Frankie Busseri of 1950's Toronto pop vocal group the Four Lads, the first Toronto group to score international hits ("Standing On The Corner", "No Not Much", "Moments To Remember", "Istanbul");
THE FOUR LADS ~ "STANDING ON THE CORNER";
THE FOUR LADS & FRANKIE LAINE;
Fred Keeler ~ Guitarist with 1960's Toronto band David Clayton Thomas & the Shays
DAVID CLAYTON THOMAS & THE SHAYS ~ "WALK THAT WALK";
Jackie Shane ~ 1960's Toronto R&B singer;
JACKIE SHANE ~ "WALKING THE DOG";
Joanne Brooks ~ 1970's R&B singer and later singer in New Wave band Rough Trade;
ROUGH TRADE ~ "BIRDS OF A FEATHER";
ROUGH TRADE ~ "BUTCH";
Johnny Lovesin ~ Rock & Roll singer/guitarist and a fixture on the Toronto scene from the late 70's onward including opening for the Ramones first Toronto gig;
JOHNNIE LOVESIN ~ "WORKING GIRL";
JOHNNIE LOVESIN ~ "BAD TALK";
Dave Bookman ~ Radio DJ from the 80's onward on CIUT, CFNY and INDIE 88m club booker and supporter of indie music, also singer in 80's for indie band The Bookmen;
VIDEO TRIBUTE FOR DAVE BOOKMAN;
Leon Redbone ~ Ragtime Folk Rocker from the 1970's and an influence on Tom Waits;
LEON REDBONE ~ "DIDDY WAH DIDDY";
LEON REDBONE ~ "SHINE ON HARVEST MOON";
Joe Hall ~ Artsy Folk-Rock and Comedy singer songwriter and another fixture on the Toronto club scene from the 1970's & 80's
JOE HALL & THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT ~ "SWEET GYPSY NOSE";
JOE HALL & THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT ~ "LOS HABLOS TELEPHONOS";
Ed Bickert ~ Jazz guitarist from the 1960's onward;
ED BICKERT ~ "JUMPIN' THE BLUES";
Mose Scarlett ~ Folk & Blues singer from the 1970's onward;
MOSE SCARLETT ~ "SWEET GEORGIA BROWN";
Herb Dale - Toronto Country singer/songwriter;
HERB DALE ~ "JUST LIKE GOOD OLD WILLIE NELSON";
Justin Haynes ~ Toronto guitarist & mandolinist;
JUSTIN HAYNES;
Brian LaHaie ~ Drummer for Toronto folk band the Donefors & Cindy Doire;
THE DONEFORS ~ "IN A CORNFIELD";
Showing posts with label INDIE 88. Show all posts
Showing posts with label INDIE 88. Show all posts
Monday, 22 July 2019
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
CRTC Sez; Stick It Where The SUN Don't Shine
This past month the CRTC ruled on the application by SUN TV, among others, for mandatory carriage. This would have required all cable companies to add SUN TV to their mandatory cable packages meaning not only would everybody get access to the channel (no problem there) but that every cable customer would also have to pay for the privilege whether they wanted to watch the right wing channel or not (big, big problem). To say the least some people were a little unamused by this prospect. To say the most, they were outraged and wrote to the CRTC to say so in their thousands.
The problem was not only SUN TV's short history of outrageously offensive, not to mention blatantly racist, behaviour but also the utterly shameless hypocrisy of a "news" organization known for it's strident, even vitriolic, attacks on other networks (especially the CBC) who are subsidized, along with nasty personal attacks on artists who get relatively piddly arts grants. Even conservative columnists gagged on the spectacle of SUN TV's demanding that their laughably low rated Tory Pravda be subsidized. At least those who weren't actually working for SUN NEWS (AKA FOX North) of course. Those who were so employed mounted an unprecedented publicity campaign to convince Canadian's of the awesome awesomeness of SUN NEWS and the dire risk of our "freedoms" and "liberty" not to mention the very existence of free enterprise itself and our very "way of life" if the millions of Canadians who refuse to watch SUN NEWS weren't forced to at least pay for the service. Apparently that was the only news story of the past several months, at least that's what I gather from watching SUN NEWS, and they ought to know. They eventually claimed that "over 50,000 Canadians wrote in to the CRTC in support of SUN's Mandatory carriage application". A hilarious statement which would set new standards of dishonest self-puffery if it were made by anybody other than SUN NEWS. In fact most other media reports said that about 15,000 Canadians wrote to the CRTC, and that covered ALL the twenty two applicants, it also included those who were writing in opposition to the applications. Of which there were a few thousand according to my own perusal. Oh; And I wrote one too.
SUN TV TALKS ABOUT IT'S FAVORITE SUBJECT, ITSELF:
Even Mike Duffy, Canada's current favorite cartoon villain, got into the act by getting caught lobbying the CRTC on SUN's behalf. The usefulness of this was somewhat compromised when everybody found out what a corrupt lying sleazebag Duffy The Hutt is. You may have even caught some mention of this on by watching SUN NEWS, in between the never-ending, panting plugs for SUN NEWS.
DUFFY THE HUTT & KRISTA ERICSON;
The CRTC in their ruling noted that SUN TV “did not clearly demonstrate how its service would make an exceptional contribution to the objectives of the (Broadcasting) Act or show that it would go beyond what other national news services spend on Canadian programming.”
By contrast their were several other channels who were also asking for mandatory carriage, some whom were accepted including;
AMI TV in French, a service that offers audiovisual content specifically adapted to the needs of people who are blind or partially sighted, was given mandatory carriage along with Nouveau TV5, a service offering programming devoted to diversity within the Canadian francophone community and official language minority communities.
The CRTC also gave mandatory carriage to a service operated by the Legislative Assemblies of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, which will be added to the basic service of satellite television subscribers in those two territories.
As a result, "Canadians living with a visual impairment, francophones and citizens of the North will be better served," the CRTC said.
The CRTC also renewed for another five years the mandatory distribution of AMI-TV in English, AMI Audio, Canal M, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), and the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC).
The regulator granted ARTV a "must-offer" designation to ensure that it is carried by all distributors while giving Canadians the choice to subscribe to it or not. ARTV is a CBC/Radio-Canada channel that offers arts news in French.
Amongst the dozen applications that were rejected were;
* Accents.
• All Points.
• Bulletin Canadian.
• Punjabi Network.
• Described Video Guide.
• Dolobox TV.
• EqualiTV.
• Fusion.
• Maximum Television Canada.
• Starlight: The Canadian Movie Channel.
• Sun News Network.
• La télévision des ressources naturelles.
• Vision TV.
Also the CRTC ruled that the mandatory carriage granted to Avis de recherche in French-language markets will expire in two years.
As can be seen in the contrasting above lists and as I wrote about earlier, the CRTC sets pretty high standards for mandatory carriage. There must be a real demonstrated need for such a service, a need that supersedes the profit motive. They should also be serving an audience that is otherwise under-represented. There is no way, outside of the paranoid rhetoric of the right wing media hothouse, that SUN NEWS could ever be considered in such terms. As the CRTC put it; “Given its exceptional nature, the CRTC has set the bar very high for obtaining a mandatory distribution order”.
It's also worth pointing out that while not an actual requirement, all the accepted applications (except APTN) are non-profits, which SUN NEWS clearly is not.
Another high profile applicant that got rejected for mandatory carriage was Starlight: The Canadian Movie Channel, which had the backing of luminaries like David Cronenberg, Denys Arcand and Atom Agoyan, which should certainly have had a better shot than SUN NEWS, as would Vison TV. No word yet on whether or not Starlight will go anyway without mandatory carriage.
In it's application, as well in their hysterically strident p.r. campaign, SUN NEWS insisted that if they did not get the mandatory subsidy they would be forced to shut down. In the CRTC hearings SUN NEWS President Kory Keneycke actually called it a "death sentence" (wait, isn't SUN NEWS in favour of the death penalty?) admitting they lost $17 million last year — a situation parent company Quebecor (TSX:QBR.B) calls “clearly unsustainable.” The CRTC hears this kind of argument all the time whenever an applicant wants a favour. And they know it's usually bullshit, they also don't care. For example in the recent fight for the vacant 88.1fm frequency in Toronto various applicants, including PROUD FM, CARN and Moses Znaimer's ZOOMER RADIO swore they would go out of business if they were not allowed to move to the new signal. The CRTC said no and granted the signal instead to INDIE 88. So far none of them have followed up on their threat to take their ball and sulk off home. Then there's SUN NEWS itself which already lost the over-the-air analog signal they were using last year without permission after the CRTC told them to knock it off. (They are apparently trying to get it back, which I actually have no real problem with).
As for SUN NEWS the CRTC said Sun News Network knew what it was getting into when it decided to go ahead without mandatory-carriage status, noting that it would not have even been able to consider launching if the CRTC had not opened up the category of national news to competition five years ago.
“Sun News opted to launch its service as a competitive Category C service without carriage rights. As such, the Commission is of the view that the applicant accepted the potential business risk associated with choosing to launch an unprotected and unsubsidized service whose genre had only recently been opened to competition,” the CRTC wrote in its decision.
"SO STOP YOUR WHINING YOU GREEDY CRYBABIES!!"
OK; I paraphrased that last part. Still it's a pretty strong rebuke, and tough to argue with. Unless you work for SUN NEWS of course, like former Reform Party and Conservative MP Monte Solberg who wrote in a column helpfully printed by The Sun newspaper chain; "There is something bizarre about bureaucrats and a body dedicated to regulations, rules and red tape deciding the fate of a network dedicated to freedom, small government and restricting the role of bodies like the CRTC. But there you have it".
Oddly enough Monte Solberg didn't think there was anything "bizarre" about such a network demanding such a subsidy in the first place, or the parent company, QMI, getting millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies every year while campaigning relentlessly against any such subsidies for anyone else. He also didn't think there was anything "bizarre" about such a network getting a corrupt unelected senator to lobby behind closed doors for his crony capitalists. Strangely neither did any of the other "freedom fighters" at the Sun. But there you have it.
Instead Solberg gave us the usual Conservative paranoid persecution complex about how they are being silenced by the usual "liberal elites"; "Make no mistake, there's a lot at stake. The very fact that other journalists and media personalities were taking their shots on Twitter tells you as much as you need to know about why we need Sun News. Clearly some people just don't like the idea that other points of view should be heard, especially if they are conservative. Good, better to have that out in the open"
Actually Monte; it's better to have out in the open the fact that some of the most stinging rebukes of SUN TV's cash grab came from other conservatives who aren't employed by SUN NEWS such as Andrew Coyne from National Post; or Jonathan Kay from the National Post, or the Post's Scott Stinson, or there's this gem from the conservative Globe & Mail
Whata Buncha Commies. Anyhow; to get back to SUN NEWS and their threat to go out of business if they CRTC ruled against them; it turns out they managed to find an ever so slim silver lining amidst the CRTC's beatdown.
“We are disappointed that the CRTC did not rule in favour of our application for a mandatory distribution order,” Sun News executive Kory Teneycke said in a statement. “However, we are encouraged they have found merit in the main arguments laid out by Sun News on price, channel placement and distribution, and have provided a mechanism to address these issues.” The application by Sun News “acted as a catalyst for this broader review of the framework for national news services announced today,” he added.
What he is talking about here is the decision by the CRTC to hold another round of hearings to discuss how news channels are placed in cable packages as well as how they are priced.
CRTC PRESS RELEASE;
CRTC proposes a new approach to national news services
OTTAWA-GATINEAU, August 8, 2013 — Today, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) invited Canadians to participate in a review of its policy on the licensing of Canadian national news television services. It also invited comments on the distribution conditions for these services and for foreign news services.
“The diversity of voices is an essential component of our society, particularly as they relate to news and information in the Canadian broadcasting system” said Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the CRTC. “Television news channels provide an important public service by ensuring that Canadians are exposed to different opinions and perspectives on matters that concern all citizens. We are concerned that, under the existing rules, Canadian news services are not being given a pride of place in our broadcasting system.”
During the CRTC’s public hearing that began on April 23, 2013, Canadians presented evidence suggesting that the policy on specialty Canadian national news services should be reviewed. The CRTC will focus specifically on the challenges that face new players in this sector, particularly in terms of their distribution. These challenges are not unique to any given service, but rather an indication of a wider and more systemic issue regarding the distribution of Canadian national news services under equitable and commercially reasonable conditions.
The CRTC invites Canadians to comment on a proposed regulatory framework that includes the following:
- distributors must offer all Canadian national news services (not necessarily on basic service)
- distributors must place Canadian news services in close proximity in their channel lineup
- national news services must be available in a package and on a stand-alone basis
- national news services should be offered in the most appropriate packages according to their content.
Those who wish to participate in the CRTC’s proceeding are invited to submit their comments by September 9, 2013. Comments may be submitted by completing the online form https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/instances-proceedings/Default-defaut.aspx?EN=2013-394&Lang=eng, by writing to the Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N2, or by fax at 819-994-0218.
About Canadian television news services;
Despite the significant technological changes currently underway, Canadians still overwhelmingly access news affecting their country and their community through the Canadian broadcasting system. Nearly 12 million households subscribe to a cable or satellite television service. Canadians collectively watched more than 138 million hours of news programming in 2011-2012, 45% of which was on specialty news services.
Currently, non-Canadian news services are, for the most part, distributed in popular packages and have significant access to Canadian viewers. On average, non-Canadian news services receive wholesale fees from cable and satellite companies of $0.73 per subscriber per month, while Canadian news services receive monthly wholesale fees of $0.36 per subscriber, which are half the fees paid to non-Canadian services.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So apparently The SUN will not be setting after all. At least not yet. "We intend to participate fully in those proceedings, and will continue to operate pending an outcome,” Teneycke wrote. Oh SUN NEWS; how can we miss you when you won't go away? So there; you can break out the champagne right wingers, or whatever non-French thing you guys drink, you're in the clear after all. Or not. Note what the CRTC is actually talking about is really just limited to clarifying what will be included in the news packages that cable companies bundle together (a so-called "must-offer") for those who want them, NOT mandatory carriage services that all cable subscriber have to pay for like-it-or-not. You may recall that in the CRTC May hearings the same Kory Teneycke swore that merely giving SUN TV "must-offer" without the subsidy was a "death sentence". Adding " "Let us be very clear: a 'must-offer' license would not have a meaningful impact on the current trajectory of Sun News and would inevitably lead to the closure of the station."
So was Keneycke's threat to commit Hari Kari a bluff? Or has it just been postponed? Because either way I don't see the CRTC readdressing the larger issue of mandatory carriage fees itself given the rather narrow parameters listed above. Incidentally; even if the CRTC were to reopen that issue the SUN would face even more opposition than the thousands of lowly citizens who wrote in to give the CRTC their two cents worth. Namely the cable companies who have argued that forcing more channels into basic packages, could cause a spike in TV bills of about $6 a month if they were all approved, and might be enough to push many customers out of the system. And if you recall the hyperbolic campaign they ran back in 2009 over the issue of their having to pay any fees to television networks for their content, then you will know that they don't mess around. That P.R. blitz included the notorious TV and print ads that claimed that the CRTC was about to levy "a tax on us all", which was a blatant lie since the CRTC has no power to levy taxes and wasn't asking for that. I'm pretty sure the SUN will have met it's match and master in any such pissing match.
I actually have no problem with the reforms proposed by the CRTC. Grouping all the news channels together seems more efficient and logical enough. Making any and all Canadian channels available to those who want them seems perfectly fair. And I see no reason why foreign news channels should be getting paid twice what Canadian channels get. If you want to watch SUN NEWS, APTN or VISION you should be able to do so. You just shouldn't be forced to pay for a for-profit business you don't want. Surely the "freedom fighting" free enterprisers would agree, no?
Bottom line here is that SUN NEWS didn't get the subsidy they were demanding. The one they swore they couldn't live without. And even after the next set of hearings they still won't. A better placement in the channel packages won't help much if nobody wants to buy their crappy product, and thus far few people do. Their ratings are consistently pathetic. A raise in the subscriber fees as mentioned in the final paragraph of the CRTC notice couldn't hurt of course but SUN still face the insurmountable problem that most people find their channel cheesy, annoying and unwatchable at best and deeply offensive and down-right racist at worst. And that's not going to change. In fact after the recent horrible train explosion in Lac Magantic SUN NEWS and their flagship "Freedom Fighter" Ezra Levant (seriously, they actually bill him that way) were the first to go on the air with the important and completely made up news scoop that the disaster was the work of "Native or Environmental Terrorists".
Stay classy SUN NEWS.
The problem was not only SUN TV's short history of outrageously offensive, not to mention blatantly racist, behaviour but also the utterly shameless hypocrisy of a "news" organization known for it's strident, even vitriolic, attacks on other networks (especially the CBC) who are subsidized, along with nasty personal attacks on artists who get relatively piddly arts grants. Even conservative columnists gagged on the spectacle of SUN TV's demanding that their laughably low rated Tory Pravda be subsidized. At least those who weren't actually working for SUN NEWS (AKA FOX North) of course. Those who were so employed mounted an unprecedented publicity campaign to convince Canadian's of the awesome awesomeness of SUN NEWS and the dire risk of our "freedoms" and "liberty" not to mention the very existence of free enterprise itself and our very "way of life" if the millions of Canadians who refuse to watch SUN NEWS weren't forced to at least pay for the service. Apparently that was the only news story of the past several months, at least that's what I gather from watching SUN NEWS, and they ought to know. They eventually claimed that "over 50,000 Canadians wrote in to the CRTC in support of SUN's Mandatory carriage application". A hilarious statement which would set new standards of dishonest self-puffery if it were made by anybody other than SUN NEWS. In fact most other media reports said that about 15,000 Canadians wrote to the CRTC, and that covered ALL the twenty two applicants, it also included those who were writing in opposition to the applications. Of which there were a few thousand according to my own perusal. Oh; And I wrote one too.
SUN TV TALKS ABOUT IT'S FAVORITE SUBJECT, ITSELF:
Even Mike Duffy, Canada's current favorite cartoon villain, got into the act by getting caught lobbying the CRTC on SUN's behalf. The usefulness of this was somewhat compromised when everybody found out what a corrupt lying sleazebag Duffy The Hutt is. You may have even caught some mention of this on by watching SUN NEWS, in between the never-ending, panting plugs for SUN NEWS.
DUFFY THE HUTT & KRISTA ERICSON;
The CRTC in their ruling noted that SUN TV “did not clearly demonstrate how its service would make an exceptional contribution to the objectives of the (Broadcasting) Act or show that it would go beyond what other national news services spend on Canadian programming.”
By contrast their were several other channels who were also asking for mandatory carriage, some whom were accepted including;
AMI TV in French, a service that offers audiovisual content specifically adapted to the needs of people who are blind or partially sighted, was given mandatory carriage along with Nouveau TV5, a service offering programming devoted to diversity within the Canadian francophone community and official language minority communities.
The CRTC also gave mandatory carriage to a service operated by the Legislative Assemblies of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, which will be added to the basic service of satellite television subscribers in those two territories.
As a result, "Canadians living with a visual impairment, francophones and citizens of the North will be better served," the CRTC said.
The CRTC also renewed for another five years the mandatory distribution of AMI-TV in English, AMI Audio, Canal M, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), and the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC).
The regulator granted ARTV a "must-offer" designation to ensure that it is carried by all distributors while giving Canadians the choice to subscribe to it or not. ARTV is a CBC/Radio-Canada channel that offers arts news in French.
Amongst the dozen applications that were rejected were;
* Accents.
• All Points.
• Bulletin Canadian.
• Punjabi Network.
• Described Video Guide.
• Dolobox TV.
• EqualiTV.
• Fusion.
• Maximum Television Canada.
• Starlight: The Canadian Movie Channel.
• Sun News Network.
• La télévision des ressources naturelles.
• Vision TV.
Also the CRTC ruled that the mandatory carriage granted to Avis de recherche in French-language markets will expire in two years.
As can be seen in the contrasting above lists and as I wrote about earlier, the CRTC sets pretty high standards for mandatory carriage. There must be a real demonstrated need for such a service, a need that supersedes the profit motive. They should also be serving an audience that is otherwise under-represented. There is no way, outside of the paranoid rhetoric of the right wing media hothouse, that SUN NEWS could ever be considered in such terms. As the CRTC put it; “Given its exceptional nature, the CRTC has set the bar very high for obtaining a mandatory distribution order”.
It's also worth pointing out that while not an actual requirement, all the accepted applications (except APTN) are non-profits, which SUN NEWS clearly is not.
Another high profile applicant that got rejected for mandatory carriage was Starlight: The Canadian Movie Channel, which had the backing of luminaries like David Cronenberg, Denys Arcand and Atom Agoyan, which should certainly have had a better shot than SUN NEWS, as would Vison TV. No word yet on whether or not Starlight will go anyway without mandatory carriage.
In it's application, as well in their hysterically strident p.r. campaign, SUN NEWS insisted that if they did not get the mandatory subsidy they would be forced to shut down. In the CRTC hearings SUN NEWS President Kory Keneycke actually called it a "death sentence" (wait, isn't SUN NEWS in favour of the death penalty?) admitting they lost $17 million last year — a situation parent company Quebecor (TSX:QBR.B) calls “clearly unsustainable.” The CRTC hears this kind of argument all the time whenever an applicant wants a favour. And they know it's usually bullshit, they also don't care. For example in the recent fight for the vacant 88.1fm frequency in Toronto various applicants, including PROUD FM, CARN and Moses Znaimer's ZOOMER RADIO swore they would go out of business if they were not allowed to move to the new signal. The CRTC said no and granted the signal instead to INDIE 88. So far none of them have followed up on their threat to take their ball and sulk off home. Then there's SUN NEWS itself which already lost the over-the-air analog signal they were using last year without permission after the CRTC told them to knock it off. (They are apparently trying to get it back, which I actually have no real problem with).
As for SUN NEWS the CRTC said Sun News Network knew what it was getting into when it decided to go ahead without mandatory-carriage status, noting that it would not have even been able to consider launching if the CRTC had not opened up the category of national news to competition five years ago.
“Sun News opted to launch its service as a competitive Category C service without carriage rights. As such, the Commission is of the view that the applicant accepted the potential business risk associated with choosing to launch an unprotected and unsubsidized service whose genre had only recently been opened to competition,” the CRTC wrote in its decision.
"SO STOP YOUR WHINING YOU GREEDY CRYBABIES!!"
OK; I paraphrased that last part. Still it's a pretty strong rebuke, and tough to argue with. Unless you work for SUN NEWS of course, like former Reform Party and Conservative MP Monte Solberg who wrote in a column helpfully printed by The Sun newspaper chain; "There is something bizarre about bureaucrats and a body dedicated to regulations, rules and red tape deciding the fate of a network dedicated to freedom, small government and restricting the role of bodies like the CRTC. But there you have it".
Oddly enough Monte Solberg didn't think there was anything "bizarre" about such a network demanding such a subsidy in the first place, or the parent company, QMI, getting millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies every year while campaigning relentlessly against any such subsidies for anyone else. He also didn't think there was anything "bizarre" about such a network getting a corrupt unelected senator to lobby behind closed doors for his crony capitalists. Strangely neither did any of the other "freedom fighters" at the Sun. But there you have it.
Instead Solberg gave us the usual Conservative paranoid persecution complex about how they are being silenced by the usual "liberal elites"; "Make no mistake, there's a lot at stake. The very fact that other journalists and media personalities were taking their shots on Twitter tells you as much as you need to know about why we need Sun News. Clearly some people just don't like the idea that other points of view should be heard, especially if they are conservative. Good, better to have that out in the open"
Actually Monte; it's better to have out in the open the fact that some of the most stinging rebukes of SUN TV's cash grab came from other conservatives who aren't employed by SUN NEWS such as Andrew Coyne from National Post; or Jonathan Kay from the National Post, or the Post's Scott Stinson, or there's this gem from the conservative Globe & Mail
Whata Buncha Commies. Anyhow; to get back to SUN NEWS and their threat to go out of business if they CRTC ruled against them; it turns out they managed to find an ever so slim silver lining amidst the CRTC's beatdown.
“We are disappointed that the CRTC did not rule in favour of our application for a mandatory distribution order,” Sun News executive Kory Teneycke said in a statement. “However, we are encouraged they have found merit in the main arguments laid out by Sun News on price, channel placement and distribution, and have provided a mechanism to address these issues.” The application by Sun News “acted as a catalyst for this broader review of the framework for national news services announced today,” he added.
What he is talking about here is the decision by the CRTC to hold another round of hearings to discuss how news channels are placed in cable packages as well as how they are priced.
CRTC PRESS RELEASE;
CRTC proposes a new approach to national news services
OTTAWA-GATINEAU, August 8, 2013 — Today, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) invited Canadians to participate in a review of its policy on the licensing of Canadian national news television services. It also invited comments on the distribution conditions for these services and for foreign news services.
“The diversity of voices is an essential component of our society, particularly as they relate to news and information in the Canadian broadcasting system” said Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the CRTC. “Television news channels provide an important public service by ensuring that Canadians are exposed to different opinions and perspectives on matters that concern all citizens. We are concerned that, under the existing rules, Canadian news services are not being given a pride of place in our broadcasting system.”
During the CRTC’s public hearing that began on April 23, 2013, Canadians presented evidence suggesting that the policy on specialty Canadian national news services should be reviewed. The CRTC will focus specifically on the challenges that face new players in this sector, particularly in terms of their distribution. These challenges are not unique to any given service, but rather an indication of a wider and more systemic issue regarding the distribution of Canadian national news services under equitable and commercially reasonable conditions.
The CRTC invites Canadians to comment on a proposed regulatory framework that includes the following:
- distributors must offer all Canadian national news services (not necessarily on basic service)
- distributors must place Canadian news services in close proximity in their channel lineup
- national news services must be available in a package and on a stand-alone basis
- national news services should be offered in the most appropriate packages according to their content.
Those who wish to participate in the CRTC’s proceeding are invited to submit their comments by September 9, 2013. Comments may be submitted by completing the online form https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/instances-proceedings/Default-defaut.aspx?EN=2013-394&Lang=eng, by writing to the Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N2, or by fax at 819-994-0218.
About Canadian television news services;
Despite the significant technological changes currently underway, Canadians still overwhelmingly access news affecting their country and their community through the Canadian broadcasting system. Nearly 12 million households subscribe to a cable or satellite television service. Canadians collectively watched more than 138 million hours of news programming in 2011-2012, 45% of which was on specialty news services.
Currently, non-Canadian news services are, for the most part, distributed in popular packages and have significant access to Canadian viewers. On average, non-Canadian news services receive wholesale fees from cable and satellite companies of $0.73 per subscriber per month, while Canadian news services receive monthly wholesale fees of $0.36 per subscriber, which are half the fees paid to non-Canadian services.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So apparently The SUN will not be setting after all. At least not yet. "We intend to participate fully in those proceedings, and will continue to operate pending an outcome,” Teneycke wrote. Oh SUN NEWS; how can we miss you when you won't go away? So there; you can break out the champagne right wingers, or whatever non-French thing you guys drink, you're in the clear after all. Or not. Note what the CRTC is actually talking about is really just limited to clarifying what will be included in the news packages that cable companies bundle together (a so-called "must-offer") for those who want them, NOT mandatory carriage services that all cable subscriber have to pay for like-it-or-not. You may recall that in the CRTC May hearings the same Kory Teneycke swore that merely giving SUN TV "must-offer" without the subsidy was a "death sentence". Adding " "Let us be very clear: a 'must-offer' license would not have a meaningful impact on the current trajectory of Sun News and would inevitably lead to the closure of the station."
So was Keneycke's threat to commit Hari Kari a bluff? Or has it just been postponed? Because either way I don't see the CRTC readdressing the larger issue of mandatory carriage fees itself given the rather narrow parameters listed above. Incidentally; even if the CRTC were to reopen that issue the SUN would face even more opposition than the thousands of lowly citizens who wrote in to give the CRTC their two cents worth. Namely the cable companies who have argued that forcing more channels into basic packages, could cause a spike in TV bills of about $6 a month if they were all approved, and might be enough to push many customers out of the system. And if you recall the hyperbolic campaign they ran back in 2009 over the issue of their having to pay any fees to television networks for their content, then you will know that they don't mess around. That P.R. blitz included the notorious TV and print ads that claimed that the CRTC was about to levy "a tax on us all", which was a blatant lie since the CRTC has no power to levy taxes and wasn't asking for that. I'm pretty sure the SUN will have met it's match and master in any such pissing match.
I actually have no problem with the reforms proposed by the CRTC. Grouping all the news channels together seems more efficient and logical enough. Making any and all Canadian channels available to those who want them seems perfectly fair. And I see no reason why foreign news channels should be getting paid twice what Canadian channels get. If you want to watch SUN NEWS, APTN or VISION you should be able to do so. You just shouldn't be forced to pay for a for-profit business you don't want. Surely the "freedom fighting" free enterprisers would agree, no?
Bottom line here is that SUN NEWS didn't get the subsidy they were demanding. The one they swore they couldn't live without. And even after the next set of hearings they still won't. A better placement in the channel packages won't help much if nobody wants to buy their crappy product, and thus far few people do. Their ratings are consistently pathetic. A raise in the subscriber fees as mentioned in the final paragraph of the CRTC notice couldn't hurt of course but SUN still face the insurmountable problem that most people find their channel cheesy, annoying and unwatchable at best and deeply offensive and down-right racist at worst. And that's not going to change. In fact after the recent horrible train explosion in Lac Magantic SUN NEWS and their flagship "Freedom Fighter" Ezra Levant (seriously, they actually bill him that way) were the first to go on the air with the important and completely made up news scoop that the disaster was the work of "Native or Environmental Terrorists".
Stay classy SUN NEWS.
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
88.1fm UPDATE; Although Not Yet On-Air INDIE 88 Goes For A Signal Upgrade
As some of you may recall, last year the CRTC granted the 88.1fm frequency vacated by the CKLN's meltdown to a new station to be called INDIE 88, an independent group dedicated to Indie and Canadian music. And then...nothing...at least not in public. So what's been going on with that? Well here's a recent update sent out by INDIE 88 a while back;
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"* The Licence is confirmed!! Although the CRTC awarded us the licence, procedures allow for an appeal of the decision to Federal Cabinet. One applicant did appeal the decision, bringing us to a stand-still. Just before Christmas our decision was confirmed. Big collective “Whew!”
* We are starting to build our systems and put together technical plans for the studios, transmitter and antenna. It will take us several months to get all of this organized.
* We applied to the CRTC for approval to increase power- 88.1 coverage is limited due to other users of the frequency. We have negotiated cooperative agreements allowing us to increase power from 875 watts to 4,000 watts. This is a big deal for the station - as licensed our signal will be difficult to pick up in many parts of the City. With higher power we will reach most Toronto homes. You’ll also be able to hear us on car radios throughout the GTA. BUT, the power increase has to be approved by the CRTC.
Once again we need your help. You can help us get approval by sending another letter of support to the CRTC. If you’d like to help out, just reply back with an e-mail and we’ll pass along the details."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little back ground here; Firstly they don't say what group of entitled jerks actually tried to fight the granting of a license in court (with zero chance of success) but I can think of two possibilities. First there is Moses Znaimer who had also applied for the license and threw a public hissy fit and threatened a lawsuit (which I wrote about here) when they didn't get it. Then there was the CBC who also made a similar threat at the actual CRTC hearings which I was at. I have defended the CBC in the past but there is no excusing such arrogant behavior, assuming it was them.
Now for the more important issue; INDIE 88 originally applied for a signal at approx. 500watts. By comparison CKLN broadcasted at 250 watts, and when I worked there we had done some prepwork to upgrade to 1000 watts. So I was not surprised to hear that INDIE 88 was going for an upgrade, although making an application before even going on-air is a little odd. I guess the extra time left by the court challenge gave INDIE 88 time to kill. INDIE 88's application called for an almost hundred percent increase to 4000 watts. To keep that in perspective CIUT has 15,000 watts, CFNY (AKA The EDGE) has 35,000 watts, Q107 has 40,000 watts, BOOM 97 has 29,000 watts, KISS FM (formerly JACK FM) has 4,700 watts, FLOW has 1,170 watts, CKFG-FM (AKA CARN) has 446, CHRY has 150 watts and PROUD FM has 60 watts. Incidentally CARN and PROUD FM also applied for the 88.1fm signal. So 4,000 watts would make INDIE 88 competitive and allow them to compete with CFNY who are their obvious main competitor as well as enable them to reach the entire GTA with a good signal.
At any rate since I did intervene in support of the original INDIE 88 application with a fairly detailed 12 page submission I figured I might as well fire off another letter if support for the CRTC below; "Being a veteran of the Toronto music and radio scene as a DJ, Journalist and Show Promoter I wrote a letter of support of CIND's initial application and now wish to express my support for the proposed signal increase to 4000 watts. While the Commission's decision to grant a license to a radio station dedicated to an all-independent music station with a commitment to 40% Cancon is certainly a welcome step I am also aware that the current signal is not strong enough to adequately and consistently cover the ever growing Greater Toronto Area. The Independent music scene is not merely restricted to the downtown core but throughout the suburbs and surrounding communities. It is essential to encourage young musicians outside the downtown core with music that goes beyond that offered by the current commercial radio stations. Such a signal is also necessary enable CIND to appeal to advertisers needed to stay profitable. An upgrade capable of reaching not only the downtown core but also the suburbs is essential to enable CIND to meet it's desired mandate.
Furthermore I am aware as the Commission is that the proposal by CIND includes provisions to enable radio stations CHES and CFRH to increase and improve their signals as well along with financial support for these upgrades and would therefore have obvious benefits to the communities as well. This opportunity may not arise in the future and should naturally be taken advantage of. By it's willingness to work with and support these Community Stations I believe that CIND has shown it's willingness to be the "good corporate citizen" that any "Indie" oriented radio station must be in order to build a relationship with it's proposed audience and should be encouraged.
While I recognize that it is unusual for a radio station to ask for a signal upgrade before it has actually gone on the air I believe that the unusual challenges set by the unexpected opening of the 88.1FM frequency and the short deadlines for application made this unavoidable in this case. I have read the Supplementary Brief offered by the Applicant and I believe they have answered the concerns that the Commission may have concerning this issue. I therefore ask the Commission to approve the proposed signal upgrade.
(Signed) Daibhid James
The hearings will be sometime in April. They'll be in Ottawa so I won't be there however but I'll post the CRTC decison when it comes in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I allude to in my support letter one of the byproducts of INDIE 88 applications is that it also allowed for signal upgrades for two other stations; CHES and CFRH. This is because they share the 88.1 frequency outside the GTA and therefore INDIE 88 had to get their permission to upgrade their signal since to do so would (or could) interfere with their signals. CHES is a small non-campus Community Station in the small town of Erin west of Toronto, CFRH is a French language community station in Penetanguishene. Both have been trying to get a signal upgrade for a few years now. To do so they would have needed the co-operation of the then holder of the 88.1fm frequency, CKLN. While I was working there back in 2008 there were working out a deal in which both CKLN and CHES and CFRH would be able to mutually support each other in getting signal upgrades for all of them. After the Ryerson Coup seized CKLN in 2009 the new supposedly community based leftist junta in charge of CKLN scuttled those agreements with two community stations in favour of a vague dream of getting a 1000 watt upgrade for themselves. Of course that was delusional since CKLN was at that point already busy being dragged in front of the CRTC hearings and have their license yanked.
Ironically it turned out that CKLN's shutdown was good news for everyone since once INDIE 88 got their application they quickly set to work on an agreement with CHES and CFRH which involved not only license upgrades for the two smaller stations but also INDIE 88 giving a large sum of cash to enable CHES to afford a more powerful broadcast antenna. CFRH has not actually applied for an upgrade yet, although they will probably do so at some point. CHES on the other hand has hit the ground running and applied for a signal upgrade simultaneously with INDIE 88. So I figured I might as well fire off a short support letter for them as well.
See below;
"I am writing in support of CHES FM's application for a signal upgrade. Although I am a resident of Toronto I have many years of experience in Community Radio and am well aware of the importance of such a station to it's local community. I am also aware that CHES has struggled to reach much of it's surrounding area with it's current signal and the requested increase seems both necessary and appropriate to it's mandate. A signal increase which allows CHES to reach the entire area would obviously be of benefit to that community as well as allowing CHES an opportunity to reach potential advertisers. I am also aware of CHES's previous attempts to address this issue were opposed by the now defunct CKLN. Since that station has now been replaced by CIND, a station which shown a greater ability to work with it's neighbors. This has allowed both stations to come to an arrangement which allows both station's to increase their signals for the mutual benefit of both audiences. It would therefore be wise to take advantage of this arrangement and grant both applications and I ask the Commission to do so."
(signed) Daibhid James
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"* The Licence is confirmed!! Although the CRTC awarded us the licence, procedures allow for an appeal of the decision to Federal Cabinet. One applicant did appeal the decision, bringing us to a stand-still. Just before Christmas our decision was confirmed. Big collective “Whew!”
* We are starting to build our systems and put together technical plans for the studios, transmitter and antenna. It will take us several months to get all of this organized.
* We applied to the CRTC for approval to increase power- 88.1 coverage is limited due to other users of the frequency. We have negotiated cooperative agreements allowing us to increase power from 875 watts to 4,000 watts. This is a big deal for the station - as licensed our signal will be difficult to pick up in many parts of the City. With higher power we will reach most Toronto homes. You’ll also be able to hear us on car radios throughout the GTA. BUT, the power increase has to be approved by the CRTC.
Once again we need your help. You can help us get approval by sending another letter of support to the CRTC. If you’d like to help out, just reply back with an e-mail and we’ll pass along the details."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little back ground here; Firstly they don't say what group of entitled jerks actually tried to fight the granting of a license in court (with zero chance of success) but I can think of two possibilities. First there is Moses Znaimer who had also applied for the license and threw a public hissy fit and threatened a lawsuit (which I wrote about here) when they didn't get it. Then there was the CBC who also made a similar threat at the actual CRTC hearings which I was at. I have defended the CBC in the past but there is no excusing such arrogant behavior, assuming it was them.
Now for the more important issue; INDIE 88 originally applied for a signal at approx. 500watts. By comparison CKLN broadcasted at 250 watts, and when I worked there we had done some prepwork to upgrade to 1000 watts. So I was not surprised to hear that INDIE 88 was going for an upgrade, although making an application before even going on-air is a little odd. I guess the extra time left by the court challenge gave INDIE 88 time to kill. INDIE 88's application called for an almost hundred percent increase to 4000 watts. To keep that in perspective CIUT has 15,000 watts, CFNY (AKA The EDGE) has 35,000 watts, Q107 has 40,000 watts, BOOM 97 has 29,000 watts, KISS FM (formerly JACK FM) has 4,700 watts, FLOW has 1,170 watts, CKFG-FM (AKA CARN) has 446, CHRY has 150 watts and PROUD FM has 60 watts. Incidentally CARN and PROUD FM also applied for the 88.1fm signal. So 4,000 watts would make INDIE 88 competitive and allow them to compete with CFNY who are their obvious main competitor as well as enable them to reach the entire GTA with a good signal.
At any rate since I did intervene in support of the original INDIE 88 application with a fairly detailed 12 page submission I figured I might as well fire off another letter if support for the CRTC below; "Being a veteran of the Toronto music and radio scene as a DJ, Journalist and Show Promoter I wrote a letter of support of CIND's initial application and now wish to express my support for the proposed signal increase to 4000 watts. While the Commission's decision to grant a license to a radio station dedicated to an all-independent music station with a commitment to 40% Cancon is certainly a welcome step I am also aware that the current signal is not strong enough to adequately and consistently cover the ever growing Greater Toronto Area. The Independent music scene is not merely restricted to the downtown core but throughout the suburbs and surrounding communities. It is essential to encourage young musicians outside the downtown core with music that goes beyond that offered by the current commercial radio stations. Such a signal is also necessary enable CIND to appeal to advertisers needed to stay profitable. An upgrade capable of reaching not only the downtown core but also the suburbs is essential to enable CIND to meet it's desired mandate.
Furthermore I am aware as the Commission is that the proposal by CIND includes provisions to enable radio stations CHES and CFRH to increase and improve their signals as well along with financial support for these upgrades and would therefore have obvious benefits to the communities as well. This opportunity may not arise in the future and should naturally be taken advantage of. By it's willingness to work with and support these Community Stations I believe that CIND has shown it's willingness to be the "good corporate citizen" that any "Indie" oriented radio station must be in order to build a relationship with it's proposed audience and should be encouraged.
While I recognize that it is unusual for a radio station to ask for a signal upgrade before it has actually gone on the air I believe that the unusual challenges set by the unexpected opening of the 88.1FM frequency and the short deadlines for application made this unavoidable in this case. I have read the Supplementary Brief offered by the Applicant and I believe they have answered the concerns that the Commission may have concerning this issue. I therefore ask the Commission to approve the proposed signal upgrade.
(Signed) Daibhid James
The hearings will be sometime in April. They'll be in Ottawa so I won't be there however but I'll post the CRTC decison when it comes in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I allude to in my support letter one of the byproducts of INDIE 88 applications is that it also allowed for signal upgrades for two other stations; CHES and CFRH. This is because they share the 88.1 frequency outside the GTA and therefore INDIE 88 had to get their permission to upgrade their signal since to do so would (or could) interfere with their signals. CHES is a small non-campus Community Station in the small town of Erin west of Toronto, CFRH is a French language community station in Penetanguishene. Both have been trying to get a signal upgrade for a few years now. To do so they would have needed the co-operation of the then holder of the 88.1fm frequency, CKLN. While I was working there back in 2008 there were working out a deal in which both CKLN and CHES and CFRH would be able to mutually support each other in getting signal upgrades for all of them. After the Ryerson Coup seized CKLN in 2009 the new supposedly community based leftist junta in charge of CKLN scuttled those agreements with two community stations in favour of a vague dream of getting a 1000 watt upgrade for themselves. Of course that was delusional since CKLN was at that point already busy being dragged in front of the CRTC hearings and have their license yanked.
Ironically it turned out that CKLN's shutdown was good news for everyone since once INDIE 88 got their application they quickly set to work on an agreement with CHES and CFRH which involved not only license upgrades for the two smaller stations but also INDIE 88 giving a large sum of cash to enable CHES to afford a more powerful broadcast antenna. CFRH has not actually applied for an upgrade yet, although they will probably do so at some point. CHES on the other hand has hit the ground running and applied for a signal upgrade simultaneously with INDIE 88. So I figured I might as well fire off a short support letter for them as well.
See below;
"I am writing in support of CHES FM's application for a signal upgrade. Although I am a resident of Toronto I have many years of experience in Community Radio and am well aware of the importance of such a station to it's local community. I am also aware that CHES has struggled to reach much of it's surrounding area with it's current signal and the requested increase seems both necessary and appropriate to it's mandate. A signal increase which allows CHES to reach the entire area would obviously be of benefit to that community as well as allowing CHES an opportunity to reach potential advertisers. I am also aware of CHES's previous attempts to address this issue were opposed by the now defunct CKLN. Since that station has now been replaced by CIND, a station which shown a greater ability to work with it's neighbors. This has allowed both stations to come to an arrangement which allows both station's to increase their signals for the mutual benefit of both audiences. It would therefore be wise to take advantage of this arrangement and grant both applications and I ask the Commission to do so."
(signed) Daibhid James
Sunday, 30 December 2012
Ending off the Year With Some More Bad Radio News.
2012 has been a busy year for Community in radio in Canada, in fact the last few years have been busy, and not always in a good way.
In 2008 Winnipeg station CJWV, a privately owned Community Radio station went off the air and lost it's license after a years of infighting, money problems, legal problems and refusal to follow CRTC regulations. From what I know of the CJWV (and I have read the CRTC hearing transcripts and decision) that place was completely fucked up and got what they deserved. (Note the CJWV call letters have already been reassigned).
Then, disregarding this warning sign, Toronto's Ryerson University's Student Union jumped into bed with a group of way far left wacko political activists and seized control of radio station CKLN, taking it off the air for eight months and purging any dissenters and so incurring lawsuits and CRTC complaints. That resulted in a CRTC hearing in 2010 (which I testified at) and the loss of their license as well in 2011. From personal experience I can report that CKLN and Ryerson were REALLY fucked up and richly deserved to be put down.
Also in 2010 two other stations were hauled in front of the CRTC to answer for their myriad regulatory, financial, staffing and legal problems; CHSC, a small station in St.Catherines and The Aboriginal Voices Network. CHSC got shut down and AVN lost some of their network.
In 2011 CKRG, the tiny radio station at York University (with only a few watts) decided it was simply too much trouble and cost to keep broadcasting and gave up their license. But on the other hand CARN, the application for a Black/Caribbean station finally got their license, which was seen as a good thing until people actually heard it. Oh well.
That brings us to 2012. This past year started out with a feeding frenzy as the old 88.1fm frequency came up for tender and 22 groups applied, including a bid by Ryerson to take back the license. Besides the usual corporate suspects and The CBC, there was a small group which owned two other small town stations for a all-indie radio station called "INDIE 88". I wrote a lengthy brief for their application which I and most other people assumed was a longshot. In the end the CRTC gave the nod to INDIE 88, which is has gotten generally good feedback from the local music scene. So that's good news. Also Vancouver's CO-OP Radio managed to keep it's license after some serious problems which landed them into hot water with the CRTC as well. In the end they were bale to reassure the CRTC that they were able to fix their problems unlike, say, CKLN, CHSC and CJWV. (Note; I wrote a letter of support for their hearings as well)
So far so good. But of course you might have expected that there would have to be some serious fuckups to ruin things. That brought us back to Winnipeg to watch the jaw-dropping spectacle of Red River College's CKIC (AKA "KICK FM")getting in a completely unnecessary public spat with the CRTC and refusing to renew their license. Then days later they changed their minds and deleting their earlier comments. Then a few months changing their minds back again and going off the air in a snit. I have written fairly extensively about KICK FM an this blog.
And a just few months back I reported that another small privately owned station, CJRN in Niagara Falls, lost their license for blatantly flaunting CRTC Rules.
And then out of the blue came this posting from The Northwest Territories;
Posted on Airchecker Saturday Dec.29 2012
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY CKLB RADIO NWT WILL BE OFF THE AIR UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
As with most publicly funded Aboriginal organizations, The Native Communications Society of the NWT relies heavily on both Federal and Territorial government funding to deliver our Radio and Television programming to the people we serve. As of December 21, 2012 we have received neither a contribution agreement nor the funding we were for the 2012 fiscal year, a full nine months overdue.
Because of this, we have no choice but discontinue our Broadcasting service.
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, CKLB RADIO WILL BE OFF THE AIR UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
If you wish to show your support or have any inquiries regarding this situation, please contact your MLA's, or the Federal government officials listed.
The contact information for all relevant government officials is listed below.
In the meantime, from all of us here at NCS, we'd like to wish all our listening audience a safe and happy holiday season, and the best for the New Year.
The Hon. James MOORE, P.C., B.A., M.A. Minister of Canadian Heritage PARLIAMENTARY ADDRESS Telephone: 613-992-9650 Fax: 613-992-9868 E-Mail: james.moore@parl.gc.ca House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Danielle Bouvet Director, Aboriginal Affairs Branch Canadian Heritage Aboriginal Peoples' Program Directorate 15 Eddy Street Gatineau, Québec, K1A 0M5 Email: Danielle.Bouvet@pch.gc.ca Tel: 819-997-6451 Fax: 819-953-2673
Nicholas Moore Program Officer Aboriginal Peoples' Program Canadian Heritage Government of Canada 15 Eddy Street Gatineau, QC K1A 0M5 Tel: 819-934-2585 Fax: 819-953-2673"
(this was followed by a list of NWT MLA's and contact info)
Here's the short bio on CKLB from their website;
"Under the mandate of the Native Communications Society of the Northwest Territories (NCS NWT), we deliver aboriginal language services to 32 different communities and 3 diamond mines as well as into Alberta. The First Peoples of the North have historically relied on oral traditions to pass on stories, culture and information. NCS continues to reinforce the oral traditions of the past by using the technologies of today to bring CKLB-FM 101.9 to all the communities of the NWT and beyond. CKLB radio has formed a strong personal relationship with the people of the NWT since it’s inception in 1982. Northerners start and complete their day with CKLB because we offer the most unique radio programming available in the Territories…We’ve become like part of the family! Here at CKLB we present a great mix of music: from contemporary and traditional Aboriginal music to country. We also have daily insightful interviews from the communities and live special event broadcasts. This is done in one of the six languages that we broadcast, which are: English, North Slavey (Sahtu), South Slavey (Deh Cho), Denesuline (Chipewyan), Gwich’in & Tlicho Yati."
From what little I have been able to find there seems to have little or no advance warning (at least on line) so there is no way of knowing what exactly is going on here. But clearly this is not a problem with the CRTC, yet. It has been in the news that the various Aboriginal Communities are in a contentious battle with the Harper govt. over budget cuts and it would appear that CKLB's money problems stem from this dispute.
However, keeping in mind that I don't know exactly what the financial situation of CKLB is, I can't help but wonder if they could not have kept something on their air through volunteers.
There are basically two types of costs for any Community Station; those which absolutely have to be paid, which include rent and power to the transmitter, rent and power for the station itself (unless they get office and studio rent free) and various taxes (which may not apply to a station on native land) and fees to Banks, Socan and The NCRA. Then there are the expenses which can be deferred which is everything else, including staff wages. It should be possible to delay at some of these costs and work with volunteers while some quick fundraising is done, especially if they had several months to get ready for this.
If CKLB is going off air as a sign of solidarity (there is also a hunger strike and protests going on over funding cuts) then they are taking a huge risk. As we learned from CKLN and CJWV, going off the air is the swiftest way to provoke the wrath of the CRTC and end up on the wrong side of side of some CRTC hearings which could cost them their license for good. The CRTC has little patience for stations that can't stay on the air whatever the reason. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Besides; staying onair would enable the community to get it's message out themselves rather than relying on outside sources like, even relatively friendly ones like the CBC. Let alone hostile press like SUN News, which has already denounced the native protestors as "terrorists".
In the meanwhile if you want to fire off a letter of protest/concern to the Harpercons you should probably get right on that, the longer this drags on the harder it will be for them to keep their license.
Their website is at;
http://www.ncsnwt.com/
With a Facebook page at;
http://www.facebook.com/cklbradio.radiocklb?ref=ts&fref=ts
UPDATE: As of January 3 this posting went up on their Facebook pages;
"The world is right again - Cklbradio Radiocklb is back on air! Denendeh Sunrise tomorrow at 7 am :D."
I can find no other explanation nor is there any on their official website either. For that matter the previous off-air notice has been deleted from their web page, although not from their Facebook or Twitter pages. Apparently cooler heads prevailed somewhere.
Although they are apparently still having a few problems as the following Facebook exchange shows;
*Gina Migwiposted toCklbradio;
"cklb is not working in behchoko still been 2weeks"
*Cklbradio; "The community's transmitter at the Edzo Fire Hall is not working. As soon as we get one, we'll set it up. This is the second time we have done this in the last three months."
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Moses Znaimer is a HUGE crybaby. And other reactions to the CRTC's ruling on 88.1fm in Toronto.
I have already written extensively about how the CRTC awarded the 88.1fm frequency lost by CKLN when they had their license revoked to a small group calling themselves "INDIE 88". They caught many by surprise when they beat out 21 other applicants most of which had bigger names and more money. Among those other applicants shocked by the results were PROUD FM, a gay themed radio station owned by the giant Evanov group who were the first to apply and Ryerson University who were expecting to get the license back and former City TV and Much Music Head Honcho Moses Znaimer.
First PROUD FM; Their application was to move from their current frequency at 103.9fm where they are limited to 60 watts and get a power upgrade which which they could reach the entire city. Evanov has insisted that without that increase PROUD FM can not stay in business. In the weeks before the decision was announced Evanov announced they were closing their Downtown offices and consolidating in their Mississauga office (Evanov owns a station in 905 country already; Z103fm, along with dozens more across Canada) and they were also laying off most of their staff. Some staff were willing to stay on as volunteers.
As one report in "XTRA" put it;
"In February, management decided to move administrative staff out of its Wellesley St location because of the neighbourhood’s increasingly high rents. The business side of Proud FM is now located across town, at Evanov’s headquarters at 5312 Dundas St W.
In 2010, Proud FM let go of four popular on-air hosts — Deb Pearce, Patrick Marano, Shaun Proulx and Mark Wigmore. Earlier, in November 2007, the station fired popular talent Maggie Cassella, Richard Ryder and a number of staffers. Ryder was eventually rehired."
"Willette says so much depends on the application for university radio station CKLN at 88.1 FM, which was owned by Ryerson University for almost three decades.
CKLN is bidding to get the licence back, but it has stiff competition: 27 groups applied for it last year, and 22 made the first cut in March, including Proud FM.
Since Evanov first won the licence for Proud FM in 2006, the station has been plagued by a weak frequency at 103.9 FM, says Evanov VP Carmela Laurignano.
The problem is Proud FM sits too close to Z103.5 on the dial, so they risk interfering with each other. As a result, Proud FM’s downtown transmission has been limited to 50 watts — too weak to penetrate downtown buildings. That means listeners can’t get a good signal, even in Toronto’s gay village.
“They can’t sell any ads now because of the signal strength,” Bellini says.
A move to 88.1 FM would entirely eliminate the problem, Willette says, noting that 88.1 FM is 128 watts, with a tower at First Canadian Place. “If we get 88.1 FM, then all of a sudden people who couldn’t hear us before can hear us. That means more listeners, so hopefully that equals more money.”
A lot has changed since 2006, she says. Although Evanov was well aware that Z103.5 bumped into 103.9 FM, they didn’t anticipate Toronto’s condo boom.
“We need that stronger signal to bring in more advertisers and grow,” she says.
Laurignano says the CRTC may also look favourably on the Proud FM bid because the station has fulfilled all of its application expectations, which Evanov agreed to when it bid for the licence. “We have fulfilled every single one,” she says.
But Proud FM falls short on programming — seven hours per week of newscasts and 21 hours of talk — which is a result of the staff cuts, she says. The station maintains its commitment to play 40 percent Canadian music.
Meanwhile, Toronto’s Proud FM is still alive, Willette assures, but the station is on life support and the future is uncertain. “Proud FM will always be around in one capacity or another. To what extent we can maintain live shows and a presence on the street? That is a valid question. I don’t know.”
Note; One important item left out of the report (and others) was the fact that PROUD FM recently got a power upgrade that they have yet to implement. At the hearings the CRTC took some exception to this and it alone was probably enough to deny them this upgrade. There has been little post rejection reaction as of yet from PROUD FM although I did notice some new ads in Now Magazine so I guess they aren't ready to give up the ghost yet.
Meanwhile back at Ryerson we can safely say that they are not pleased. And the NCRA are REALLY not happy;
(From a Trent University Paper);
The NCRA and Rodney Diverlus, President of the Ryerson Student Union, used the application process to emphasis the importance of community radio in general:
“We sent a clear message to the CRTC that we, as the future leaders and community members, see value in a radio station that is for our community and the broader Toronto community. Unfortunately this means less young voices and community voices will be heard on the airwaves.”
The diversity of voices requirement is based on a CRTC mandate and was interpreted by the NCRA’s Executive director Shelley Robinson as a diversity of voices participating in radio, not just represented by a radio station’s demographic or listenership:
“There is already so much commercial radio available,” she said. “This was a chance for something different. Radio Ryerson was a place where people would get to be citizens and creators, not just passive consumers of a set format.”
Trent Alumni and BCIT radio broadcasting student Philip Benmore noted a larger trend at the CRTC “away from grassroots, not-for-profit media, towards corporate controlled and heavily formatted commercial radio.”
Wait! Then there's my personal favorite part;
"Local NCRA member Trent Radio weighed in on the consultation process to lend support to campus/community radio in general. At an April 1st, 2012 meeting of the board, Trent Radio decided to support Radio Ryerson’s application, not with “cogent and winning arguments,” (since the application was deemed to be sufficient in such endeavours) but with a short statement of approval that included the quip: “Toronto needs all the community it can get.”
Umm...Yeah, Right. Good Call. Who needs "cogent and winning arguments" anyway when you have endorsements like that? And speaking of useless know-it-alls; what does the NCRA have to say about this?
From Vanmusic;
Radio Ryerson did not get their license back
15 September 2012 Despite public access option, CRTC decides to licence yet another commercial radio station.
Toronto is less indie now as they lost a campus-community radio. The CRTC has decided not to award 88.1FM to a campus-community radio licensee. The slot was given to commercial radio station Rock 95 . Its a great loss not only to Toronto but to the indie radio community.
“We sent a clear message to the CRTC that we, as the future leaders and community members, see value in a radio station that is for our community and the broader Toronto community. Unfortunately this means less young voices and community voices will be heard on the airwaves.” said Ryerson Student Union President Rodney Diverlus who also praised student efforts to win 88.1. “Students voted overwhelmingly in favour of funding a campus-community radio station through a referendum. We sent a clear message to the CRTC that we, as the future leaders and community members, see value in a radio station that is for our community and the broader Toronto community.”
"The National Campus and Community Radio Association also appeared in support of a campus-community radio license for 88.1FM over a commercial license. “I am very disappointed in this decision,” said NCRA’s Executive Director Shelley Robinson. “There is already so much commercial radio available and now there is one less opportunity for people in Toronto to directly access their local airwaves and represent their communities. Radio Ryerson was a place where people would get to be citizens and creators, not just consumers.”
"Press release from NCRA;
Today the CRTC licenced a commercial radio station for the last viable frequency in Toronto and denied the application of Radio Ryerson, making one less space available for community access to public airwaves.
Competing with dozens of prospective commercial radio stations, a group of Ryerson University students, faculty and community supporters proposed a station where the city and its many communities could speak for themselves and to their neighbours, sharing stories and music under-represented in other media.
Rodney Diverlus, President of the Ryerson Student Union, says the loss stretches beyond the campus.
“We sent a clear message to the CRTC that we, as the future leaders and community members, see value in a radio station that is for our community and the broader Toronto community. Unfortunately this means less young voices and community voices will be heard on the airwaves.” Shelley Robinson, Executive Director of the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA) agrees.
“There is already so much commercial radio available,” she said. “This was a chance for something different. Radio Ryerson was a place where people would get to be citizens and creators, not just passive consumers of a set format.”
Jacky Tuinstra-Harrison was acting Station Manager and led Ryerson Radio’s application. She says she’s not sure next for the station, given the loss.
“There was such momentum. I had new students, up-and-coming musicians, senior citizens and my own neighbours asking how they could be involved,” she said, noting that the Broadcasting Act recognizes three pillars of Canadian broadcasting: commercial radio, public radio and community radio. “88.1FM ought to have been the place where we could live up to that ideal.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ah yes; all this misty eyed eulogizing of the Golden Age of CKLN when it was an open and accessible place rather than a hothouse of extremist politics and vicious turf wars is almost enough to make you forget the last several years of scorched earth warfare. Not to mention the roles that the Ryerson Student Union and the NRCA played in encouraging that strife in the furtherance of their own power hungry agendas that eventually led to the RSU's forcible seizure of the station. But not quite.
The various rejected other applicants which included the likes of The CBC, CHOQ, CARN CHIN and various heavyweights have been pretty quiet. Although one applicant; LIFE 100.3, a Christian Radio station based in Barrie who applied for a religious station, did send out a more gracious concession on their website;
September 11, 2012 The CRTC has denied our application for Christian radio at 88.1FM. The commission approved the application by Rock 95 Broadcasting Ltd.
Thank you to all who prayed and supported Trust Communications Ministry through this process."
But then again Trust Communications were always more realistic about their long shot status.
An applicant from Larche Communications inc. for an Easy Listening station to be called "Metro 88" has completely pulled their website without explanation although oddly their Twitter page is still up for now. Albeit there hasn't been a posting since spring.
And then there Moses Znaimer. He also put in an application to add 88.1 to their existing AM station. He is not a happy camper;
From Cartt.ca
Znaimer calls CRTC Toronto radio licence decision "appalling"
September 13, 2012
By Greg O’Brien
MONTREAL – Zoomer Media president and CEO Moses Znaimer was in Montreal Wednesday to watch the CRTC in action as it considers the proposed purchase of Astral Media by Bell Canada, but he was still shaken by Tuesday’s Commission decision on the 88.1 FM frequency in Toronto.
To say he’s not happy is an understatement. Znaimer told Cartt.ca in an interview the decision to grant the license to Rock 95 so it can launch a station with an independent music format was “appalling. It was stunningly insensitive and entirely inappropriate – and it’s galling to hear them talk about diversity in there (during the ongoing hearing here) as if they are protectors of it in the light of that decision.”
Znaimer says the rock genre – even if this one is aimed at indie acts and emerging Canadian artists – is very well represented in and around Toronto and another station hitting the same demographic is a mistake. “There are a handful or rock radio stations in Toronto today and if you add the ones on the periphery, there must be well over a dozen,” he added.
Zoomer media was one of 22 applicants to appear at the CRTC hearing in May hoping to gain the licence to operate at 88.1 FM, the license the CRTC revoked from Ryerson University in 2010 due to various infractions over a number of years. Some applicants wanted to launch new stations while others, like Znaimer, wanted to take an existing AM station to FM.
Znaimer wanted to move The New AM740 Zoomer Radio, his station aimed at the 45 and older demographic that suffers from, well, being an AM station and all the sound quality and interference challenges of that brings, to FM. Zoomer also owns another Toronto FM station, The New Classical 96.3 FM as well as Vision TV, JoyTV, One: Body Mind and Spirit, Zoomer Magazine and other assets.
The long-time broadcasting executive whose whole business is aimed at the 45-and-up set is very angry that with this new station a demographic which he and many others say just don’t listen to radio any more will still get another station.
“We brought forward evidence that was overwhelming to demonstrate that the largest percentage of the population throughout Canada today is what we identify as Zoomer – 45-plus – and we brought forward overwhelming evidence that all the radio stations currently are piled up in the demos that lie just younger than that,” said Znaimer.
“Even though there are one or two other stations that acquire an older audience, they don’t do that with a view of serving the older audience with information to make their life better, to give them advice on health and wellness, financial security and so on,” he added.
But why can’t that be done on the AM dial? “Every other station over the last 20 years has made the transition because AM is a medium in decline and in downtown Toronto it’s impossible to get (740) with any clarity because of the wiring and the high-rise buildings,” he noted. It was a main point the company made during the hearing in May in Toronto.
“It is galling to hear the Commission posture as some kind of defender of diversity in the face of a decision which is doubly stunning, doubly insensible because it was discussed at the hearing that the younger generation, the 18-34 demo referenced in the decision, no longer listens to radio,” he added. “This Commission went out of its way to deny a life raft to a station that is the sole provider to a considerable audience.”
Znaimer insists it’s not sour grapes that is driving his ire because he would have accepted a decision which didn’t go his way if the license hadn’t gone to a rock station. “If they had brought forward a decision that favored an ethnic station, or if they had gone with the business news one, I would have been disappointed but I would have understood. But to hand it to another rock station, to a demo that’s already wildly over-served, just seems to be preposterous. The economy is not great and every story you read in the business press says it’s not going to get better any time soon so we came along and we said this is the goldilocks solution. We’re not really bringing in any new financial pressure on the market, we’re simply securing distribution to a large audience that’s got nowhere else to go,” said Znaimer.
“I can only conclude that it is a stunning case of age discrimination. There is no other word for it because they had the evidence… They turned their backs on themselves,” he added, alluding to the ages of the CRTC commission panel members. “They are all in the demo, every one of them.”
The CEO added his executive team will be meeting within the next week to decide whether or not to appeal the decision to federal cabinet."
WOW! And I thought the NCRA were crybabies. He even manged to pull the "ageist' card. And I didn't even know there was one in this deck. Remember when Znaimer brought you "MUCH MUSIC" and "The New Music"? Well now he wants you all to; "GET OFF MY LAWN YOU DAMN KIDS!"
Oh and by the way that threat to appeal to the Federal Cabinet? It's total bullshit. The Federal Cabinet is barred by law from interfering in the licensing process. Even CKLN had their lawyers explain that to them (probably very slowly) when they made the same empty threat. Given his years of experience you would have though he would have known about that already but never having people so no to you must get a little addictive. It's never a good sign when you are dumber than CKLN.
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
There is no joy in Mudville tonight as INDIE 88 wins the old CKLN spot
As many may remember after CKLN got bounced off the air in 2010 the then vacant 88.1 fm frequency became open for anyone who wanted to make a play for it. Last year PROUD FM, an existing gay themed radio station which is currently at 103.9 fm made an application to move to 88.1 fm, which would have given them a more powerful signal than the 60 watts they then held. That application opened the floodgates for all other comers and a deluge of over 20 applicants followed. These included;
* A couple more requests to move frequencies (besides PROUD FM) from ZOOMER Radio, CARN FM and CHOQ, a small French language station.
* A number of various ethnic station applications including one from CHIN.
* A number of all news and talk formats including an all business station called BIZ 88
* A number of various easy listening stations with names like TOWER 88 and METRO 88
* Two French language applications including one from the CBC
There were also a few specific formats including an application for a Blues station, a Christian station and and application for a station focused on Independent Music called INDIE 88.
INDIE 88 PROMO
(Note that I have already written about these applications on this page)
Oh right; Then there was Ryerson's attempt to take back the license they lost when the CRTC deservedly shut down CKLN back in 2010. The Ryerson application (which I read along with each of the other applications) was a study in disingenuous evasion and denial of all of the basic requirements of a Community Station. Instead Ryerson offered up a sense that they were naturally entitled to a license. They were backed in this delusion by the National Campus Radio Association who should have known better, but where so desperate to get a Toronto station and to redo the "injustice" of the 2010 shutdown of CKLN.
I attended the CRTC hearings back in April and was frequently amazed by how clueless and unprepared the Ryerson group was, as well as their smug attitude. This perception was shared by some of the other participants and spectators I spoke to. The questions for the Ryerson applicants from the CRTC Commissioners at times seemed to catch Ryerson Radio's Station Manager Jacky Harrison completely off guard and as the days went on her attitude began to change from smug to confused.
I must say that besides enjoying watching the various Ryerson/Ex CKLN cronies getting clubbed like baby seals once again I also got directly involved in these hearings by filing an intervention of my own.
My brief was not primarily about Ryerson's application but rather a positive intervention in support of another applicant, namely INDIE 88.
INDIE 88's application was from a small group who own two other small town stations and was for an Independent music focused station which would seem to be roughly equivalent to the original CFNY back in the 1980's, you know before they started sucking. In my brief a explained in some detail the history of such a station and the role it played in supporting the local and national music scene as well as pointing out the benefits to the larger community. I also referenced an earlier set of CRTC hearings back in 1989 (when CFNY changed ownership) in which there was some debate over whether a Campus/Community station, like Ryerson's, could do as effective a job in supporting local and Canadian independent talent. I argued that it could not.
As part of the application process Rye-High was allowed a chance to respond to points in writing to their heart's content. Instead they decided to dismiss me with a couple of snide insults. To put things in perspective most public interventions are usually only a paragraph or two. By contrast mine was a twelve page analysis with sourced quotes from previous CRTC hearings as well as various media reports dating back to the early 1980's. At the risk of bragging my brief was much more detailed and heavily researched than is normally the case. And Rye-High's only response was a couple of throwaway cheap shots? Classy as always.
And it's not just me either, three other members of the public sent in submissions that were specifically opposed to Ryerson's application (mine was actually in support of INDIE 88 but since it impacted Rye-High's application they were entitled to a response). These submissions were also lengthy and detailed critiques of Rye-High's application. They pointed out, among other things;
* That Rye-High's application did not have sufficient community involvement as required by the CRTC
* That Ryerson wildly exaggerated the extent of student support when the actual student referendum got only a ten percent turnout. And that was after extending voting hours and having Ryerson profs using class time to promote the cause.
* That the surveys submitted as part of the application, which were used to argue that there was an audience demand for such a radio station, were in fact sloppy, full of of blatant errors and not true audience polls.
* That the Rye-High application was in effect little more than a Trojan Horse to allow the disgraced CKLN die-hards back on the air.
As might be expected Rye-High's responses to these detailed critiques were evasive and disingenuous and relied on a dismissive attitude which they seemed to assume the CRTC would simply share. The replies often took refuge in simply saying that Rye-High's radio staff were "confused" and "mystified" and "at a loss to understand" what the problem was. Besides, they argued, the complainants were obviously biased so why should Rye-High even have to waste time on this petty nitpicking right? Wrong again. And keep in mind this was after witnessing the brutal ass-whipping handed out to CKLN last time, not to mention the beatdown recently handed out to KICK FM in Winnipeg which the NCRA at least should have been fully aware of.
Besides supporting the INDIE 88 application on it's own merits I think this was the best way to finally lance to the nagging CKLN sore that has been festering for so long. The fact that the CRTC granted the license to a small independent group rather than any of the various major corporate players who applied (including the CBC) pretty much destroys the narrative that the old leftist CKLN old guard have been spinning for years that they were the victims of a vast corporate conspiracy to seize control of the airways. Not that they won't keep spinning that whopper but to an ever smaller audience. In fact the online response has been so far quite positive.
Another thought; If the CRTC had granted the license to PROUD FM (or CARN) then they would have vacated their current signals thus allowing Rye-High/CKLN another chance at what would then be the last open signal left in Toronto. Now that door is finally closed for good. So at long last it's over. Stick a fork in 'em, they 're done. The mighty Rye-High has struck out again.
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Report from the 88.1fm freeding frenzy
The announcement last fall that the CRTC was opening up the last major FM radio frequency in Toronto led to a larger than usual deluge of applications to fill it. The various applicants show a vast array of Toronto's population from Christians to Gays, from Sikhs to Tamils, from French to Jamaicans, from Indie Rock to Blues. There are applications for talk radio and various music genres mixed in with applications from Ryerson and the CBC. Originally there were 27 applicants but by the final deadline they were down to 22. Here then are the applicants (drumroll please and save your applause till the end);
1. The Evanov Group and PROUD FM;
Owned by Bill Evanov, PROUD FM is the "Gay themed" radio station that has been on air since 2007 at 103.9fm with a small 60 watt signal, and they are looking to upgrade to a larger signal capable of reaching the entire city. Evanov started this bidding war by putting in the first application which acted as a starter's pistols for everyone else. Besides PROUD FM Evanov also owns numerous other stations across Canada and last year was granted a similar license for a Gay themed station in Montreal. One bonus for this one, besides being able to claim they are representing a marginalized community, is that Evanov is proposing to move from 103.9 to 88.1fm which would then open up 103.9 fm for bidding for those who wanted another chance at this. The CRTC might actually like that since it would mean the weren't quite giving away the final signal while at the same time the smaller reach of 103.9 fm would probably convince some of the others to drop out leading to a smaller feeding frenzy next time.
PROUD FM promo;
http://www.proudfm.com/
2. Ryerson University;
Actually Ryerson started off the feeding frenzy in the first place when they lost the license for the previous Ryerson based station, CKLN, whose license was revoked in 2010 as we all know by now. Their attempt to regain the license uses a couple of the old CKLN management and has the support of the National Campus Radio Association (mostly from out west), but is far more Ryerson-centric and not really a true community station than was CKLN. They are promising a mix of "ethnic" programming with Ryerson sports and live music which seems a little vague and confusing and probably of little interest to any non-Ryerson student. In fact it may of little interest even to them. As the CRTC pointed out several times the referendum that agreed to fund the station had only a 10% voter turnout. Another question is whether Ryerson be rewarded for shutting down the last station they had.
Radio Ryerson Promo;
http://ryersonradio.com/
3. The CBC;
Anyone hoping they were looking at moving CBC 3 to the airwaves can forget it, this is an application for a French language repeater station. The CBC has certain advantages over other applications in that they don't have to prove they are financially sustainable, because they're the CBC. And they don't have to prove they have technical and professional experience and know-how, because they're the CBC. It is also part of the expressed mandate of both the CBC and the CRTC to promote National Unity and Bilingualism. In fact the CBC has basically said that they are entitled to the signal and shouldn't even have to bid with all these peasants. That didn't earn many friends. However there is a legitimate question as to whether Toronto's tiny Francophone community warrants a radio station anyway. The current audience for French language TV stations in Toronto is negligible and a couple of years ago Champlain Books, Toronto's venerable French bookstore, was forced to close it's doors. Then there is the matter of whether it is a good idea for the Mother Corp to be starting another radio station while they are going through serious budget cuts. As an additional wrinkle there is another French language application coming from CHOQ FM, and you can imagine all the manufactured outrage from the Tories and their mouthpieces over at the Sun if CBC got it over CHOQ, or anyone else for that matter.
4. CHOQ FM;
A French language station operating with a tiny signal at 1watt on 105.1fm since 2006, like PROUD FM they are looking to upgrade to a larger signal. They face the same questions about the viability of a French station in Toronto. They may have one advantage over the CBC however; a local track record and the knowledge that Toronto's Francophone community is different than Ottawa's in that many don't come from Quebec, Acadia or Northern Ontario (unlike CBC staff) but from Africa and Haiti. The CBC signal is going to be a repeater signal anyway so if there is an actual need for a French station in Toronto it would be better to give it to a group with actual local roots. Like PROUD FM they would also be giving up their current signal, tiny though it is.
www.choq.fm
5. CARN FM;
The Caribbean station owned by Fitzroy Gordon which only got it's license last year now wants an upgrade, moving from 96.8 to 88.1fm. Like the PROUD FM application this would then open up 96.8 to someone else. They now say they need an upgrade to survive, but since they've only been on air less than a year the CRTC is unlikely to be very impressed with this claim. In their application they also take time out to basically call the CBC jerks and liars for opposing them the last time out so that should be fun. At least this time Gordon manages to avoid bragging about his close personal friendship with Stephen Harper and Jason Kenny as he has in every interview in the past year.
Fitzroy Gordon whines about the CBC again;
http://g987fm.com/
6. INDIE 88;
An application from Barrie based Rock 95 to start an "Indie Rock" station which appear to similar to the much beloved CFNY in it's 1980's glory days, before it turned into the much watered down "Edge 102". This one may be a bit of a long-shot but it has gotten some support from the local music scene (I must point out that I also wrote a letter of support) and if done right could appeal to the same kind of engaged scenesters. To win over such a grass roots audience they will have to prove that even though they are in Barrie they can get deeply in touch with the local scene. Then again CFNY started out in Burlington and that worked out pretty well. They also have to be able to define what "Indie" music means to the CRTC who seem to have some trouble with the concept.
INDIE 88
7. DAWG FM;
An application for a "Rock and Blues" station from two brothers who own a similar station in Ottawa where it's worked out well. They have generated one of the largest amount of support letters and there is certainly an audience for blues that is not being served by the bland JAZZ FM. The Ottawa Blues Festival is a big yearly event that one would think could be exported here easily. However the Toronto blues club scene has dried up over the last decade as the audience has moved out further to the suburbs and not been replaced with younger fans. The fading Toronto Blues Society has failed utterly to face this problem so how would DAWG deal with this? At any rate their schedule seems to lean more towards the rock end of things so they might be competing more with Q107 anyway. Oh, and their logo is really ugly too. Still; it's not a bad idea. This is my second favorite one after Indie 88. They also have the support of Dan Ackroyd who appeared via tele-conference
DAWG FM Promo;
http://www.dawgfm.com/
8. Zoomer Radio;
Moses Znaimer's radio for people too old for that darn internet thingy wants to expand. They say their AM 740 signal is so crappy that they just have to move. Unlike PROUD FM or CARN he does not want to give up his current signal however. That does raise an obvious question; if AM 740 is so terrible why do they insist on keeping it? He does have a letter of support from Anne Murray though. So there.
http://www.zoomerradio.ca/
9. CHIN;
Toronto's longstanding multicultural pioneer looks to expand as well, with additional language programming for Russian, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Farsi. They are also not into giving up any of their existing signals. CHIN has an excellent track record and few enemies, and can honestly claim to represent communities otherwise not well served. They are genuinely popular in such circles and have made a lot of high placed friends in politics and should not be discounted. CHIN has proved that is is possible for such a station to pay it's bills and behave professionally. However does Toronto really need another CHIN station?
http://www.chinradio.com/
10. Trust Ministries;
A Christian group who own two other radio stations. Oddly enough manager Scott Jackson used to work for Bill Evanov (of PROUD FM) so that should make for an interesting reunion. They have apparently been working on this for a while and were the second group to announce their intentions (after Evanov) and Jackson also ran a mega successful Christian station in Nashville so they are no amateurs. They are also a registered charity. Their website acknowledges they are a bit of a long shot and asks supporters to pray. I'd say they didn't have a prayer but that would just be wrong.
Trust Ministries promo
http://www.lifeonline.fm/toronto.html
11. Family FM;
This one is a little odd. They are claiming to be focused on "Families" whatever that means. Since when is that a genre? They focus on the likes of Raffi and Sharon, Lewis and Bram, but then admit that that will only make up a small part of their actual programming, the rest is bland easy listening. Their vague format is vainly searching for a niche that probably does not exist in any real way. Actually the head of this one, Paul Fredricks, is connected with a Christian Bookstore called "Faith Family Books" which explains alot, although they don't mention the Christian part. They also have the involvement of Jane Hawtin (ex of Q107, CFRB and CBC) who brings radio experience and Pinball Clemmons (ex of The Argos) who brought some jokes and his big smile to the hearings.
http://www.eiradionetworks.com/FamilyFM/about.html
12. BIZ 88;
An application for a Business news format. This has been tried by Blumberg in New York and gotten consistently poor ratings for years. However because of it's high-end audience advertisers may not mind that very much. It's also pretty cheap to run. They have veteran TV news journalist Donna Skelly on board. There was a previous attempt at an "All Business and Traffic and Weather" format a few years ago that quickly failed, even after they desperately tried to attract attention by airing right wing crackpot shows from America like Glen Beck and other denizens of FOX. Since apparently that's what our business leaders want; bizarro conspiracy theories about Obama and Hitler. I can't imagine why that didn't catch on here. Their programming has a lot of blank spots that they are vague on how they intend to fill, which doesn't instill a lot of faith. However that previous station was a low power station with only a localized signal by the airport. This one is run by the same group that owns CHCH in Hamilton who recently had to apologize for accidentally running porn on the air. Nobody mentioned that though since that's presumably not part of their programming plans.
http://biz88.ca/
13. World Band Media;
Another talk radio application. This one has deep pockets and a former Mike Harris era Cabinet Minster on it's Board so they are not fooling around. To prove it, along with their application they also filed a separate and amazing 29 page hostile intervention attacking all the other applications which is pretty hard hitting. Still it's another talk radio format that belongs on AM and which doesn't offer a very convincing argument in their own favour as they want yet another droning talk radio station. Because Toronto doesn't have enough of those already. The best argument they can come up with is to basically say that every other type of radio is going downhill anyway so it's pointless to resist, like talk radio is the Borg or something. Still; should the last FM signal in Toronto be wasted on a talk radio format that really belongs on AM if at all? I think not.
http://www.worldbandmedia.com/
14. TNT Media;
Yet another Talk Radio application. This time from a Montreal group who already own a station there and promise "Extreme, Explosive Talk Radio", (translation; American style all-outrage-all-the-time) and their application uses a lot of exclamation points. Great, that's just what we need. Especially on FM. That above mentioned hostile intervention from Worldband is especially disdainful of this one. But not as much as I am.
15. Metro 88.1;
From Larche Communications who own four other successful stations in Ontario, either country or classic rock so they are not amateurs either. No this is not another doomed attempt at a country station in Toronto. This a doomed attempt at a vague "AAA" format which freely translated means "Rock and pop for people too old for The Edge but not old enough for an oldies station, and too rock and roll for EZ Rock but not quite enough for Q107", mixed with some comedy. Their application has a bunch of figures to prove that they won't just be competing with CHUM FM, Q107 or JACK FM, none of which I believe.
Metro 88 promo
16. Tower 88 fm;
A bland easy listening aimed at women in particular, wait; isn't that why we have EZ Rock? Run by Micheal Wekerle, a radio newbie with a lot of business experience and cash. How much cash you ask? He has Ivan Fecan, former head of CTV on board. They also sweeten the pot by promising to play tons of Canadian content and Aboriginal artists that got them the support of former Chief Phil Fontaine. That's a lot of fire-power for what is otherwise another easy listening station.
TOWER 88 promo
17. Durham Radio Inc;
Durham owns four other stations, mostly country or easy rock. Here they are calling themselves "88.1, The Lake FM", which is one of those annoying pointless brand names radio stations give themselves these days, remember when "The Edge" used to be called "CFNY"? That was when they were actually pretty cool. "The Lake"? What does that mean exactly? Are they going to be playing sea shanties? Actually it's anther bland commercial Easy Listening station which, or the music your dentist plays in the waiting room. Their application is possibly one of the biggest and contains a mind numbing amount of charts and figures, which is only slightly more boring than listening to the station itself would be.
18. Newcap Radio inc;
Yet another easy listening station. Newcap owns a jawdropping 79 other stations though so they must know something. Actually in the time it took me to write this they actually got another one. Seriously.
19. Stan 88fm;
An English language multi-cultural urban/hip-hop/pop/smooth jazz station aimed at second and third generation listeners. It's modestly named after it's owner Stanislas Antony. This might even be a workable idea in a multi ethnic city like Toronto, on the other hand it's so vague it might be a really stupid idea, either way it's different and Toronto is one of the few places it could have come from. At the hearings the CRTC was very skeptical about their finances, so that's a big problem.
20. Asia FM;
A Korean run Asian station which will however be mostly in English with 14% in Korean. The music will be pop and dance from Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. I know there is a large Asian community in Toronto but how many prefer mostly English? How will Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Tibetans, or Thais (who all have longstanding rivalries) enjoy sharing a station? Do they really have converging tastes? Will they all stick around for the Korean language parts? How many are happy to keep getting their music from the web? It's a bold idea but a risky one. They got the best line in the hearings when one of the other applicants claimed that Toronto already had a Chinese station in Fairchild Radio. Their response; "We shouldn't have to point out that not all Asians are Chinese." Good one.
21. S. Sivakkumaran;
Not surprisingly it's an application for a ethnic radio station aimed at Tamil, Urdu, Farsi, Turkish, Arabic, Malay, Philippino and African communities. This puts them in direct competition with CHIN of course, as well as a brand new Tamil station in Scarborough. However if the CRTC decides that CHIN has enough radio stations that may not hurt them to much, sure doesn't help though.
22.MTSD Broadcast inc;
This is an application for a station aimed at the Punjabi community. There is no doubt an audience here, but they are being opposed by some of the existing radio stations catering to the Punjabis. It is also too limited compared to most of the other choices.
There were originally supposed to be a few other applicants who announced but then either dropped out or were dropped by the CRTC before the hearings for failing the technical aspects as the CRTC reserves the right to do. One such application was from Astral Media who no doubt dropped out when they announced their upcoming merger with Bell which will require them to divest some of their stations including The Flow. Another applicant was for a Tamil station which has instead decided to apply for a station in Markham. Oddly the other three or four were all South Asian applicants
1. The Evanov Group and PROUD FM;
Owned by Bill Evanov, PROUD FM is the "Gay themed" radio station that has been on air since 2007 at 103.9fm with a small 60 watt signal, and they are looking to upgrade to a larger signal capable of reaching the entire city. Evanov started this bidding war by putting in the first application which acted as a starter's pistols for everyone else. Besides PROUD FM Evanov also owns numerous other stations across Canada and last year was granted a similar license for a Gay themed station in Montreal. One bonus for this one, besides being able to claim they are representing a marginalized community, is that Evanov is proposing to move from 103.9 to 88.1fm which would then open up 103.9 fm for bidding for those who wanted another chance at this. The CRTC might actually like that since it would mean the weren't quite giving away the final signal while at the same time the smaller reach of 103.9 fm would probably convince some of the others to drop out leading to a smaller feeding frenzy next time.
PROUD FM promo;
http://www.proudfm.com/
2. Ryerson University;
Actually Ryerson started off the feeding frenzy in the first place when they lost the license for the previous Ryerson based station, CKLN, whose license was revoked in 2010 as we all know by now. Their attempt to regain the license uses a couple of the old CKLN management and has the support of the National Campus Radio Association (mostly from out west), but is far more Ryerson-centric and not really a true community station than was CKLN. They are promising a mix of "ethnic" programming with Ryerson sports and live music which seems a little vague and confusing and probably of little interest to any non-Ryerson student. In fact it may of little interest even to them. As the CRTC pointed out several times the referendum that agreed to fund the station had only a 10% voter turnout. Another question is whether Ryerson be rewarded for shutting down the last station they had.
Radio Ryerson Promo;
http://ryersonradio.com/
3. The CBC;
Anyone hoping they were looking at moving CBC 3 to the airwaves can forget it, this is an application for a French language repeater station. The CBC has certain advantages over other applications in that they don't have to prove they are financially sustainable, because they're the CBC. And they don't have to prove they have technical and professional experience and know-how, because they're the CBC. It is also part of the expressed mandate of both the CBC and the CRTC to promote National Unity and Bilingualism. In fact the CBC has basically said that they are entitled to the signal and shouldn't even have to bid with all these peasants. That didn't earn many friends. However there is a legitimate question as to whether Toronto's tiny Francophone community warrants a radio station anyway. The current audience for French language TV stations in Toronto is negligible and a couple of years ago Champlain Books, Toronto's venerable French bookstore, was forced to close it's doors. Then there is the matter of whether it is a good idea for the Mother Corp to be starting another radio station while they are going through serious budget cuts. As an additional wrinkle there is another French language application coming from CHOQ FM, and you can imagine all the manufactured outrage from the Tories and their mouthpieces over at the Sun if CBC got it over CHOQ, or anyone else for that matter.
4. CHOQ FM;
A French language station operating with a tiny signal at 1watt on 105.1fm since 2006, like PROUD FM they are looking to upgrade to a larger signal. They face the same questions about the viability of a French station in Toronto. They may have one advantage over the CBC however; a local track record and the knowledge that Toronto's Francophone community is different than Ottawa's in that many don't come from Quebec, Acadia or Northern Ontario (unlike CBC staff) but from Africa and Haiti. The CBC signal is going to be a repeater signal anyway so if there is an actual need for a French station in Toronto it would be better to give it to a group with actual local roots. Like PROUD FM they would also be giving up their current signal, tiny though it is.
www.choq.fm
5. CARN FM;
The Caribbean station owned by Fitzroy Gordon which only got it's license last year now wants an upgrade, moving from 96.8 to 88.1fm. Like the PROUD FM application this would then open up 96.8 to someone else. They now say they need an upgrade to survive, but since they've only been on air less than a year the CRTC is unlikely to be very impressed with this claim. In their application they also take time out to basically call the CBC jerks and liars for opposing them the last time out so that should be fun. At least this time Gordon manages to avoid bragging about his close personal friendship with Stephen Harper and Jason Kenny as he has in every interview in the past year.
Fitzroy Gordon whines about the CBC again;
http://g987fm.com/
6. INDIE 88;
An application from Barrie based Rock 95 to start an "Indie Rock" station which appear to similar to the much beloved CFNY in it's 1980's glory days, before it turned into the much watered down "Edge 102". This one may be a bit of a long-shot but it has gotten some support from the local music scene (I must point out that I also wrote a letter of support) and if done right could appeal to the same kind of engaged scenesters. To win over such a grass roots audience they will have to prove that even though they are in Barrie they can get deeply in touch with the local scene. Then again CFNY started out in Burlington and that worked out pretty well. They also have to be able to define what "Indie" music means to the CRTC who seem to have some trouble with the concept.
INDIE 88
7. DAWG FM;
An application for a "Rock and Blues" station from two brothers who own a similar station in Ottawa where it's worked out well. They have generated one of the largest amount of support letters and there is certainly an audience for blues that is not being served by the bland JAZZ FM. The Ottawa Blues Festival is a big yearly event that one would think could be exported here easily. However the Toronto blues club scene has dried up over the last decade as the audience has moved out further to the suburbs and not been replaced with younger fans. The fading Toronto Blues Society has failed utterly to face this problem so how would DAWG deal with this? At any rate their schedule seems to lean more towards the rock end of things so they might be competing more with Q107 anyway. Oh, and their logo is really ugly too. Still; it's not a bad idea. This is my second favorite one after Indie 88. They also have the support of Dan Ackroyd who appeared via tele-conference
DAWG FM Promo;
http://www.dawgfm.com/
8. Zoomer Radio;
Moses Znaimer's radio for people too old for that darn internet thingy wants to expand. They say their AM 740 signal is so crappy that they just have to move. Unlike PROUD FM or CARN he does not want to give up his current signal however. That does raise an obvious question; if AM 740 is so terrible why do they insist on keeping it? He does have a letter of support from Anne Murray though. So there.
http://www.zoomerradio.ca/
9. CHIN;
Toronto's longstanding multicultural pioneer looks to expand as well, with additional language programming for Russian, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Farsi. They are also not into giving up any of their existing signals. CHIN has an excellent track record and few enemies, and can honestly claim to represent communities otherwise not well served. They are genuinely popular in such circles and have made a lot of high placed friends in politics and should not be discounted. CHIN has proved that is is possible for such a station to pay it's bills and behave professionally. However does Toronto really need another CHIN station?
http://www.chinradio.com/
10. Trust Ministries;
A Christian group who own two other radio stations. Oddly enough manager Scott Jackson used to work for Bill Evanov (of PROUD FM) so that should make for an interesting reunion. They have apparently been working on this for a while and were the second group to announce their intentions (after Evanov) and Jackson also ran a mega successful Christian station in Nashville so they are no amateurs. They are also a registered charity. Their website acknowledges they are a bit of a long shot and asks supporters to pray. I'd say they didn't have a prayer but that would just be wrong.
Trust Ministries promo
http://www.lifeonline.fm/toronto.html
11. Family FM;
This one is a little odd. They are claiming to be focused on "Families" whatever that means. Since when is that a genre? They focus on the likes of Raffi and Sharon, Lewis and Bram, but then admit that that will only make up a small part of their actual programming, the rest is bland easy listening. Their vague format is vainly searching for a niche that probably does not exist in any real way. Actually the head of this one, Paul Fredricks, is connected with a Christian Bookstore called "Faith Family Books" which explains alot, although they don't mention the Christian part. They also have the involvement of Jane Hawtin (ex of Q107, CFRB and CBC) who brings radio experience and Pinball Clemmons (ex of The Argos) who brought some jokes and his big smile to the hearings.
http://www.eiradionetworks.com/FamilyFM/about.html
12. BIZ 88;
An application for a Business news format. This has been tried by Blumberg in New York and gotten consistently poor ratings for years. However because of it's high-end audience advertisers may not mind that very much. It's also pretty cheap to run. They have veteran TV news journalist Donna Skelly on board. There was a previous attempt at an "All Business and Traffic and Weather" format a few years ago that quickly failed, even after they desperately tried to attract attention by airing right wing crackpot shows from America like Glen Beck and other denizens of FOX. Since apparently that's what our business leaders want; bizarro conspiracy theories about Obama and Hitler. I can't imagine why that didn't catch on here. Their programming has a lot of blank spots that they are vague on how they intend to fill, which doesn't instill a lot of faith. However that previous station was a low power station with only a localized signal by the airport. This one is run by the same group that owns CHCH in Hamilton who recently had to apologize for accidentally running porn on the air. Nobody mentioned that though since that's presumably not part of their programming plans.
http://biz88.ca/
13. World Band Media;
Another talk radio application. This one has deep pockets and a former Mike Harris era Cabinet Minster on it's Board so they are not fooling around. To prove it, along with their application they also filed a separate and amazing 29 page hostile intervention attacking all the other applications which is pretty hard hitting. Still it's another talk radio format that belongs on AM and which doesn't offer a very convincing argument in their own favour as they want yet another droning talk radio station. Because Toronto doesn't have enough of those already. The best argument they can come up with is to basically say that every other type of radio is going downhill anyway so it's pointless to resist, like talk radio is the Borg or something. Still; should the last FM signal in Toronto be wasted on a talk radio format that really belongs on AM if at all? I think not.
http://www.worldbandmedia.com/
14. TNT Media;
Yet another Talk Radio application. This time from a Montreal group who already own a station there and promise "Extreme, Explosive Talk Radio", (translation; American style all-outrage-all-the-time) and their application uses a lot of exclamation points. Great, that's just what we need. Especially on FM. That above mentioned hostile intervention from Worldband is especially disdainful of this one. But not as much as I am.
15. Metro 88.1;
From Larche Communications who own four other successful stations in Ontario, either country or classic rock so they are not amateurs either. No this is not another doomed attempt at a country station in Toronto. This a doomed attempt at a vague "AAA" format which freely translated means "Rock and pop for people too old for The Edge but not old enough for an oldies station, and too rock and roll for EZ Rock but not quite enough for Q107", mixed with some comedy. Their application has a bunch of figures to prove that they won't just be competing with CHUM FM, Q107 or JACK FM, none of which I believe.
Metro 88 promo
16. Tower 88 fm;
A bland easy listening aimed at women in particular, wait; isn't that why we have EZ Rock? Run by Micheal Wekerle, a radio newbie with a lot of business experience and cash. How much cash you ask? He has Ivan Fecan, former head of CTV on board. They also sweeten the pot by promising to play tons of Canadian content and Aboriginal artists that got them the support of former Chief Phil Fontaine. That's a lot of fire-power for what is otherwise another easy listening station.
TOWER 88 promo
17. Durham Radio Inc;
Durham owns four other stations, mostly country or easy rock. Here they are calling themselves "88.1, The Lake FM", which is one of those annoying pointless brand names radio stations give themselves these days, remember when "The Edge" used to be called "CFNY"? That was when they were actually pretty cool. "The Lake"? What does that mean exactly? Are they going to be playing sea shanties? Actually it's anther bland commercial Easy Listening station which, or the music your dentist plays in the waiting room. Their application is possibly one of the biggest and contains a mind numbing amount of charts and figures, which is only slightly more boring than listening to the station itself would be.
18. Newcap Radio inc;
Yet another easy listening station. Newcap owns a jawdropping 79 other stations though so they must know something. Actually in the time it took me to write this they actually got another one. Seriously.
19. Stan 88fm;
An English language multi-cultural urban/hip-hop/pop/smooth jazz station aimed at second and third generation listeners. It's modestly named after it's owner Stanislas Antony. This might even be a workable idea in a multi ethnic city like Toronto, on the other hand it's so vague it might be a really stupid idea, either way it's different and Toronto is one of the few places it could have come from. At the hearings the CRTC was very skeptical about their finances, so that's a big problem.
20. Asia FM;
A Korean run Asian station which will however be mostly in English with 14% in Korean. The music will be pop and dance from Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. I know there is a large Asian community in Toronto but how many prefer mostly English? How will Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Tibetans, or Thais (who all have longstanding rivalries) enjoy sharing a station? Do they really have converging tastes? Will they all stick around for the Korean language parts? How many are happy to keep getting their music from the web? It's a bold idea but a risky one. They got the best line in the hearings when one of the other applicants claimed that Toronto already had a Chinese station in Fairchild Radio. Their response; "We shouldn't have to point out that not all Asians are Chinese." Good one.
21. S. Sivakkumaran;
Not surprisingly it's an application for a ethnic radio station aimed at Tamil, Urdu, Farsi, Turkish, Arabic, Malay, Philippino and African communities. This puts them in direct competition with CHIN of course, as well as a brand new Tamil station in Scarborough. However if the CRTC decides that CHIN has enough radio stations that may not hurt them to much, sure doesn't help though.
22.MTSD Broadcast inc;
This is an application for a station aimed at the Punjabi community. There is no doubt an audience here, but they are being opposed by some of the existing radio stations catering to the Punjabis. It is also too limited compared to most of the other choices.
There were originally supposed to be a few other applicants who announced but then either dropped out or were dropped by the CRTC before the hearings for failing the technical aspects as the CRTC reserves the right to do. One such application was from Astral Media who no doubt dropped out when they announced their upcoming merger with Bell which will require them to divest some of their stations including The Flow. Another applicant was for a Tamil station which has instead decided to apply for a station in Markham. Oddly the other three or four were all South Asian applicants
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