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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2021-402

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Reference: Part 1 application posted on 8 October 2021

Ottawa, 8 December 2021

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Toronto and Haliburton, Ontario

Public record for this application: 2021-0667-4

CBLA-FM Toronto and its transmitter CBLY-FM Haliburton – 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 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to change the authorized contours of   CBLY-FM Haliburton, Ontario, a rebroadcasting transmitter of the English-language radio programming undertaking CBLA-FM Toronto, Ontario, by increasing the effective radiated power (ERP) from 50 to 250 watts, changing the class from unprotected low power to regular power A1, increasing the effective height of the antenna above average terrain from 30.5 to 35.7 metres and amending the existing coordinates of the transmitter site. All other technical parameters will remain unchanged.
  3. When requesting technical changes, licensees are generally required to demonstrate a technical or economic need. The licensee stated that the proposed technical changes for CBLY-FM will allow for the update of a timeworn antenna and the expansion of the CBC Radio One coverage in the region of Haliburton and its vicinity. The Commission is satisfied that the licensee has demonstrated a technical need for the requested technical changes.
  4. The Commission received a comment on the CBC’s application from an individual. To address CBLY-FM’s technical issues, the intervener proposed amalgamating the station’s rebroadcasting transmitters in Haliburton, Maynooth and Whitney, Ontario, with its transmitter CBLA-FM-5 Bancroft, increasing the ERP of that transmitter, and relocating the transmitter so as to share transmitter space with CHMS-FM Bancroft, which is owned an operated by Vista Radio Ltd. (Vista). In regard to this proposal, the intervener suggested either changing CBLA-FM-5’s frequency from 99.3 MHz to 90.9 MHz (channel 215B), or adding the CBC French service ICI Radio-Canada Première to encompass the same area on 88.3 MHz (channel 202C1).
  5. In its reply, the CBC raised issues relating to the coverage that would be provided by the frequency allotments suggested by the intervener for CBLA-FM-5, due to effect of the region’s terrain on signal strength. In regard to the Haliburton area, for example, the licensee argued that this area would be better served through the existing rebroadcasting transmitter rather than by a higher power transmitter located in Bancroft.
  6. In regard to the intervener’s proposal regarding the use of Vista’s transmitter in Bancroft to address CBLY-FM’s signal limitations in Haliburton and its surrondings, the CBC noted that this transmitter also experiences coverage limitations. Given these limitations, Vista operates the station CFZN-FM Haliburton and the transmitter CHSM-FM to appropriately cover both communities. In the CBC’s view, the proposal set out in its application constitutes the best option for serving the population of Haliburton and its surroundings.
  7. In light of the above, the Commission finds that the technical changes requested by the CBC in its application constitute the most appropriate solution for addressing CBLY-FM’s technical issues.
  8. Pursuant to subsection 22(1) of the 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.
  9. The licensee must implement the technical changes by no later than 8 December 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.
  10. 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 CBLY-FM’s authorized contours resulting from the implementation of the technical changes 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 CBLA-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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