ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2014-199

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Route reference: Part 1 application posted on 5 September 2013

Ottawa, 29 April 2014

Coop de solidarité radio communautaire de la MRC de Maskinongé
Louiseville, Quebec

Application 2013-1217-3

CHHO-FM Louiseville – Technical amendment

The Commission approves the application by Coop de solidarité radio communautaire de la MRC de Maskinongé to change the authorized contours of the community radio station CHHO-FM Louiseville.

Introduction

1. The Commission received an application by Coop de solidarité radio communautaire de la MRC de Maskinongé to change the authorized contours of the community radio station CHHO-FM Louiseville, Quebec, by increasing the average effective radiated power (ERP) from 1,520 to 2,300 watts (maximum ERP going from 2,720 to 4,240 watts).^{Footnote 1} All other technical parameters would remain the same.

2. The licensee stated that this power increase is necessary to better serve the population of Louiseville, which has difficulty receiving CHHO-FM’s signal.

3. The Commission received an intervention opposing the application from Communications Michel Mathieu, on behalf of its client Radio Nord-Joli inc., to which the applicant replied. The public record for this application can be found on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca under “Broadcasting Proceedings.”

4. The intervener submitted that approval of this application would have a negative financial impact on the community station CFNJ-FM Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon. It also argued that other technical solutions could have been considered before those proposed by the licensee, adding that CHHO-FM’s contour already overlaps with part of CFNJ-FM’s territory and that the proposed increase would result in a increase to the current signal by of one and a half times in its direction.

5. In its reply, the licensee stipulated that the municipalities affected by the power increase are already part of its authorised service area. With respect to other potential solutions, the licensee confirmed that they had already been considered in 2009 and that the main objective of this application is to ensure that CHHO-FM’s signal is well received in its primary market, namely, Louiseville.

Commission’s analysis and decision

6. After examining the public record for this application in light of applicable policies and regulations, as well as the intervention received, the Commission considers that the issues it must address are the following:

•  Would approval of this application have a negative financial impact on the community station CFNJ-FM?
•  Has the licensee demonstrated a technical or economic need justifying the proposed technical change?

Impact on the community station CFNJ-FM

7. The Commission notes that CFNJ-FM’s 0.5 mV/m (secondary) contour currently fully encompasses CHHO-FM’s primary contour. In addition, the proposed increase to CHHO-FM’s secondary 0.5 mV/m contour would cause only a minor overlap in CFNJ-FM’s primary service area.

8. In addition, the stations CFNJ-FM and CHHO-FM are community services that both draw a large portion of their revenues from non-commercial sources. As such, approval of the licensee’s application would not have any undue financial impact on CFNJ-FM.

9. The Commission finds that the financial arguments submitted in opposition are not convincing.

Compelling technical or economic need

10. When a licensee files an application for a change to a station’s technical parameters, the Commission expects the licensee to present compelling evidence that the existing technical parameters are not adequate, for technical or financial reasons, to provide the service as originally proposed.

11. The Commission examined both the technical and financial merit of the requested modification. It finds that the opposing intervention did not raise concerns that invalidated the reception problems indicated by CHHO-FM within its 3 mV/m (primary) contour. In addition, the Commission considers that the applicant’s proposal will improve the quality of the signal in Louiseville, the locality the station is licensed to serve.

Conclusion

12. In light of the above, the Commission approves the application by Coop de solidarité radio communautaire de la MRC de Maskinongé to change the authorized contours of the community radio programming undertaking CHHO-FM Louiseville.

13. The Commission reminds the licensee that pursuant to section 22(1) of the Broadcasting Act, this authority will only be effective when the Department of Industry notifies the Commission that its technical requirements have been met and that a broadcasting certificate will be issued.

Secretary General

*This decision is to be appended to the licence.

Date modified:

2014-04-29