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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2021-369

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Reference: Part 1 application posted on 14 December 2020

Ottawa, 10 November 2021

North Superior Broadcasting Ltd.
Marathon and Longlac, Ontario

Public record for this application: 2020-0852-3

CFNO-FM Marathon and its transmitter CFNO-FM-5 Longlac – Technical changes

  1. The Commission has the authority, pursuant to subsection 9(1) of the Broadcasting Act (the Act), to issue licences for such terms not exceeding seven years and subject to such conditions related to the circumstances of the licensee as the Commission deems appropriate for the implementation of the broadcasting policy set out in subsection 3(1) of the Act, as well as to amend those conditions on application of the licensee.
  2. Consistent with this authority, the Commission approves the application by North Superior Broadcasting Ltd. to change the authorized contours of CFNO-FM-5 Longlac, Ontario, a low-power rebroadcasting transmitter of the English-language commercial radio programming undertaking CFNO-FM Marathon, Ontario, by changing the class from unprotected LP to regular power A1, increasing the effective radiated power from 4 to 125 watts, decreasing the effective height of the antenna above average terrain from 30.0 to 2.1 meters, and amending the existing coordinates of the transmitter site. All other technical parameters will remain unchanged.
  3. The Commission did not receive any interventions in regard to this application.
  4. When requesting technical changes, licensees are generally required to demonstrate a technical or economic need justifying the changes. In regard to the present case, the licensee indicated that it is amending the technical parameters of an existing rebroadcasting transmitter of CFNO-FM Marathon in order to fill in dead reception zones between two of its rebroadcasting transmitters, CFNO-FM-5 Longlac and CFNO-FM-4 Geraldton. It further indicated that the requested technical changes will improve service in the community as well as the service along the Trans-Canada highway.
  5. The Commission is satisfied that the licensee has demonstrated a technical need for the requested technical changes.
  6. Pursuant to subsection 22(1) of the Act, this authority will be effective only when the Department of Industry notifies the Commission that its technical requirements have been met and that a broadcasting certificate will be issued.
  7. The licensee must implement the technical changes by no later than 10 November 2023. To request an extension, the licensee must submit a written request to the Commission at least 60 days before that date, using the form available on the Commission’s website.
  8. As set out in section 16 of the Radio Regulations, 1986 (the Regulations), licensees have obligations relating to the broadcast of emergency alert messages received from the National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination System. In regard to the changes to CFNO-FM-5’s authorized contours approved in this decision, the Commission reminds the licensee that continued compliance with section 16 of the Regulations may require that any alert broadcast decoders (e.g., ENDEC) used for the purposes of broadcasting emergency alert messages on CFNO-FM, or on any rebroadcasting transmitters that may appear on the broadcasting licence for that station, be reprogrammed to properly account for the new authorized contours.

Secretary General

This decision is to be appended to the licence.

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