OTTAWA — The St. John’s radio market cannot sustain an additional radio station at the present time, the CRTC announced in a decision on July 31. As a result, the Commission will not issue a call for applications for new radio stations to serve that market, the CRTC said.
In its Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2017-272, the Commission said it will return the application originally filed by Andrew Green and Jordan Elliott, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated, for a broadcasting licence to operate a commercial FM radio station in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
The St. John’s radio market is currently served by six commercial stations and has been performing poorly since 2012, with flat revenues and low profitability, according to the CRTC. Further, according to the Conference Board of Canada, economic projections are unfavourable. While GDP growth for St. John’s is expected to be comparable to national GDP growth between 2018 and 2020, population growth is forecasted to stagnate, the CRTC stated in its decision. Moreover, between 2018 and 2021, the unemployment rate in St. John’s is expected to remain high (average of 10.4%), which exceeds the national average for that period of 6.5%, the CRTC said.
“In light of the preceding, the Commission is concerned that licensing an additional station in St. John’s at this time risks having an undue financial impact on incumbent stations in the market,” the CRTC wrote in its decision.
As part of the consultation proceeding, the Commission received several interventions supporting the licensing of a new radio station in St. John’s, including two from interveners who expressed interest in applying for a licence. The original applicant, Andrew Green, filed an intervention and a reply, in which he stated that a new radio service would address the public’s desire for increased diversity in radio options in St. John’s. Furthermore, Acadia Broadcasting Limited indicated that it was interested in serving the market and supported a call for applications. Acadia Broadcasting provided market research suggesting certain demographic segments of the market are underserved and dissatisfied with the choices available in the St. John’s radio market.
The Commission also received interventions from Coast Broadcasting Ltd., Newfoundland Broadcasting Company Limited and Newcap Inc. — the three broadcasters already operating in the market. Coast Broadcasting (licensee of CKSJ-FM St. John’s), Newfoundland Broadcasting (licensee of CHOZ-FM St. John’s) and Newcap (licensee of two AM and two FM stations in St. John’s) opposed the issuance of a call for applications for new radio stations. They argued that any entrant would have to rely on capturing audience and revenue from existing operators to be successful. They were of the view that the St. John’s radio market cannot support a new entrant, given poor present and forecasted economic conditions, flat radio market revenues and low profit margins.
As a result, further to its decision to not issue a call for new radio licence applications in the St. John’s market, the CRTC additionally said it will not be generally disposed to accept applications for new commercial radio stations to serve St. John’s for a period of two years from the date of its decision, based on its concerns over the effects of licensing a new radio station in St. John’s.
