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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2006-94
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Ottawa, 24 March 2006 |
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Astral Media Radio Inc.
Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec |
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Application 2004-0738-9
Public Hearing in the National Capital Region
14 November 2005 |
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CFEI-FM Saint-Hyacinthe – Technical changes
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The Commission denies an
application to change the authorized contours of CFEI-FM
Saint-Hyacinthe, by increasing the effective radiated power and by
relocating the transmitter. |
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The application
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1. |
The Commission received an application by
Astral Media Radio Inc. (Astral) to change the authorized contours of
the French-language commercial radio programming undertaking CFEI-FM
Saint-Hyacinthe, by increasing the effective radiated power (ERP) from
3,000 watts to an average ERP of 33,200 watts and by relocating the
transmitter. CFEI-FM currently operates at 106.5 MHz. |
2. |
The application was placed on the agenda of
the public hearing of 14 November 2005 along with two other applications
that were competitive on a technical basis: an application by
International Harvesters for Christ Evangelistic Association Inc. to
operate an FM commercial religious radio programming undertaking in
Montréal at 106.3 MHz (channel 292A) with an average ERP of 324 watts,
and an application by René Ferron, on behalf of a company to be
incorporated (Mr. René Ferron), to operate a specialty French-language
commercial FM radio station in Montréal at 106.3 MHz (channel 292B1)
with an average ERP of 500 watts. These two applications are addressed
in separate decisions also issued today1. |
3. |
Astral stated that the purpose of its
application is to improve the reception quality of CFEI-FM’s signal in
that part of its licensed service area that is currently underserved
from a technical perspective. Astral stated that CFEI-FM’s service area
contains natural obstacles, such as Mont Saint-Hilaire, Mont Saint-Bruno
and Mont Rougemont and that with its current ERP, CFEI-FM is not able to
offer quality signal reception to residents of Beloeil, McMasterville,
Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Otterburn Park, Saint-Basile-le-Grand,
Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Sainte-Julie and Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil. |
4. |
Astral submitted that its application is
not intended to add communities to CFEI-FM’s service area, but rather to
improve its signal quality and thus better meet the needs of commercial,
government and association advertisers, expand its listener base and
compete more effectively with other media in the market. |
5. |
Astral indicated that it would be prepared
to accept a condition of licence prohibiting it from soliciting or
accepting advertising in the Montréal, Longueuil, Iberville and
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu markets. Astral further committed to increase
its annual contribution to MusicAction from $400 to $3,000, if its
application were approved. |
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Interventions
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6. |
The Commission received several
interventions supporting and opposing this application and one comment.
Several of the opposing interventions were filed by broadcasters in
Montréal and surrounding area who were concerned about the negative
impact of Astral’s proposal on their undertakings. |
7. |
Cogeco Diffusion inc. and Corus
Entertainment Inc. argued that, if the application were approved, Astral
would be operating a third French-language commercial FM radio station
in the Montréal market in addition to CKMF-FM and CITE-FM, which would
give it an undue advantage over its competitors and would be contrary to
the Commission’s policy on common ownership of broadcasting undertakings
within a single market2. |
8. |
The Coopérative de travail de la radio de
Granby et Radio-Diffusion Sorel-Tracy inc. expressed concern that the
proposed increase in ERP would significantly facilitate CFEI-FM’s
penetration of their market, and represented a threat to their
respective advertising markets and audiences. |
9. |
Radio communautaire de la Rive-Sud inc.,
supported by, among others, Members of Parliament Maka Kotto, Carole
Lavallée and Caroline St-Hilaire, noted that Astral’s application
contains no fundamental elements different from its application denied
in 20033, and that approval of the present application would unduly
deprive its station of revenue that would affect the nature of its
community mission commitments. |
10. |
The Association des radiodiffuseurs
communautaires du Québec opposed the granting of licences to new
stations in the Montréal market. It noted that the imbalance in the
advertising market caused by the arrival of new alternative and
specialty stations, and the concentration of media, have created an
almost unbearable situation for community radio stations in Montréal. |
11. |
Mr. René Ferron, whose application is
competitive with Astral’s application on a technical basis, submitted
that Astral’s proposed increase in CFEI-FM Saint-Hyacinthe’s ERP would
not solve the problems identified by Astral, and that other technical
solutions were possible. Mr. Ferron added that Astral’s proposed power
increase would compromise the feasibility of the proposal that he had
filed with the Commission, the aim of which is to establish a station in
Montréal dedicated to the sole objective of bringing together members of
different cultural communities and people born in Canada. |
12. |
Canadian Hellenic Cable Radio Ltd. (CHCR)
stated that it was concerned about the process by which the Commission
published the application without first issuing a call for applications.
CHCR noted that the Commission recently approved four radio stations in
Montréal, and stated that it was simply too early to consider others.
CHCR also noted that 106.3 MHz would be the last FM radio frequency
available in Montréal, and as a result would be extremely valuable. |
13. |
In its comment, the Association québécoise
de l’industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ) underlined
the importance of the commitments that applicants must make with respect
to Canadian content, French-language vocal music and Canadian talent
development. |
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Astral’s reply
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14. |
Astral challenged the interveners’ argument
that, if its application were approved, it would be operating a third
French-language FM radio station in Montréal. The applicant noted that
the Commission defines the licensed service area of an FM station as
"the lesser of the station’s 3 mV/m contour and the Central Area (as
defined by BBM) of the community served by the station." Astral stated
that, if the proposed changes to CFEI-FM’s technical parameters were
approved, the city of Montréal would not in any way – not completely and
not partially – be included within CFEI-FM’s 3 mV/m contour. |
15. |
With respect to the interveners’ concerns
that CFEI-FM could encroach on the local advertising markets of other
radio stations, Astral noted that it made firm commitments in this
respect, such as not soliciting or accepting local advertising in the
Montréal, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Iberville and Longueuil markets.
Astral added that it would have no objection to adding Granby and Sorel-Tracy
to this list. |
16. |
Astral stated that it does not share the
interveners’ vision regarding the use of 106.3 MHz in Montréal, and
maintained that it is more in the public interest to allow listeners in
a neighbouring market to receive a quality signal from their existing
local station than to allocate the frequency to a new low-power station
aiming to serve a central market that is already abundantly served by
radio stations of all types. |
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Commission’s analysis and determination
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17. |
The Commission notes that this application
is the fourth attempt to improve CFEI-FM Saint-Hyacinthe’s signal in its
licensed area. In Amendments to CFEI-FM's power and coverage area as
well as relocation of its transmitter - Approved, Decision CRTC
96-209, 12 June 1996, the Commission approved a decrease in the ERP from
3,000 watts to 640 watts and the relocation of the transmitter from
Saint-Hyacinthe to the summit of Mont Rougemont to clear the obstacle
created by Mont Saint-Hilaire and provide better service to the
communities of Beloeil and Saint-Hilaire. In Increase in power for
CFEI-FM, Decision CRTC 99-32, 2 February 1999, the Commission
approved an increase in the ERP from 640 watts to 3,000 watts in order
to change the station’s coverage area by shifting it to the northeast. |
18. |
In Introductory statement to Broadcasting
Decisions CRTC 2003-192 to 2003-203:
Applications related to radio stations in the Province of Quebec,
Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2003-33,
2 July 2003, and Denial of various applications considered at the
3 February 2003 Montréal Public Hearing, Broadcasting Decision
CRTC 2003-204, 2 July 2003,
the Commission denied Astral’s application to increase CFEI-FM’s ERP
from 3,000 watts to an average ERP of 33,200 watts. The
Commission determined that the applicant did not clearly demonstrate
that its licensed area was underserved. The Commission considered
that Astral’s proposal would result in a significant increase in CFEI-FM’s
coverage area with no assurance of improvement in the service area. |
19. |
In the present application, Astral again
proposed to increase CFEI-FM’s ERP from 3,000 watts to an average ERP of
33,200 watts and to relocate the transmitter. The result would be a
significant expansion of the station’s authorized contours, particularly
in the direction of Montréal. Even if the proposed new primary service
area (3 mV/m) would not reach the boundaries of the city of Montréal,
the secondary service area (0.5 mV/m) would encompass a section of the
city’s east end. |
20. |
Given the short distance between
Saint-Hyacinthe and Montréal and the proximity of CFEI-FM’s current
frequency of 106.5 MHz to the 106.3 MHz frequency proposed by the two
other applications to operate new radio stations in Montréal, the three
applications are competitive on a technical basis. Although the two
applications proposing to use 106.3 MHz in Montréal are denied in
decisions issued today, the Commission notes that approval of Astral’s
application could prevent future use of 106.3 MHz in the Montréal area,
which is one of the last FM frequencies available in this large market.
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21. |
The Commission notes that Astral stated in
its application that its primary goal is to improve the reception
quality of CFEI-FM’s signal within its current licensed area. Despite
the presence of natural obstacles that are a challenge to the
propagation of any FM signal in the current service area, the Commission
considers that a proposal resulting in the significant expansion of the
coverage area by increasing CFEI-FM’s ERP is not an appropriate solution
under the circumstances. |
22. |
The Commission is not convinced that the
technical solution proposed by Astral is the only solution that would
enable it to improve the quality of CFEI-FM’s signal in its current
market. The Commission considers that there are other possible technical
solutions and that these solutions merit further consideration. |
23. |
In light of the foregoing, the Commission
denies the application by Astral Media Radio Inc. to change the
authorized contours of French-language commercial radio programming
undertaking CFEI-FM Saint-Hyacinthe, by increasing the ERP from
3,000 watts to an average ERP of 33,200 watts and by relocating the
transmitter. |
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Secretary General |
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This decision is available in alternative
format upon request, and may also be examined in PDF
format or in HTML at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca
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Footnote:
See Christian music FM radio station,
Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2006-92, 24
March 2006, and Specialty FM radio station in Montréal,
Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2006-93, 24
March 2006.
According to the Commission’s policy on common ownership
of broadcasting undertakings, set out in Commercial Radio Policy
1998, Public Notice CRTC 1998-41,
30 April 1998, in a market like Montréal served by eight or more
commercial French-language stations, a person would be restricted
to ownership or control of up to two AM and two FM stations operating
in that language.
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