HAMILTON – The CBC’s new local digital setup isn’t good enough to serve the Steel City, says city councillor Brian McHattie, who insists Hamilton needs its own CBC radio station.
The councillor (who serves the ward where Cartt.ca is based) has sent a letter to CBC CEO Hubert Lacroix as well as all of the local MPs saying that since there are no available frequencies for another radio station in Hamilton, the CBC should instead purchase one of the Toronto stations which Bell Media has promised to divest as part of its purchase of Astral Media.
The Toronto stations put on the block by Bell Media are CHBM-FM (Classic Hits, Boom 97.3) and CFXJ-FM (Urban Contemporary, Flow 93.5) in Toronto.
“Hamilton… is still the largest market in Canada without its own CBC radio station. Over the last decade, CBC has stated that the goal for local service for Hamilton was a radio station similar to other communities across the country, but that the broadcaster was limited in fulfilling the promise due to the lack of available radio frequencies in the region,” reads McHattie’s letter, which we received August 14th.
So, with two nearby stations for sale, “the City of Hamilton suggested to the (CRTC) and to BCE that one of these frequencies should be used to provide local CBC service for Hamilton. It's now up to you at the national broadcaster to seize this rare opportunity to acquire a frequency for the Hamilton region to fulfill the long awaited promise of local radio service in our region. This would build off of the CBC's existing digital services in the community,” added the letter.
CBC spokesman Chris Ball, in response, said the CBC will not be purchasing either of the stations for sale, as they would be just too expensive. Indeed, in 2010, FLOW was purchased by what was then the CHUM Radio division of CTV, for $27 million.
“We’re glad to hear that Hamiltonians have such a deep connection with CBC,” said Ball in an e-mail to Cartt.ca. “In the scenario outlined CBC would have to acquire a station and then operate the new frequency as a CBC property – the costs involved would be prohibitive for us given our current financial constraints.
“We have been committed to serving Hamilton for many years and have explored bringing a radio service to this community in the past. We will continue to look for ways to improve the service we provide Hamiltonians – within the limits of our financial circumstances,” he added. CBC has cut close to 700 people from its payroll in the past 18 months or so because of a government-wide austerity program which saw its parliamentary grant trimmed by 10%.
However, “as technology evolved, we are now able to serve this community in new and innovative ways, through our cbc.ca/Hamilton local digital service. Since the launch of the digital service the feedback we’ve received has been largely positive. We look forward to continuing to be a part of this community for many years to come," added Ball.
