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Ottawa, 30 December 1986
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Decision CRTC 86-1233
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Radio Nord-Joli Inc.
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Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon and Rawdon, Quebec - 853142800 Joliette, Quebec - 840672000
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At a Public Hearing in Quebec City commencing 9 September 1986, the Commission considered an application by Radio Nord-Joli Inc. to renew the broadcasting licence for the community FM radio station CFNJ-FM Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon and its authorized rebroadcasting station CFNJ-FM-1 Rawdon. On the agenda of the same hearing was an application by the licensee for a broadcasting licence to operate an FM radio broadcasting undertaking at Joliette, on the frequency 103.5 MHz (channel 278A) with an effective radiated power of 1,400 watts, to rebroadcast the programs of CFNJ-FM Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon. The latter application would allow the licensee to surrender its Rawdon licence to the Commission following approval of the Joliette application.
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For the technical reasons given later in this document, the Commission denies the application as filed to operate a rebroadcasting station at Joliette. It also denies the application to renew the licence for the authorized rebroadcasting station CFNJ-FM-1 Rawdon. The Commission, however, renews the licence for CFNJ-FM Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon from 1 January 1987 to 30 September 1991 in view of the licensee's commendable record of performance.
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Proposed rebroadcasting station at Joliette
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The Commission approved the operation of CFNJ-FM and CFNJ-FM-1 on 12 September 1983 (Decision CRTC 83-803). In that decision, the Commission noted that the channel proposed for the rebroadcasting station at Rawdon was the last frequency reserved for Joliette (channel 278A) and made its approval subject to the condition that the applicant find another frequency to serve the Rawdon area, in view of the fact that technical studies had shown that other frequencies could be used.
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CFNJ-FM went on the air on 7 October 1985 but the authorized rebroadcasting station at Rawdon did not because the licensee was unable to find a frequency that met its requirements. The present application to operate a rebroadcasting station at Joliette on channel 278A, the same channel the licensee had proposed for Rawdon, therefore represents the licensee's proposed solution to the condition imposed by Decision CRTC 83-803. It is also the only application that the Commission has received since its call for FM licence applications to serve Joliette and surrounding area on 11 December 1985 (Public Notice CRTC 1985-268).
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In Decision CRTC 83-803, the Commission noted:
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At the hearing, the applicant described the area that it wished to serve as being the Lanaudière region and, more specifically, North Lanaudière, which is an area extending north of Joliette, with studios located at Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon. The Commission also noted the applicant's intention of establishing other recording studios to make its airwaves more accessible to the population, in view of the vast size of its coverage area and the fact that its listening audience was dispersed.
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In the same decision, the Commission noted the intervention by Radio Joliette, then licensee of the AM station CJLM Joliette, which opposed Radio Nord-Joli Inc.'s applications mainly on the grounds of a potential fragmentation of the market which might jeopardize its own viability. The Commission stated at that time that it had carefully considered all the interventions and added:
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[The Commission] expects that most of the licensee's advertising revenue will come from the area that it identified as its "priority" service area, namely, [TRANSLATION] "the sector north of Lanaudière".
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Radio de Lanaudière Inc., the current licensee of CJLM, intervened at the hearing of 9 September 1986 to oppose the application to operate a rebroadcasting station of CFNJ-FM at Joliette. The intervener pointed out, in particular, that Radio Nord-Joli Inc.'s plans for a regional service were unrealistic in light of CFNJ-FM's poor technical performance, and its own unsuccessful attempts to submit an application for an FM station at Joliette, due mainly to financial problems. For these reasons and to protect its market, the intervener asked the Commission to impose a three-year moratorium on the operation of a new radio station at Joliette.
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In its presentation at the hearing and its reply to the intervention noted above, the licensee stated that its goal had always been to operate a regional community station and that serving Joliette had been part of its initial application and was necessary for ensuring its financial viability. The licensee specifically stated [TRANSLATION]:
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As part of a regional mandate as presented to the Commission in November 1982, the objective was and still remains to offer radio service to the cities of Joliette and Berthierville as well as the city of Rawdon and the Saint-Gabriel area.
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In support of this position, the licensee pointed out that market and technical studies undertaken as part of its initial application were based on the assumption that the RawdonJoliette-Berthierville axis would be part of its service contour. The applicant added that its legal structure was further evidence of this assertion, since its board of directors had to be composed of two representatives of each of the regional county municipalities of Autray, Joliette and Mattawinie.
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The licensee also stated [TRANSLATION]: "Radio Nord-Joli cannot be viable without a rebroadcasting station at Joliette ... it is a well-known fact that Joliette is the principal market for whomever wants to operate in Lanaudière, [as] 45,000 people live there...". In this regard, the licensee pointed out that its development was impeded by the limited contour of its present CFNJ-FM transmitter which in turn limited its listening audience, community funding and potential market, as well as the participation of volunteers and regional community organizations.
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Conclusion
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Having carefully considered all the information before it at the present time, as well as the information provided by the licensee in its initial application and at the 25 April 1985 Public Hearing in Hull, Quebec, the Commission is willing to allow the licensee to broaden its service area over the whole of the Lanaudière region, including Joliette, in order to enable it to provide a fully regional service. In arriving at this conclusion, the Commission has taken into account the radio advertising revenue base available in the Joliette market and the limited impact that the community station would have, given the licensee's proposal in its licence renewal application to broadcast an average of 4 minutes per hour of advertising, with a maximum of 6 minutes per hour, and its statement at the hearing that its share of the total market would be approximately between 5% and 9%.
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While it is disposed to broadening the service area for CFNJ-FM, the Commission, nevertheless, has had to take into account the serious technical shortcomings of the licensee's present proposal. It is a wellestablished policy of both the Commission and the Department of Communications (DOC) not to encourage the use of two different frequencies to provide the same programming service in the same region. Approval of the present application would result in a significant overlap of the service areas of CFNJ-FM and the proposed rebroadcasting station in the sector just north of Joliette, including Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare, Saint-Félix-de-Valois and SaintCuthbert. Furthermore, the Commission is of the opinion that the licensee's proposal does not adequately utilize the potential of the last FM frequency available in Joliette in that the proposed technical parameters are only equivalent to approximately 50% of the maximum parameters allowed for this Class A frequency.
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In light of the factors noted above and the fact that the Commission's analyses show that other, more advantageous technical solutions are open to the licensee, the Commission denies the application as presented to operate a rebroadcasting station of CFNJ-FM at Joliette on the frequency of 103.5 MHz (channel 278A) with an effective radiated power of 1,400 watts. The Commission strongly urges the licensee to examine, in consultation with the DOC, another solution that would better utilize the frequency band, while offering the desired service area. The Commission specifically encourages the licensee to consider the advantages of increasing the power of CFNJ-FM's transmitter at its currently authorized site, while continuing to use the present authorized frequency of 99.1 MHz (channel 256A), both for providing a regional service and for possible savings in terms of capital costs.
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The Commission has taken into consideration the 42 interventions submitted by individuals and organizations in the Lanaudière region in support of the application to establish an FM station at Joliette.
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Licence Renewal
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In light of the above and in particular, the Commission's expectation that the licensee file an application in the near future to broaden CFNJ-FM's service contour in the Lanaudière region, the Commission also denies the application to renew the licence for the authorized rebroadcasting station CFNJ-FM-1 Rawdon. Accordingly, this licence will expire on 31 December 1986.
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The Commission renews the broadcasting licence for CFNJ-FM SaintGabriel-de-Brandon from 1 January 1987 to 30 September 1991, subject to the conditions specified in the licence to be issued.
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In accordance with the licensee's proposal and the Commission's policy statement on the Review of Community Radio (Public Notice CRTC 1985-194 dated 26 August 1985), a Type B special FM community radio licence will be issued for this station, which will be operated in the Group IV music format.
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An analysis by the Commission of CFNJ-FM's programming of 17 April 1986, and a self-assessment by the licensee for the week of 14 to 20 April 1986 revealed that, after only one year of operation and in spite of commitments described by the Commission in Decision CRTC 83-803 as ambitious, the licensee has fulfilled its commitments such that it is one of the leading community stations in terms of adherence to its Promise of Performance. A weakness in foreground format programming noted by the Commission was the result of a misunderstanding of the definition of a foreground format segment which has been discussed by the licensee and Commission staff.
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The licensee has indicated that it would be difficult to maintain such a record of performance on a permanent basis and in its new Promise of Performance has reduced some of its commitments to a more realistic level. Generally, however, it continues largely to exceed the objectives of the community radio policy and the requirements of the radio regulations. The Commission notes in this regard a reduction in broadcast time from 120 hours to 96 hours 30 minutes per week, in foreground format programming from a level of 26.7% to 20% and in combined foreground/mosaic from 82.9% to 55%, as well as a reduction in the level of French-language vocal music from 75% to 66%. The licensee has also proposed to add an automated reading service at night for the visually handicapped. The Commission encourages the licensee to continue its programming efforts.
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The Commission approves the proposal to broadcast a daily average of 4 minutes per hour of advertising, with a maximum of 6 minutes per hour, which is in accordance with the community radio policy for Type B stations.
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The Commission acknowledges the interventions submitted by the Association coopérative d'économie familiale de Joliette, Mrs. Lise Cloutier, and the Association des radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Québec in support of the renewal of the licence.
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Fernand Bélisle
Secretary General
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