ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 97-530

Decision

Ottawa, 29 August 1997

Decision CRTC 97-530

Telemedia Communications Inc.

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario - 199613253

Licence renewal for CHAS-FM

1. Following Public Notice CRTC 1997-47 dated 25 April 1997, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence for the radio programming undertaking CHAS-FM Sault Ste. Marie from 1 September 1997 to 31 August 2004, 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.

2. As part of its licence renewal application, Telemedia Communications Inc. (Telemedia) requested two amendments to its licence.

3. The Commission denies Telemedia's request to reduce the minimum amount of category 2 Canadian musical selections broadcast each week on CHAS-FM from 30% to 15%. Subsection 2.2(3) of the Radio Regulations, 1986 requires that a minimum of 30% of all musical selections broadcast each week be Canadian. During the new licence term, Telemedia must adhere to this requirement.

4. The Commission approves Telemedia's request to be exempted from the requirement that, to accept or solicit local advertising, one-third of the programming broadcast by a commercial radio station must be local programming. In accordance with Telemedia's proposal, the licensee is required, by condition of licence, to broadcast 28 hours of local programming each week.

5. Sault Ste. Marie qualifies as a border market, described in Public Notice CRTC 1992-3 entitled Guidelines for Assessing Applications for Programming Flexibility from Licensees of Radio Stations in Border Markets and Small Markets. Previously, in Decision CRTC 93-51 dated 10 February 1993, the Commission approved Telemedia's requests to reduce the amount of news and of spoken word material that CHAS-FM was required to broadcast in order to give the station increased flexibility to compete more effectively with U.S. stations operating in the adjacent city of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The Commission also exempted the licensee from the regulatory requirement with regard to the level of hits.

6. In support of its present proposed licence amendments, Telemedia stated that the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement identified nine individual U.S. stations that are received in Sault Ste. Marie as well as a number of U.S. stations reported collectively under "Others". According to Telemedia, U.S. signals account for almost half of all listening hours in CHAS-FM's market. Telemedia argued that it needs more programming flexibility to be able to repatriate these hours of tuning back from U.S. stations. Moreover, Telemedia claimed that approval of its request to be exempted from the Commission's requirement regarding local programming would not have a negative impact on CJQM-FM, Sault Ste. Marie's other Canadian commercial radio station, owned by Pelmorex Radio Inc. and operated under a local management agreement with Telemedia.

7. The Canadian Independent Record Production Association (CIRPA) submitted an intervention opposing Telemedia's request to reduce the level of Canadian content broadcast on CHAS-FM. Among other things, CIRPA argued that playing more Canadian content, rather than less, is a competitive advantage for a Canadian radio station serving a Canadian audience.

8. In Public Notice CRTC 1992-3, the Commission stated that:

Flexibility regarding Canadian content will not generally be accorded except for the licensees of AM and FM stations in border markets where exceptional circumstances are present, such as those identified in Public Notice CRTC 1984-233 entitled Windsor Radio Review.

9. The Commission is not convinced that the circumstances in the Sault Ste. Marie market are similar to those in the Windsor market. In addition, the Commission considers that Telemedia failed to provide compelling reasons to justify a reduction in the required level of Canadian musical selections to be broadcast by CHAS-FM each week. Moreover, the Commission is concerned that approval of this request would reduce the Canadian flavour of one of Sault Ste. Marie's two commercial radio stations. Accordingly, the Commission has denied this request.

10. With regard to Telemedia's request to reduce the level of local programming broadcast on CHAS-FM, the Commission notes that there were no interventions submitted in opposition to this proposal. Furthermore, the Commission notes that CHAS-FM has experienced serious financial difficulties since the late 1980's. The Commission considers that approval of this request will enable the licensee to reduce its programming costs and potentially achieve profitability. For these reasons, the Commission has approved this request.

11. It is a condition of licence that this station not be operated within the Specialty format as defined in Public Notice CRTC 1995-60, or as amended from time to time by the Commission.

12. The licensee is required, by condition of licence, to make payments to third parties involved in Canadian talent development at the level identified for it in the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) Distribution Guidelines For Canadian Talent Development, as set out in Public Notice CRTC 1995-196 or as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission, and to report the names of the third parties associated with Canadian talent development, together with the amounts paid to each, on its annual return. The payments required under this condition of licence are over and above any outstanding commitments to Canadian talent development offered as benefits in an application to acquire ownership or control of the undertaking.

13. It is a condition of licence that the licensee adhere to the guidelines on gender portrayal set out in the CAB's Sex-Role Portrayal Code for Television and Radio Programming, as amended from time to time and accepted by the Commission. The application of the foregoing condition of licence will be suspended as long as the licensee remains a member in good standing of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.

14. The Commission notes that this licensee is subject to the Employment Equity Act that came into effect on 24 October 1996 (1996 EEA), and therefore files reports concerning employment equity with Human Resources Development Canada. As a result of a consequential amendment to the Broadcasting Act, the Commission no longer has the authority to apply its employment equity policy to any undertaking that is subject to the 1996 EEA.

This decision is to be appended to the licence.

Laura M. Talbot-Allan
Secretary General

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