GATINEAU – The CRTC today granted eight new radio station licenses in Alberta, five in Edmonton and three in Red Deer. Harvard Broadcasting was granted two of the new licenses.
In Edmonton, the Commission approved applications by CTV, Harvard Broadcasting, Rawlco Radio and John Charles Yerxa (although CTV and Harvard have to submit new frequencies in 90 days).
In Red Deer, approvals went to Harvard, Touch Broadcasting and L.A. radio.
In the decision, the Commission noted that Yerxa “will be a new player both in the Edmonton market and in the Canadian radio industry. As such, approval of its application will enhance the diversity of voices in the Edmonton market by introducing a new news voice as well as enhance the overall diversity of the Canadian broadcasting system,” reads the decision. Yerxa is the son of the late 790 CFCW founder Hal Yerxa.
Yerxa said he will offer a “Young Variety music format targeted to listeners between the ages of 12 and 34 years. At the hearing, Yerxa described Young Variety as a musically diverse format that features a wider selection of new music with a mix of new rock, hip-hop, dance and alternative pop. At least 80% of the musical selections will be those released in the previous six months. In the Commission’s view, this innovative music format will appeal to listeners in Edmonton that are currently underserved,” says the decision.
All of the programming, says the decision, will be local and live-to-air. In each broadcast week, 10 hours 32 minutes will be devoted to spoken word programming, including two hours of pure news. At least 90% of the news will be local. In addition, the station will, in each broadcast week, air 1 hour 18 minutes of weather, 1 hour of traffic reports, 24 minutes of sports, 28 minutes of entertainment and cultural reports, 1 hour 10 minutes of programming that spotlights emerging artists and 4 hours 12 minutes of announcer talk.
Rawlco will offer an Adult Contemporary Hit Radio music format featuring new music and emerging artist music targeted to listeners aged 18 to 49 years. “The Commission notes that the proposed new station will benefit from operating and news gathering synergies with its incumbent station CHMC-FM,” says the release.
CTV will offer an Essential Alternative music format featuring alternative rock and alternative pop music targeted to adults between the ages of 25 and 44. “CTV indicated that it will forge a relationship with its target audience, which it described as being early adopters of new media, through an extensive and interactive on-line presence,” says the decision.
CTV made a commitment to broadcast 126 hours of local programming during the broadcast week. “The proposed new station will share physical facilities and will benefit from synergies with CTV’s incumbent station, CHBN-FM,” it reads.
Harvard proposed to offer an Adult Album Alternative (Triple A) music format, a relatively new commercial format in Canada that draws on a broad range of musical genres, says the Commission. The proposed station will target primarily women in the 25 to 64 demographic which Harvard found to be an underserved audience in the Edmonton market. By condition of licence, a minimum of 15% of all music selections broadcast in each broadcast week will be devoted to music drawn from content category 3 (Special interest music). “Accordingly, the Commission considers that Harvard’s station will make a substantial contribution to the musical diversity in the Edmonton radio market,” says the release.
The final new station in Edmonton is a new transmitter for the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta. “In its application, AMMSA indicated that it wishes to implement an originating station in Edmonton, add a new transmitter in Fort McMurray and continue operating the existing 35 transmitters (which the non-profit corporation already operates across the province).”
AMMSA affirmed during the hearing that it has no plans to change the focus of its programming. It committed to continue serving the needs of Aboriginal peoples in small communities throughout Alberta and indicated that it is seeking to attract Aboriginal people who have moved to the urban centres of Edmonton and Fort McMurray
In Red Deer, Harvard will offer a Mainstream Adult Contemporary format targeted to adults between the ages of 25 and 54. Harvard stated that its station’s format would consist of music from a broad range of artists and include more classic hits from older eras (early 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s
“The Commission considers that approval of Harvard’s application would allow it to realize efficiencies and maximize synergies among its stations in Alberta and Saskatchewan and consequently better enable it to achieve its objective of providing a service that is locally and regionally reflective,” says the decision.
L.A. Radio proposed to introduce a New Hit Music format to the Red Deer market consisting of 65% Modern Rock and 35% Mainstream Top 40 music. The programming would be structured around three main music categories: New Music (music from the last three months), Recurrent (music from the past three to 12 months) and Favourites (music from the last one to 10 years). The proposed station would be targeted to those between the ages of 18 and 44.
“The Commission notes the strong local presence that L.A. Radio already has in the Red Deer market through the reach of its station CJUV-FM Lacombe. The Commission considers that approval of the licensee’s current application for a station in Red Deer would allow it to achieve operating efficiencies and synergies with its Lacombe station and would contribute significantly to the competitive state of the Red Deer radio market,” says the Commission.
Touch Canada will offer an FM station dedicated to Gospel Adult Contemporary music. At least 95% of all musical selections would be drawn from content subcategory 35 (Non-classic religious).
“Touch Canada’s proposed station would also introduce a new radio voice to Red Deer and would further enhance the diversity of news voices and local reflection in this market,” says the decision, repeating the theme of these decisions.
