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ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2014-319

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Route reference: 2014-143

Ottawa, 12 June 2014

CKUA Radio Foundation
Edmonton, Alberta

Application 2013-1622-4, received 14 November 2013

CKUA-FM Edmonton and its transmitters – Licence renewal and amendment

The Commission renews the broadcasting licence for the English-language specialty commercial radio station CKUA-FM Edmonton and its transmitters from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2021.

The Commission also approves the licensee’s request to eliminate the requirement that it broadcast at least 6.5 hours per week of formal educational programming.

Application

  1. CKUA Radio Foundation (CKUA Radio) filed an application to renew the broadcasting licence for the English-language specialty commercial radio station CKUA-FM Edmonton and its transmitters CKUA-FM-1 Calgary, CKUA-FM-2 Lethbridge, CKUA-FM-3 Medicine Hat, CKUA-FM-4 Grande Prairie, CKUA-FM-5 Peace River, CKUA-FM-6 Red Deer, CKUA-FM-7 Hinton, CKUA-FM-8 Edson, CKUA-FM-9 Whitecourt, CKUA-FM-10 Athabasca, CKUA-FM-11 Fort McMurray, CKUA-FM-12 Spirit River, CKUA-FM-13 Drumheller, CKUA-FM-14 Banff and CKUA-FM-15 Lloydminster.
  2. CKUA Radio also requested that the Commission amend the station’s licence to eliminate the requirement that it broadcast at least 6.5 hours per week of formal educational programming (i.e. programming that is presented for accredited study at post-secondary institutions by accredited educators, such as hosts and presenters who are teachers or qualified professors).
  3. The licensee explained that this change was necessary because producing formal educational programming was very expensive and such programming appealed only to a narrow audience (i.e. students of a specific curriculum). It also noted that the Internet had replaced radio as a more useful media for the dissemination of course-related materials by educational institutions. Finally, the licensee emphasized that educational programming would remain a primary imperative of the station and that it would continue to provide informal educational programming throughout its weekly programming schedule.
  4. The Commission received a joint intervention supporting the application. The public record for this application can be found on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca or by using the application number provided above.

Commission’s analysis

  1. CKUA-FM operates as a specialty commercial radio station dedicated to broadcasting educational, community-based content with a particular focus on non-commercial music and spoken word programming. The station promotes arts and culture in Alberta and offers music not generally broadcast on conventional stations, such as alternative country, jazz, folk, bluegrass, gospel and world music. Its revenues come from restricted advertising,Footnote 1 sponsorships and donations.
  2. In Campus and community radio policy, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010-499, 22 July 2010, the Commission eliminated the requirement for campus instructional stations to provide formal educational programming, noting that such programming could be obtained by other means and notably online. The Commission agrees with the licensee that the requirement to provide formal educational programming as part of the programming of its specialty commercial radio service is no longer essential given that post-secondary institutions currently make use of online platforms to distribute course material to students.
  3. The Commission is also satisfied that eliminating the requirement to broadcast formal educational programming on CKUA-FM will not hinder the licensee in fulfilling its unique mandate as an educational and cultural broadcaster. Accordingly, the Commission considers it appropriate to grant the licensee’s request.  

Conclusion

  1. In light of all of the above, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence for the English-language specialty commercial radio programming undertaking CKUA-FM Edmonton and its transmitters from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2021. The conditions of licence are set out in the appendix to this decision.
  2. The Commission also approves the licensee’s request to eliminate the requirement that it broadcast at least 6.5 hours per week of formal educational programming.

Secretary General

*This decision is to be appended to the licence.

Appendix to Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2014-319

Conditions of licence and encouragement for the English-language specialty commercial radio programming undertaking CKUA-FM Edmonton and its transmitters

Conditions of licence

  1. The licensee shall operate the station within the specialty format as defined in Revised content categories and subcategories for radio, Public Notice CRTC 2000-14, 28 January 2000, and A Review of Certain Matters Concerning Radio, Public Notice CRTC 1995-60, 21 April 1995, as amended from time to time.
  2. The licensee shall devote at least 12% of all musical selections drawn from content category 3 (Special Interest Music) to Canadian selections broadcast in their entirety.
  3. The licensee is authorized to broadcast a weekly average of 4 minutes of restricted advertising for every hour of broadcast, with a maximum of 6 minutes of restricted advertising in any single hour, up to an overall total of 504 minutes of advertising per week. The restricted advertising broadcast must conform to the definition of restricted advertising set out in Policies for local programming on commercial radio stations and advertising on campus stations, Public Notice CRTC 1993-38, 19 April 1993, as amended from time to time.
  4. The licensee shall adhere to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Equitable Portrayal Code, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission. However, the application of the foregoing condition of licence will be suspended if the licensee is a member in good standing of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
  5. The licensee shall adhere to the Broadcast code for advertising to children, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.

Encouragement

Employment equity

In accordance with Implementation of an employment equity policy, Public Notice CRTC 1992-59, 1 September 1992, the Commission encourages the licensee to consider employment equity issues in its hiring practices and in all other aspects of its management of human resources.

Footnotes

Footnote 1

As noted in Policies for local programming on commercial radio stations and advertising on campus stations, Public Notice CRTC 1993-38, 19 April 1993, “restricted advertising” consists of simple statements of sponsorship that identify the sponsors of a program or of the station. Such statements may incorporate the names of the sponsor, the business address, hours of business and a brief general description of services or products that the sponsor provides, including the price, name and brand name of the product. Such statements must not contain references to convenience, durability and desirability or other comparative or competitive references.

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