GATINEAU – Due to concerns raised by a couple of local independent broadcasters, the CRTC today denied a request from Standard Radio to convert CHOR Summerland (B.C.) from an AM station to FM.
Standard wanted to switch CHOR from 1450 AM and its oldies format to 98.5 MHz FM as an adult contemporary station.
While the Commission has showed much willingness in the past to allow AM station owners to make the switch to the better-quality FM signal, issues raised by SILK FM and Great Valleys Radio Ltd., the licensee of CIGV-FM Penticton, caused it to turn down Standard’s application.
Great Valleys objected to the part of Standard’s application that said Summerland is a single-station market, as its station covers Summerland, too. Further, Great Valleys said the coverage contours of the proposed new FM show that, at the very least, Penticton would now be included in the sales territory of the Summerland station and said that Standard’s application is an attempt to introduce another format to the surrounding area at the expense of the existing radio stations, particularly CIGV-FM Penticton.
SILK did not object to the conversion, but suggested that the Commission impose a condition of license on the new FM station restricting advertising to Summerland businesses since SILK noted that Standard currently sells advertising to businesses throughout the Okanagan through its regional network sales package and that this advertising is aired on Standard’s network of stations including Salmon Arm.
“Furthermore, SILK contended that a transmitter operating at 50 watts would effectively cover all of Summerland. Accordingly, in the intervener’s view, Standard’s application to convert its AM station to FM should have proposed low-power technical parameters,” says the decision.
The Commission said the proposed new FM station would most likely expand beyond the existing contours of CHOR and extend the station’s signal significantly, particularly into the Penticton market.
“The Commission notes that CHOR, Summerland’s only local radio station, currently serves an estimated population of 11,156 within its existing 15 mV/m contour, while the 3 mV/m contour of the proposed FM radio station would serve an estimated population of 12,101. However, the expanded 0.5 mV/m contour of the proposed FM radio station would encompass a much larger area than the market currently served by CHOR, and extend the proposed station’s signal into the Penticton market and more than triple the station’s population coverage within its 0.5 mV/m contour. The proposed expanded coverage into Penticton is of particular concern to the Commission because that community and Summerland are located less than 20 kilometres apart,” reads the decision.
And, since Standard already owns CJMG-FM 97.1 (one of their Sun FMs) and CKOR AM 800 (an EZ Rock) in Penticton, as well as of other radio stations in British Columbia, the FM conversion in Summerland would have the net result of the company having three FM stations in a single market and a competitive advantage in B.C.
“The Commission is concerned that this would increase the competitive imbalance in the marketplace and have a potential negative financial impact on CIGV-FM, Standard’s only local competitor in Penticton,” it said, denying the application.
