued.
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It is a condition of licence that construction of this undertaking be completed and that it be in operation within twelve months of the date of receipt of the DOC notification referred to in the preceding paragraph or, where the applicant applies to the Commission within this period and satisfies the Commission that it cannot complete implementation before the expiry of this period and that an extension is in the public interest, within such further period of time as is approved in writing by the Commission.
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The Commission has taken into consideration the opposing intervention filed by Radio Acadie Ltée and the applicant's reply to this intervention. The Commission has also taken into consideration the supporting interventions presented at the public hearing by the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada Inc., the Association des radios communautaires acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick, the Société des Acadiens et Acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick, the Village de Balmoral, as well as the 28 written interventions submitted by individuals and organizations in the area.
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
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