Search

Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2024-280

PDF version

Reference: Part 1 application posted on 30 August 2024

Ottawa, 8 November 2024

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Trois-Rivières and Clova, Quebec

Public record: 2024-0380-7

CBF-FM-8 Trois-Rivières and its transmitter CBF-FM-16 Clova –Technical changes

  1. The Commission has the authority, pursuant to subsection 9(1) of the Broadcasting Act (Act), to issue licences for the carrying on of broadcasting undertakings and to amend those licences.
  2. Consistent with this authority, the Commission approves the application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to change the authorized contours of CBF-FM-16 Clova, Quebec, a rebroadcasting transmitter of the French-language FM radio broadcasting undertaking ICI Radio-Canada Première CBF-FM-8 Trois-Rivières, Quebec. Specifically, the CBC proposed to change the frequency from 95.1 MHz to 99.9 MHz, to change the channel from 236 to 260, to decrease the effective radiated power (ERP) from 139 to 125 watts, to change the existing non-directional antenna for a new non-directional antenna and to increase the effective height of the antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) from 1.1 to 1.3 meters. All other technical parameters will remain unchanged. The Commission notes that these technical changes will not impact the number of listeners served in Clova.
  3. The Commission did not receive any interventions in regard to this application.
  4. When a licensee files an application for technical changes, the Commission generally requires the licensee to present compelling technical or economic evidence justifying the requested changes. In this case, the CBC indicated that the proposed changes are intended to ensure the continuity of the service ICI Radio-Canada Première to the population of Clova. The CBC specified that when the antenna authorized in CBF-FM-8 Trois-Rivières – New transmitter in Clova, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2023-168, 1 June 2023, was being installed, it discovered that the antenna had not been adjusted to work on the requested channel. It therefore installed a temporary antenna to serve the community. The CBC noted that this temporary antenna must be replaced because it is not designed for long-term sustainability and indicated that the listeners in Clova risk losing the signal. The Commission is satisfied that the licensee has demonstrated a technical need for the requested changes.
  5. 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.
  6. The licensee must implement the technical changes by no later than 8 November 2026. To request an extension, the licensee must submit a written request at least 60 days before that date, using the form available on the Commission’s website.
  7. 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 CBF-FM-16’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 CBF-FM-8, 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.

Date modified: