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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2024-187

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Reference: Part 1 applications posted on 10 June 2024

Ottawa, 22 August 2024

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Prince George and Mackenzie, British Columbia

Public record: 2024-0195-9 and 2024-0197-5

CBYG-FM Prince George – New transmitter in Mackenzie

  1. The Commission has the authority, pursuant to subsection 9(1) of the Broadcasting Act (the Act), to issue licences for the carrying on of broadcasting undertakings as well as to amend those licences.
  2. Consistent with this authority, the Commission approves the application (2024-0195-9) by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to amend the broadcasting licence for the English-language radio programming undertaking CBYG-FM Prince George, British Columbia to operate a new transmitter in Mackenzie, British Columbia. The new transmitter will replace the existing low-power AM transmitter CBWF Mackenzie and will rebroadcast the programming of the CBC’s national English-language network Radio One.
  3. The Commission also approves the application (2024-0197-5) by the CBC to remove CBWF from CBYG-FM’s licence.
  4. The Commission did not receive any interventions regarding these applications.
  5. The new transmitter (CBYG-FM-3) will operate at 99.9 MHz (channel 260A) with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 260 watts and a non-directional antenna with an effective height of the antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) of -130.7 metres.
  6. When requesting technical changes, licensees are generally required to demonstrate a technical or economic need justifying the changes. The CBC stated that the current AM transmitter in Mackenzie is 53 years old and needs to be replaced as it has reached the end of its useful life. The licensee added that the new FM transmitter will provide an improved CBC Radio One signal to the community of Mackenzie and its vicinity. The Commission is satisfied that the licensee has demonstrated a technical need for the requested technical changes.
  7. Pursuant to subsection 22(1) of the Act, this authority will only be effective when the Department of Industry (also known as Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada) notifies the Commission that its technical requirements have been met and that a broadcasting certificate will be issued.
  8. The transmitter must be in operation by no later than 22 August 2026. 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.
  9. 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 authorized contours of the new FM transmitter CBYG-FM-3 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 CBYG-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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