The Commission has received an application for a broadcasting licence to operate a new commercial radio station to serve Kentville, Nova Scotia. The Commission is seeking comment on market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications to serve Kentville.
The Commission encourages interested persons, including the applicant, to submit additional information that it will take into consideration before making a final determination on whether it should proceed with a call for applications.
The deadline for the receipt of interventions is 4 August 2024. Only parties that file interventions may file a reply to matters raised during the intervention phase. The deadline to file replies is 14 August 2024.
The Commission has set out its procedure for issuing calls for applications for broadcasting licences to operate radio stations. According to that procedure, applications for new radio stations in markets of all sizes will generally result in the issuance of a call for applications with the following exceptions:
•proposals with very little or no commercial potential or impact, including some low-power applications;
•proposals to provide the first commercial service in a market;
•proposals by the sole commercial operator in a market to improve service to the market, either through an AM to FM conversion or a new station;
•proposals to provide the first commercial service in the other official language in a market or to convert the only station in the other official language from AM to FM; and
•proposals to convert stations from AM to FM in markets with two or fewer commercial operators.
The Commission will also take into account the availability or scarcity of spectrum when considering applications that propose to use one of the last known frequencies in a market. Such applications will not be eligible to be considered under one of the exceptions to the issuance of a call.
Upon receipt of an application that does not fall within one of the exceptions to the issuance of a call, the Commission will publish a notice of consultation to seek comment on market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call. The Commission will also publish the following information in the notice of consultation: the applicant’s name, the type of service proposed (commercial mainstream or specialty, community, campus, etc.), the technical parameters proposed (frequency, band, broadcast power) and a sampling of the main communities included in the primary contour of the proposed station’s coverage.
The Commission announces that it has received the following application for a broadcasting licence to operate a new radio station to serve Kentville, Nova Scotia.
Newcap Inc. Commercial radio station 94.3 MHz FM with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 5,300 watts (maximum ERP of 14,000 watts) Kentville, Wolfville, New Minas, Coldbrook and Waterville
In light of the above, the Commission calls for comments on the capacity of Kentville to support a new station and on whether it should issue a call for applications for new radio stations to serve that market. The Commission encourages interested persons, including the applicant, to submit additional information that it will take into consideration before making a final determination on whether to proceed with a call for applications.
Following receipt of comments, the Commission will conduct an assessment of the market’s capacity to support an additional station, taking into account economic and financial data as well as the comments received in the public consultation.
Given the limited number of stations operating in Kentville, the Commission will not release financial statistics to preserve the confidentiality of station-level information.
The Commission will weigh factors such as market capacity, spectrum availability or scarcity and interest in serving the market when deciding whether to:
•publish the application for consideration during the non-appearing phase of a public hearing;
•issue a call for applications; or
•make a determination that the market cannot sustain additional stations, return the application and issue a decision setting out this determination.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure apply to the present proceeding. The Rules of Procedure set out, among other things, the rules for content, format, filing and service of interventions, replies, answers of respondents and requests for information; the procedure for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure; and the conduct of public hearings. Accordingly, the procedure set out below must be read in conjunction with the Rules of Procedure and its accompanying documents, which can be found on the Commission’s website under “Statutes and Regulations.” The Guidelines on the CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure, set out in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2024-959, provide information to help interested persons and parties understand the Rules of Procedure so that they can more effectively participate in Commission proceedings.
The Commission invites interventions that address the issues and questions set out above. The Commission will accept interventions that it receives on or before 4 August 2024. Only parties that file interventions may file a reply to matters raised during the intervention phase. The deadline for the filing of replies is 14 August 2024.