ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2013-209

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Additional reference: 2013-209-1

Ottawa, 1 May 2013

Call for comments on the Saskatoon radio market’s ability to support additional radio stations, and on whether the Commission should issue a call for applications for new radio stations to serve that market

The Commission has received an application for a broadcasting licence to operate a commercial radio station to serve the Saskatoon radio market. Pursuant to Revised policy concerning the issuance of calls for radio applications and a new process for applications to serve small markets, Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2006-159, 15 December 2006, the Commission calls for comments on that market’s ability to support new radio stations and on whether it should issue a call for applications for new radio stations to serve that market. The Commission encourages interested persons, including the applicant, to submit additional information that the Commission will take into consideration before making a final determination on whether it should proceed with a call for applications.

The deadline for the receipt of comments is 31 May 2013. Only parties that file interventions may file a reply to matters raised during the intervention phase. The deadline for the filing of replies is 11 June 2013.

Background

1. In Revised policy concerning the issuance of calls for radio applications and a new process for applications to serve small markets, Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2006-159, 15 December 2006 (Broadcasting Public Notice 2006-159), the Commission set out its procedure for issuing calls for applications for broadcasting licences to operate radio stations in smaller radio markets. In that notice, the Commission recognized that commercial radio stations in smaller markets are generally more vulnerable to the impact of increasing competition and that smaller market stations generally have fewer resources than larger market stations to absorb the impact of competition.

2. The Commission has received an application for a broadcasting licence to operate a commercial radio station to serve Saskatoon. Upon assessing the Saskatoon radio market in accordance with the procedure set out in Broadcasting Public Notice 2006-159, the Commission had concerns over that market’s ability to support an additional radio station, primarily due to the low aggregate profitability of the radio stations operating in that market.

3. The Commission informed the applicant of those concerns and gave it an opportunity to either withdraw the application or submit additional information providing evidence of the market’s ability to support a new radio station. The applicant indicated that it did not intend to withdraw the application and that it would exercise its option to provide the additional evidence. Upon review of the evidence submitted, the Commission concluded that it was insufficient to address its original concerns over the Saskatoon radio market’s ability to support an additional station. Consequently, the Commission returned the application.

4. As set out in Broadcasting Public Notice 2006-159, if an applicant in such a situation decides that it still wishes to proceed, it may resubmit the application. In such a case, the Commission will issue a notice of consultation announcing the receipt of an application for the market, without identifying the applicant, and indicate the Commission’s concern about the ability of the market to support a new station. In accordance with that public notice, the applicant in the present case decided to proceed, and resubmitted its application.

Call for comments

5. In light of the above, the Commission calls for comments on the Saskatoon radio market’s ability to support new radio stations and on whether it should issue a call for applications for new radio stations to serve that market. The Commission encourages interested persons, including the applicant, to submit additional information that the Commission will take into consideration before making a final determination on whether or not to proceed with a call for applications.

Procedure

6. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure, SOR/2010-277 (the Rules of Procedure), set out, among other things, the rules for content, format, filing and service of interventions, the procedure for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure, and the conduct of the public hearing. Accordingly, the procedure set out below must be read in conjunction with the Rules of Procedure and its accompanying documents, which can be found on the Commission’s website under “CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure.”

7. The Commission invites interventions that address the issues and questions set out above. The Commission will accept interventions that it receives on or before 31 May 2013. Only parties that file interventions may file a reply to matters raised during the intervention phase. The deadline for the filing of replies is 11 June 2013.

8. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, a document must be filed with, not merely sent to, the Commission by 5 p.m. Vancouver time (8 p.m. Ottawa time) on the date it is due. The Commission takes no responsibility for postal delays and will not notify a party whose submission is received after the deadline date. Late submissions will not be considered by the Commission and will not be made part of the public file.

9. Submissions must be filed by sending them to the Secretary General of the Commission by only one of the following means:

by using the
[Intervention/comment/answer form]

or

by mail to
CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2

or

by fax at
819-994-0218

10. Submissions longer than five pages should include a summary.

11. Each paragraph of the submission should be numbered. In addition, where the intervention is filed by electronic means, the line ***End of document*** should be entered following the last paragraph of the document, as an indication that the document has not been altered during electronic transmission.

Important notice

12. All information that parties provide as part of this public process, except information designated confidential, whether sent by postal mail, facsimile, e-mail or through the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca, becomes part of a publicly accessible file and will be posted on the Commission’s website. This information includes personal information, such as full names, e-mail addresses, postal/street addresses, telephone and facsimile numbers, and any other personal information parties provide.

13. The personal information that parties provide will be used and may be disclosed for the purpose for which the information was obtained or compiled by the Commission, or for a use consistent with that purpose.

14. Documents received electronically or otherwise will be put on the Commission’s website in their entirety exactly as received, including any personal information contained therein, in the official language and format in which they are received. Documents not received electronically will be available in PDF format.

15. The information that parties provide to the Commission as part of this public process is entered into an unsearchable database dedicated to this specific public process. This database is accessible only from the web page of this particular public process. As a result, a general search of the Commission’s website with the help of either its own search engine or a third-party search engine will not provide access to the information that was provided as part of this public process.

16. The Commission encourages parties and interested persons to monitor the record of the proceeding, available on the Commission’s website, for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their submissions.

Examination of documents

17. A list of all interventions will also be available on the Commission’s website. The list is accessible by selecting “View all proceedings open for comment” from the “Public Proceedings” section of the Commission’s website and clicking on the “Interventions/Answers” link associated with this notice.

18. The public may examine public interventions and related documents at the following Commission offices during normal business hours.

Location of Commission offices

Toll-free telephone: 1-877-249-2782
Toll-free TDD: 1-877-909-2782

Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
Central Building
1 Promenade du Portage, Room 206
Gatineau, Quebec
J8X 4B1
Tel.: 819-997-2429
Fax: 819-994-0218

Regional offices

Nova Scotia

Metropolitan Place
99 Wyse Road
Suite 1410
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
B3A 4S5
Tel.: 902-426-7997
Fax: 902-426-2721

Quebec

205 Viger Avenue West
Suite 504
Montréal, Quebec
H2Z 1G2
Tel.: 514-283-6607

Ontario

55 St. Clair Avenue East
Suite 624
Toronto, Ontario
M4T 1M2
Tel.: 416-952-9096

Manitoba

360 Main Street
Suite 970
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3C 3Z3
Tel.: 204-983-6306
Fax: 204-983-6317

Saskatchewan

2220 – 12^th Avenue
Suite 620
Regina, Saskatchewan
S4P 0M8
Tel.: 306-780-3422

Alberta

100 – 4^th Avenue South-West
Suite 403
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 3N2
Tel.: 403-292-6660
Fax: 403-292-6686

British Columbia

858 Beatty Street
Suite 290
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6B 1C1
Tel.: 604-666-2111
Fax: 604-666-8322

Secretary General

Date modified:

2013-05-01