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ARCHIVED - Decision CRTC 2000-396

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Decision CRTC 2000-396
Ottawa, 2 October 2000
Angela Demers, on behalf of AD Communications, a company to be incorporated
Kapuskasing, Ontario – 200000448
4 July 2000 Public Hearing
in Toronto
Denial of an application for a new radio station at Kapuskasing
The Commission denies the application for a broadcasting licence for an English-language low-power FM radio programming undertaking at Kapuskasing. The applicant had proposed to offer a "pop, rock and dance" music format. The Commission considers that the programming budget and staff levels proposed would not be sufficient to produce high-quality local programming that would be commensurate with the size and needs of the Kapuskasing community.
Background

1.

The Kapuskasing commercial radio market is currently served by English-language station CKAP and by French-language station CHYK, a rebroadcaster of CHYK-FM Timmins. CKGN-FM, a French-language non-commercial community station, also serves the community.

2.

In Decision CRTC 99-505, the Commission denied a previous application by Angela Demers. The Commission considered that the applicant had not proposed adequate staff to produce an amount of high-quality local programming that would meet the needs of the Kapuskasing community. Further, in the Commission's view, the applicant had not responded satisfactorily to concerns raised by opposing interveners who argued that the Kapuskasing radio market does not have enough advertising revenues to sustain an additional radio station without causing harm to existing stations.

3.

In Decision CRTC 97-179, the Commission denied an application by Radio Communautaire Kapnord inc., licensee of CKGN-FM, to delete the station's condition of licence that limits it to broadcasting no more than 6 minutes of advertising each hour. The Commission, in denying this application, took into consideration the "limited potential of the Kapuskasing market and the impact on existing local broadcasting services."
The Commission's local programming policy

4.

The Commission's local programming policy for radio set out in Public Notice CRTC 1998-41 is intended to ensure that commercial stations provide sufficient high-quality local programming to correspond with the size and needs of the communities they serve.If they wish to solicit or accept local advertising, licensees of commercial FM stations in markets served by more than one private commercial radio station generally must devote at least one-third of the station's weekly programming to local programming. This requirement is imposed as a condition of licence.

5.

The policy also requires that, as part of their local programming, licensees should provide spoken word material of direct and particular relevance to the community served, such as local news, weather and sports, and the promotion of local events and activities.
The present application

6.

As part of the application process, the Commission asked the applicant to describe how the proposed station would comply with the policy. In response, the applicant agreed to accept a condition of licence prohibiting it from soliciting or accepting local advertising for broadcast during any broadcast week when less than one-third of the programming is local.

7.

The applicant also indicated that it would offer station-produced news packages including local weather and sports. They would be aired 11 times daily, seven days a week and would consist of "live-to-air" presentations during the day, and pre-recorded programs during the evening. The station would also broadcast public service announcements and promote community events.

8.

The applicant stated that only three full-time staff members would be assigned to the production of local programming. They would be responsible for producing and airing all local news, weather and sports, commercials, interviews, and announcements regarding local community events as well as introductions of song titles and artists. Their duties would also include creating and monitoring music lists, previewing new music, tracking weekly levels of Canadian content and hits and maintaining all station logs.

9.

The applicant's proposed programming staff levels and its projected programming expenditures were much lower than the staff and programming budgets of other commercial FM stations serving small- or medium-sized markets.
Interventions

10.

The Commission received 18  interventions to this application: 13 in support and 5 in opposition. Radio Communautaire Kapnord inc., Caisse populaire de Kapuskasing, Le Movement des intervenants et intervenantes en communication radio de l’Ontario and L'Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada inc. all argued that the introduction of a third commercial radio service to Kapuskasing would have a negative impact on existing radio broadcasters. The General Director of L'Horizon and The/Le Weekender, two newspapers in the Kapuskasing region, also expressed concern regarding the effect that the proposed station would have on its operations.

11.

In response, the applicant stated that it wishes to bring more diversity to the Kapuskasing radio market.
The Commission's determination

12.

The applicant is seeking a licence to operate a commercial low-power FM station in a competitive market. Accordingly, the applicant must demonstrate that it would be able to create and sustain the production of spoken word and local programming at a level and quality that would adequately fulfil the local programming requirements set out in Public Notice CRTC 1998-41. The Commission has, in the past, licensed popular music stations that proposed to operate on a reduced scale. The applicants in those cases were seeking to serve very small communities without radio services that could not support larger operations. In the present case, however, the Commission considers that the programming budget and staff levels proposed in the application would not be adequate to fulfil the requirement that the station produce an amount of high-quality local programming commensurate with the size and needs of the Kapuskasing community.

13.

In the Commission's view, the factors that influenced its decision to deny the 1997 application for relief from CKGN-FM's condition of licence restricting the amount of advertising it can broadcast continue to exist. The Commission also considers that the applicant did not adequately address the concerns raised in the opposing interventions regarding the potential impact of the proposed station on existing local broadcasting services.

14.

Based on all of the foregoing, the Commission has denied this application.
Related CRTC document
  • Public Notice 1998-41– Commercial Radio Policy 1998
Secretary General
This decision is available in alternative format upon request, and may also be examined at the following Internet site: www.crtc.gc.ca
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