ARCHIVED -  Circular No. 422

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Circular No. 422

See also: Circular No. 422-1

Ottawa, 6 September 1996

FOR THE ATTENTION OF ALL ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FM RADIO LICENSEES

Changes to the charts used by the Commission to determine hits

The Commission has been using the following charts to determine the level of hits broadcast by English-language commercial FM stations:
The Record Retail Singles
The Record Country
RPM 100 Country Tracks (Top 40 positions only)
Billboard Hot 100 Singles (Top 40 positions only)
Billboard Hot Country (Top 40 positions only)
On 1 April 1996, the Canadian music industry publication, "The Record", discontinued its "Retail Singles" chart. The Record has, however, replaced the Retail Singles chart with a new weekly chart called "The Hit Parade". The Commission has therefore decided to adopt The Record's Hit Parade chart to replace the Retail Singles chart as one of the reference tools it uses to determine what constitutes a "hit".
Since the Hit Parade chart is based on airplay rather than strictly on sales, selections will likely appear on this chart more quickly than they would have on the now-discontinued Retail Singles chart. The Commission has therefore decided that it would be appropriate to amend the procedure it uses in its analysis.
Currently, the charts used to determine the hit status of a selection are those contained in publications dated up to and including two Saturdays before the date of broadcast. Upon implementation of this revised procedure, the charts used to determine hit factors will be those contained in publications dated up to and including four Saturdays before the date of broadcast.
For example, in analysis of selections broadcast on Thursday 28 November 1996 under this revised procedure, any selections achieving hit status according to publications dated Saturday 2 November 1996, or earlier, will be counted as hits. Selections attaining hit status in publications dated later would be treated as non-hits.
The Commission has taken this decision bearing in mind its statement, set out in its April 1995 Public Notice CRTC 1995-60, that it would be prepared to review its policy limiting the use of hits by English-language commercial FM stations in three years' time.

Implementation Date

In order that broadcasters and the Commission may have time to adjust their monitoring systems to accommodate this change, the new procedure will come into effect on Sunday, 6 October 1996.
Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
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