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ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-324

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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-324

  Ottawa, 21 November 2008
  Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. (the general partner) and Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. (the limited partner), carrying on business as Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Limited Partnership (collectively the Pattison Group)
 Penticton, Keremeos and Princeton, British Columbia
  Application 2008-0566-6, received 16 April 2008
Public Hearing in Cambridge, Ontario
20 October 2008
 

CIGV-FM Penticton and its transmitters CIGV-FM-1 Keremeos and CIGV-FM-2 Princeton - Acquisition of assets

  The Commission denies an application by Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. (the general partner) and Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. (the limited partner), carrying on business as Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Limited Partnership (collectively the Pattison Group), to acquire the assets of CIGV-FM Penticton and its transmitters CIGV-FM-1 Keremeos and CIGV-FM-2 Princeton from Great Valleys Radio Ltd.
 

The application

1.

The Commission received an application by Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. (the general partner) and Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. (the limited partner), carrying on business as Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Limited Partnership (collectively the Pattison Group) (Pattison), to acquire the assets of the radio programming undertaking CIGV-FM Penticton and its transmitters CIGV-FM-1 Keremeos and CIGV-FM-2 Princeton, British Columbia from Great Valleys Radio Ltd., a corporation controlled by Ralph and Jean Robinson. The applicant also requested a licence to continue the operation of the undertaking under the same terms and conditions as those in effect under the current licence.

2.

Pattison further proposed to reduce the average effective radiated power (ERP) of CIGV-FM from 6,300 watts to an average ERP of 3,100 watts.

3.

In Broadcasting Decision 2008-44, the Commission denied a previous application by Pattison to acquire the assets of CIGV-FM Penticton and its transmitters CIGV-FM-1 Keremeos and CIGV-FM-2 Princeton. In that decision, the Commission noted that approval of the application would see the region being served almost entirely by two operators: Pattison and Astral Media Radio G.P. Further, the Commission determined that CIGV-FM's 3mV/m contour overlapped the 3mV/m contours of existing Pattison stations in Kelowna, and consequently, Pattison would have exceeded the limit set in the Commission's Common Ownership Policy of two FM stations in a given geographic and linguistic market1. Finally, the Commission concluded that Pattison did not demonstrate a technical or economic need for an exception to the Common Ownership Policy.

4.

The Commission received one comment with respect to this application, to which Pattison replied. The public record of this proceeding is available on the Commission's website at www.crtc.gc.ca under "Public Proceedings."
 

Commission's analysis and determinations

5.

After examining the public record regarding the present application, the Commission considers that the issue to be determined relates to whether Pattison's proposed acquisition of CIGV-FM Penticton is consistent with the Common Ownership Policy.

6.

Section 2 of the Radio Regulations, 1986 (the Regulations) defines a "market" in the case of an FM station as "the FM 3mV/m contour or the central area as defined by the [Bureau of Broadcast Measurement], whichever is smaller". For the purpose of evaluating this application under the Common Ownership Policy, the Commission determines that the market is defined by the respective 3mV/m contours of Pattison's stations CKLZ-FM and CKOV-FM in Kelowna and of CIGV-FM Penticton.

7.

The Commission notes that the proposed modification to CIGV-FM's authorized contour would eliminate the overlap between the 3mV/m contour of that station with the 3mV/m contours of Pattison's stations in Kelowna.

8.

While the Commission acknowledges that Pattison's modifications to CIGV-FM's contour would make the proposed acquisition consistent with the Common Ownership Policy, it is concerned that the substantial decrease to the contour would not constitute an effective use of the frequency.

9.

FM frequencies are public property and a scarce resource. For these reasons, the Commission must ensure that they are used effectively. The Commission concludes that the ERP reduction is significant as it represents a reduction in the coverage currently provided by CIGV-FM and would result in an unacceptably large reduction in the number of households and individuals served by the station. Consequently, the Commission is of the view that the public interest would not be served by such a reduction in the coverage and, furthermore, that this application does not represent an effective use of the frequency spectrum in the area.
 

Conclusion

10.

In light of the above, the Commission denies the application by Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Ltd. (the general partner) and Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. (the limited partner), carrying on business as Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Limited Partnership to acquire the assets of CIGV-FM Penticton and its transmitters CIGV-FM-1 Keremeos and
CIGV-FM-2 Princeton from Great Valleys Radio Ltd.
  Secretary General
 

Related documents

 
  • CKIZ-FM Vernon and CIGV-FM Penticton and their transmitters - Acquisition of assets, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-44, 25 February 2008
 
  • Diversity of Voices - Regulatory policy, Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2008-4, 15 January 2008
 
  • Commercial Radio Policy 1998, Public Notice CRTC 1998-41, 30 April 1998
  This decision is available in alternative format upon request and may also be examined in PDF format or in HTML at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca.

Footnote:
 1 As set out in Public Notice 1998-41 and reaffirmed in Broadcasting Public Notice 2008-4, a person may own or control no more than three stations in a given language in markets where less than eight commercial stations are operating in that language, with a maximum of two stations in any one frequency band. In markets with eight commercial stations or more operating in a given language, the limit is set at a maximum of two AM and two FM stations in that language.

 

Date Modified: 2008-11-21
Date modified: