ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2011-720

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Route reference: 2011-427

Additional reference: 2011-427-1

Ottawa, 21 November 2011

Various applicants
Montréal, Quebec

The application numbers are set out in the decision.
Public hearing in the National Capital Region
19 September 2011

Licensing of new radio stations to serve Montréal

The Commission denies applications for broadcasting licences for new AM radio stations to serve Montréal.

Introduction

1.             The Commission received four applications for new commercial AM radio programming undertakings to serve Montréal, two of which are mutually exclusive on a technical basis. One of the applications was for a religious station, while the remaining three applications were for ethnic stations. The applicants were as follows:

• Gospel Media Communications (Gospel Media);

• La Méga Radio inc. (Méga Radio);

• Neeti P. Ray, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated (OBCI); and

• Radio Humsafar Inc. (Radio Humsafar).

2.             As part of this process, the Commission received and considered interventions with respect to each application. The public record for this proceeding is available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca under “Public Proceedings.”

3.             After reviewing the positions of the parties to this proceeding, the Commission is of the view that the primary issue to be considered is whether the Montréal radio market could sustain the proposed radio services without an undue negative impact on existing stations.

The Montréal radio market and its ability to sustain the proposed stations

4.             The Montréal radio market is currently served by five commercial ethnic radio stations (CKDG-FM, CKIN-FM, CFMB, CJWI and CHOU) and one religious station (CIRA-FM). The community radio station CINQ-FM also serves ethnic communities through much of its programming.

5.             The Commission notes that three of the applications received, namely the applications by Méga Radio, Neeti P. Ray (OBCI) and Radio Humsafar, are for ethnic stations. Of these proposed stations, the last two would directly target South Asian communities, while the station proposed by Méga Radio would target Montréal’s Latin-American community, among others.

6.             With respect to the ability of the Montréal radio market to sustain new ethnic services, the Commission notes that CKIN-FM began operations in August 2010 and currently broadcasts five hours of South Asian programming each day, including programming aired during the evening drive period. Given that this station launched just over a year ago and that a considerable portion of its programming is directed towards South Asians, the Commission considers that CKIN-FM has not had sufficient time to establish itself in the market and that a new station targeting the same ethnic group could have a negative impact on CKIN-FM. Further, although none of the existing ethnic Montréal stations have the Latin-American community as its primary target audience, the Commission notes that they cumulatively broadcast approximately 37 hours of programming dedicated to the Latin-American community each week. The Commission further notes that CKIN-FM also provides several hours of programming directed to the Latin-American community. Accordingly, the Commission does not consider that licensing a new station targeting either of these above-mentioned demographics would be appropriate at this time.

7.             As regards the ability of the market to sustain a new religious station, the Commission notes that the Montréal market is already served by a Christian radio station, CIRA-FM, which provides a significant level of spoken word content not currently available on other stations. The Commission also notes that the station would target a finite population and that the market for such a station could be limited. Accordingly, although Gospel Media stated that 90% of its projected revenues would come from new advertisers and that its service would not impact existing radio stations, the Commission considers that approval of this service would have a more significant impact on the capacity of CIRA-FM to offer its programming.

Conclusion

8.             Based on all of the foregoing, the Commission denies the following applications for broadcasting licences to operate radio programming undertakings in Montréal:

Gospel Media Communications
Application 2011-0816-8, received 6 May 2011

La Méga Radio inc.
Application 2011-0693-0, received 16 April 2011

Neeti P. Ray, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated
Application 2011-0848-1, received 18 May 2011

Radio Humsafar Inc.
Application 2011-0050-3, received 10 January 2010

Secretary General

Date modified:

2011-11-21