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Public Notice
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Ottawa, 29 November 1985
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Public Notice CRTC 1985-258
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Play-by-Play Sports Broadcasts on Western Caissons Limited, CKO Radio (833428600, 850722000, 850998600, 850999400 and 851009100)
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On 7 August 1985, the Commission (Western Caissons) to appear at a Public Hearing in Hull, Quebec commencing 17 September 1985 to discuss the matter of play-by-play sports broadcasts on CKO radio stations, and to review its stations' programming in accordance with their Promises of Performance.
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When the Commission initially licensed the CKO radio stations in July 1976, it stated that it had found merit in the concept of an All-News programming service which would add to the diversity of choice of listeners in the various regions of Canada and would respond to their needs for broadening the news and information base provided by the Canadian electronic media. Accordingly, the licences for the operation of the CKO radio stations were issued subject to the condition that "they be utilized for the purposes of broadcasting only spoken word programming, primarily consisting of news and information content" (Decision CRTC 76-416).
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In October 1978 the licensee was called to a public hearing in part to respond to a complaint filed by Foster Hewitt Broadcasting Limited (on behalf of CKFH Toronto) that play-by-play hockey coverage on CKO-FM Toronto represented a breach of the station's Promise of Performance and was not consistent with the licensee's initial mandate. After reviewing all of the evidence presented at the public hearing on 21 November 1978, the Commission announced on 12 January 1979 its determination that the level of play-by-play sports broadcasts then being carried weekly on CKO-FM Toronto did not constitute a substantial change or variation in its Promise of Performance.
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In view of the importance of the licensee's original mandate to develop a complementary news and information service, the non-news elements of the licensee's programming were discussed at length at its first renewal hearing in November 1981. With respect to the frequency of play-by-play sports broadcasts, Western Caissons stated that it did not foresee "[the] network or even [an] individual station ... involved in play-by-play sports every day of the week", and suggested that one game a week scheduled at an appropriate time would "not impinge on the basic news and information format".
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In Decision CRTC 82-189 dated 18 February 1982, which renewed Western Caissons' radio licences to 30 September 1986, the Commission stated that:
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live actuality coverage of sporting events [to the extent of one game per week], providing it does not displace the licensee's regular news and information programming, would not constitute a substantial change or variation from the licensee's all-news and information format.
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In the decision, the licensee was advised that should it wish to increase the frequency of such broadcasts beyond one game per week, the prior approval of the Commission was necessary.
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During its current licence term the programming provided by CKO radio stations has not always conformed with the requirements set out in Decision CRTC 82-189.
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In April 1984, the Commission called Western Caissons to appear at a June public hearing to discuss several matters, including outstanding applications for the broadcast of play-by-play sports (Notice of Public Hearing 1984-25 dated 13 April 1984) and its concern with the frequency of live sports programming on CKO radio stations. Prior to the hearing, however, the licensee asked for a postponement of the hearing to allow it more time to complete a wide-ranging review of its radio operations and overall corporate structure. Consequently, the Commission agreed to the postponement.
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At the 17 September 1985 public hearing Western Caissons described the broadcast of sports coverage over CKO radio stations since 1978:
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We consider play-by-play sports broadcasting to be an important component of the CKO concept ... It is our intention to continue to seek quality play-by-play sports broadcast opportunities ... and to program those into times of the day when we consider it to be appropriate and informative programming for our audience.
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It would be our intention to carry the same amount of play-by-play sports as we have been in the habit of doing ... subject to the availability of these properties and their suitability to our broadcast schedule.
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Western Caissons stated that the wording of the provision in Decision CRTC 82-189 requiring it to seek prior Commission approval to increase the frequency of play-by-play sports broadcasts beyond one game a week was confusing as it felt that it had "been in the practice of carrying a significant amount of sports" and that this had been affirmed in the Commission's Public Announcement of 12 January 1979 with respect to the Concomplaint filed by Foster Hewitt sur la Broadcasting Limited.
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The licensee acknowledged that during the current licence term, it had not always sought prior Commission approval for scheduling play-by-play sports programming more frequently than once a week. It also stated that the Commission had not yet disposed of applications which had been filed last year to increase the frequency of Toronto Maple Leafs games broadcast on its London stationduring the 1983/84 hockey season (application 833428600) and earlier this year for play-by-play coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays in London, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver (applications 850722000, 850998600, 850999400 and 851009100). These applications were published for public comment on 2 March 1984 and 14 June 1985 respectively, and one intervention was received from Mr. R. McKenzie of Vancouver. In view of the significant number of games in volved, the Commission had decided to defer its consideration of these applications until the general issue of play-by-play sports coverage had been more fully discussed with the licensee at a public hearing. As noted earlier, the 1984 hearing was adjourned at the licensee's request.
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The applications proposing to in crease the frequency of play-by-play sports broadcasts were essentially as follows:
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Hockey:
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an average of 2 to 3 games per week, broadcast after 7:10 p.m. on weekdays or after 1:10 p.m. on weekends on CKO-FM-3 London.
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Baseball:
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approximately 155 baseball games, broadcast after 7:10 p.m. on weekdays or after 1:10 p.m. on weekends on CKO-FM-3 London.
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approximately 57 baseball games, with broadcast limited to weekend games on CKO-FM-5 Calgary, CKO-FM-6 Edmonton and CKO-FM-4 Vancouver.
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The Commission notes that, based on the evidence presented at the hearing, rather than the 155 baseball games applied for on CKO-FM-3 London, only 130 were actually broadcast. Accordingly, the Commission acknowledges the licensee's broadcast of these games and, for record purposes, issues its approval for the five applications in question, noting the number of baseball games actually broadcast by CKO-FM-3 London.
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The Commission advises the licensee that play-by-play sports coverage and the licensee's response to the requirement imposed on it in this regard in Decision CRTC 82-189 will be further discussed at the licensee's 1986 renewal hearing. In the meantime, the licensee must continue to apply for Commission approval in all cases where it proposes to increase the frequency of play-by-play sports beyond one game a week.
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In addition to the matter of play-by play sports coverage, the Commission intends to utilize the licensee's 1986 renewal hearing to review in detail with the licensee the status of its entire operation, particularly respect to firm intentions for the future. Among concerns which the Commission intends to review at that time are the licensee's financial and corporate structure, and its non-implementation to date of previously stated intentions to offer service to cities of Regina, Winnipeg, Saint John and St. John's.
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Fernand Bélisle
Secretary General
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