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ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2011-122

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Route reference: 2010-548

Ottawa, 23 February 2011

Astral Media Radio Inc.
St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Trois-Rivières, Rimouski, Montréal and Drummondville, Quebec

Application 2010-1100-9, received 5 July 2010

CFZZ-FM St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, CHEY-FM Trois-Rivières, CIKI-FM Rimouski, CITÉ-FM Montréal, CJDM-FM Drummondville and CJOI-FM Rimouski – Licence amendments

The Commission approves the application by Astral Media Radio Inc. to amend the broadcasting licences for the French-language commercial radio stations CFZZ-FM St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, CHEY-FM Trois-Rivières, CIKI-FM Rimouski, CITÉ-FM Montréal, CJDM-FM Drummondville and CJOI-FM Rimouski.

Introduction

1.      The Commission received an application by Astral Media Radio Inc. (Astral) to amend the broadcasting licences for the French-language commercial radio programming undertakings CFZZ-FM St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, CHEY-FM Trois-Rivières, CIKI-FM Rimouski, CITÉ-FM Montréal, CJDM-FM Drummondville and CJOI-FM Rimouski, to delete the condition of licence relating to the provision of annual reports on the diversity of musical selections.

2.      In its application, Astral noted that in Broadcasting Decision 2010-332, the Commission approved an application to delete the condition of licence relating to the provision of annual reports on the diversity of musical selections. According to Astral, this condition of licence should be removed from the licences of all stations on the Énergie (now known as NRJ), RockDétente and Boom FM networks.

3.      The Commission received a general comment in connection with this application from the Association québécoise de l’industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ). Astral replied to ADISQ’s comment. The complete record of this proceeding is available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca under “Public Proceedings.”

Commission’s analysis and determinations

4.      In Broadcasting Decision 2002-90, the Commission imposed as a condition precedent the following condition of licence relating to the provision of annual reports on the diversity of musical selections for the stations in question in that decision, including CHEY-FM and CITÉ-FM:

For the FM stations, submission by the licensee, in each broadcast year starting in 2003 and until expiry of the implementation period for the benefits related to this transaction, of a report, in a form acceptable to the Commission, on the diversity of musical selections broadcast by the two predominantly music-based FM networks, Radio Énergie and Radio RockDétente.

5.      The Commission notes that Astral is the only licensee among large FM station ownership groups in Quebec to be subject to the requirement to provide annual reports on the diversity of musical selections.

6.      At the licence renewal for CFVM-FM Amqui (Broadcasting Decision 2010-332), the Commission noted that the condition of licence relating to the provision of annual reports on the diversity of musical selections was imposed for a specified period that had come to an end, and that the condition was no longer considered necessary and would not be reimposed.

7.      In the present case, the Commission notes that the condition of licence relating to the provision of annual reports on the diversity of musical selections for the stations in question has not been imposed for a specified period for most of those stations, with the exceptions of CHEY-FM and CITÉ-FM.

8.      Furthermore, the Commission notes that stations CFZZ-FM and CITÉ-FM are in non-compliance. As a general rule, the Commission does not approve requests for licence amendments by licensees in non-compliance. However, in regard to the non-compliance of CFZZ-FM and CITÉ-FM, the Commission notes that, in 2009, after having been notified of the non-compliance by the licensee, the Commission issued Broadcasting Decision 2009-794, in which it approved in part the licensee’s application to amend the schedule and amount of payments made for Canadian content development to remedy this non-compliance, and required the licensee to expend certain amounts.

9.      The Commission notes that this is a first-time instance of non-compliance for these stations, and that the amendment proposed by Astral is not related to the non-compliance. In addition, the Commission notes that the non-compliance will be examined in the context of the licence renewal for CFZZ-FM and CITÉ-FM, planned for 2014.

10.  Given that the condition of licence relating to the provision of annual reports on the diversity of musical selections has been imposed on all networks operated by Astral (i.e. RockDétente, NRJ and Boom FM), the Commission considers that the deletion of this condition of licence from the other licences would indirectly relieve CFZZ-FM and CITÉ-FM of this obligation. In addition, the Commission notes that the data contained in the annual reports filed by Astral have never raised concerns. Accordingly, the Commission considers that the provision of annual reports on the diversity of musical selections by the stations in question in this decision is no longer necessary.

Conclusion

11.  In light of all the above, the Commission approves the application by Astral Media Radio Inc. to amend the broadcasting licences for the French-language commercial radio programming undertakings CFZZ-FM St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, CHEY-FM Trois-Rivières, CIKI-FM Rimouski, CITÉ-FM Montréal, CJDM-FM Drummondville and CJOI-FM Rimouski, to delete the condition of licence relating to the provision of annual reports on the diversity of musical selections.

Secretary General

Related documents

*This decision is to be appended to each licence.

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