The CRTC has approved an application by Bayshore Broadcasting Corporation for a broadcasting licence to operate a new FM radio station to serve Shelburne.
The Commission also approves in part an application by MZ Media Inc. for a broadcasting licence to operate a new specialty FM radio station to serve Collingwood. Within 90 days of the date of this decision, the applicant must submit an amendment to the application proposing the use of an FM frequency other than 104.9 MHz (channel 285B) that is acceptable to both the Commission and the Department of Industry.
The Commission also approves a request by MZ Media to grant its new station an exception to the Commission’s policy on local programming as it relates to soliciting or accepting local advertising.
At a public hearing commencing 19 September 2024 the Commission considered four applications for new radio stations to serve Shelburne and Collingwood, Ontario. The applicants were as follows:
Shelburne radio market
Frank Torres, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated (Torres)
Bayshore Broadcasting Corporation (Bayshore)
Collingwood radio market
Evanov Communications Inc. (Evanov)
MZ Media Inc. (MZ Media)
The Commission notes that Torres, Bayshore and MZ Media all proposed the use of the frequency 104.9 MHz (channel 285) for their proposed stations. Given the proximity of Shelburne to Collingwood, the Commission notes that their applications are mutually exclusive on a technical basis.
The Commission considers that the issues it must address are the following:
-Can the Shelburne radio market sustain a radio service?
-Can the Collingwood radio market sustain additional commercial radio services without an undue negative impact on existing stations?
The Commission notes that the Shelburne radio market is not currently served by a local radio station, but does receive programming from various out-of-market stations.
According to Statistics Canada, the population of the town of Shelburne was 5,846 in 2024. The population increased by 13.5% from the 2024 Census. Although the size of this population may be considered small when compared to other radio markets, the Commission notes that Torres and Bayshore indicated in their applications that the primary contours of their proposed stations for the Shelburne radio market would reach a population of approximately 15,000. In light of the above, it is the Commission’s view that the overall population in and around Shelburne is sufficiently large to support the introduction of a local radio station.
The Commission set out its general concern regarding the relatively lower profitability of radio markets with populations under 250,000, and signalled its intent to avoid over-licensing in such markets.
The Collingwood radio market is served by CKCB-FM Collingwood, which is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc. The Commission notes that the nearby town of Wasaga Beach, which lies approximately 20 kilometres east of the town of Collingwood, is served by CHGB-FM Wasaga Beach, a radio station that is owned by Bayshore. Both of these stations operate under a classic adult contemporary musical format.
According to Statistics Canada, the population of the town of Collingwood was 19,241 in 2024, an increase of 11.3% from the 2024 Census, whereas the population of the town of Wasaga Beach was 17,537 in 2024, an increase of 16.7% from the 2024 Census.
The Commission notes that the incumbent radio stations in the Collingwood and Wasaga Beach radio markets are operated by experienced broadcasters (Corus and Bayshore); however, for the 2024-2010 broadcast year, these stations exhibited profitability well below the national average of 19.2%. Although there has been an increase in the population of the area since 2024, the Commission is concerned that the addition of a new commercial radio station to the Collingwood radio market could have a negative impact on the radio stations in the area. Nevertheless, the Commission considers that the potential impact on existing radio stations could be mitigated should any new station operate under a sufficiently niche specialty format.
Having determined that the Shelburne radio market can sustain the introduction of a local service and that the Collingwood radio market can potentially support the entry of a new radio station operating under a niche format, the Commission has considered the applications to serve those radio markets in light of the following factors the quality of the application;
-the diversity of news voices; and
-the level of market impact and the competitive state of the radio market.
Having considered the applications by Bayshore and Torres in light of the criteria set out above, the Commission finds that the proposal by Bayshore better meets the needs of the Shelburne radio market. Bayshore proposed to offer a Contemporary Country music format targeting listeners from 25 to 64 years of age. All of the station’s programming would be local to the Shelburne community, and would be live-to-air between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday to Sunday. In each broadcast week, 18 hours would be devoted to spoken word programming, of which 8 hours and 20 minutes would be pure news and 2 hours and 12 minutes would be weather, traffic and sports surveillance. At least 75% of the station’s news reports would be devoted to local news.
Bayshore committed to offer more than twice the amount of pure news programming per broadcast week than did Torres. Furthermore, the Commission considers that the service proposed by Bayshore, with its higher level of local expression through local news programming and its greater emphasis on live-to-air programming, would have greater local relevance to the Shelburne radio market. In addition, Bayshore committed to devote, over and above the basic annual Canadian content development contribution, an amount that is more than double that proposed by Torres.
Bayshore’s experience as an established small-market operator in southwestern Ontario, where it owns CHGB-FM Wasaga Beach as well as CFOS, CKYC-FM and CIXK-FM Owen Sound, CFPS-FM Port Elgin, CHWC-FM Goderich and CISO-FM Orillia, would further enable it to introduce a valuable service to the Shelburne radio market.
The Commission considers that the service proposed by Bayshore, by introducing a local voice to the Shelburne radio market, by providing significant local reflection, and by adding programming diversity in terms of local news when compared to programming received from out-of-market stations, would ultimately provide that market with a more adequate local radio service.
The Commission notes that Evanov proposed to offer a New Easy Listening music format with a minimum of 30% content category 3 (Special Interest Music) music targeting listeners from 35 to 64 years of age in the Collingwood market. The music offering would focus on soft popular musical selections with a blend of folk, roots, blues and softer jazz music styles. Evanov committed to broadcast 126 hours of local programming per broadcast week, of which 11 hours and 50 minutes would be devoted to spoken word programming including 6 hours and 15 minutes of pure news.
In the Commission’s view, Evanov’s anticipated programming strategy along with the modest financial performance of the incumbent radio stations could result in the proposed station causing undue harm to those stations. Consequently, the Commission considers that approval of Evanov’s application would have an undue negative impact on the incumbent stations in the Collingwood radio market.
In regard to MZ Media, the Commission has addressed the following:
-programming aspects of the application;
-the choice of frequency; and
-a request for an exception to the Commission’s local programming policy regarding advertising.
The Commission notes that the predominance of the proposed FM station’s programming would originate with CFMZ-FM Toronto. Consequently, MZ Media’s proposed English-language commercial specialty FM station would offer listeners in Collingwood the same Classical and Fine Arts music format as CFMZ-FM. The applicant stated that the proposed station would nevertheless provide, on average, a maximum of 24 hours per week of differentiated local programming content directed specifically to listeners in Collingwood and the surrounding area. According to MZ Media, differentiated local programming content consists of advertising and local spoken word material that would not be broadcast on CFMZ-FM during the same broadcast week.
The MZ Media applicant indicated that it would broadcast, on average, up to 18 hours and 54 minutes per broadcast week of differentiated advertising content, of which up to 12 hours and 36 minutes per broadcast week would be advertising specific to Collingwood and the surrounding area. MZ Media indicated that it would be prepared to accept a condition of licence limiting the amount of differentiated local spoken word content to a maximum of 4 hours and 12 minutes per broadcast week. This spoken word content would consist of station identifications, promotional announcements, and first appearance surveillance material such as arts billboards, community messages, public service announcements, and regional information.
MZ Media noted that although all programming would be produced in Toronto at its CFMZ-FM studio, its differentiated local programming content for Collingwood would be produced for exclusive broadcast on the proposed station.
The Commission notes that the proposed FM station would receive 100% of its music programming from CFMZ-FM. Consequently, the proposed FM station would be subject to CFMZ-FM’s current incremental condition of licence pertaining to the minimum level of content category 3 (Special Interest Music) Canadian musical selections to be aired. Moreover, the level of content category 3 Canadian musical selections to be broadcast on the proposed station would reflect the level in force for CFMZ-FM as of the date of this decision (i.e., 18%). This percentage would increase by 1% per broadcast year until it reaches 20% by the beginning of the 2024-2014 broadcast year, and would remain at that level for the balance of the licence term. The Commission notes that MZ Media agreed to accept a condition of licence in regard to the above. 28. Furthermore, the proposed FM station would also be subject to CFMZ-FM’s current condition of licence requiring that a minimum of 70% of all musical selections broadcast during each broadcast week be devoted to musical selections drawn from content subcategory 31 (Concert).
Given the highly specialized nature of the Classical music format proposed by MZ Media, and given that the station would operate with a modest amount of split-feed local programming and advertising, the Commission considers that the impact of the proposed station would be limited. As such, the Commission is of the view that approval of MZ Media’s application would not have an undue negative impact on existing radio stations in the area.
The Commission considers that the programming proposed by MZ Media and the audience targeted by its proposed service would contribute to meeting the needs of an underserved demographic in the Collingwood radio market. The addition of this service would contribute to the musical diversity of that market, with a Classical and Fine Arts music format targeting adults 50 years of age and older. Furthermore, the proposal by MZ Media would contribute to diversity of ownership by introducing a new player in the local market. The Commission is also satisfied that the applicant is committed to its Classical music format and to maintaining the proposed station and format in the Collingwood market over the long term.
The application by MZ Media was technically mutually exclusive with the application by Bayshore given that both proposed the use of the frequency 104.9 MHz. The Commission considers that the service proposed by Bayshore would make better use of the frequency 104.9 MHz since it would introduce a significant amount of local programming to the community of Shelburne. In light of the comments received at the public hearing, the Commission notes that alternative frequencies have been identified as being capable of serving the Collingwood radio market. Accordingly, MZ Media will be required to use an alternative frequency to operate its proposed service.
MZ Media requested that should the Commission approve the application, it also grant the applicant an exception to the Commission’s local programming policy as it relates to soliciting or accepting local advertising.
The Commission notes that approval of the proposed service would permit MZ Media to broadcast a limited amount of split-feed programming consisting of locally-oriented spoken word material and locally-oriented advertising. It further notes that since Collingwood is not a single-station market and since the proposed station would offer less than the required amount of local programming, an exception to the Commission’s local programming policy as it relates to soliciting or accepting local advertising would be needed.
The Commission also notes that CFMZ-FM is the only English-language commercial radio station in Canada that operates in a Classical music format, and that it is mindful of the various challenges to be faced by a station operating in that format. Furthermore, it recognizes the diversity of format that the station will provide to the Collingwood community through its Specialty Classical and Fine Arts music format.