OTTAWA – The CRTC handed out two new Ontario radio licences Wednesday, one for the Grimsby/Beamsville region and the other to serve the town of Georgina.
After considering three applications at a public hearing in Toronto last November, the Commission chose Durham Radio Inc. as the owner of a broadcasting licence to operate a new commercial FM radio station using the frequency 88.5 MHz. The licence will expire on August 31, 2024.
“The Commission finds that Durham has proposed a sound business plan that is based on its experience in the Hamilton radio market and third-party research”, reads the decision. “Approval of its application would give Durham a second commercial radio station in the Numeris Hamilton Central Area (Hamilton CTRL), which would provide it with the opportunity to benefit from important synergies so as to better compete with large established and consolidated multi-station players.”
Competing applications from Dufferin Communications and Byrnes Communications were subsequently denied.
The CRTC also approved an application by Frank Torres, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated, for a broadcasting licence to operate a new commercial FM radio station to serve the south-central Ontario market of Georgina. Its licence will expire on August 31, 2024.
Torres proposed the use of frequency 93.7 MHz and added that the proposed station would benefit from “significant operational synergies” with its nearby station CIUX-FM Uxbridge.
“The Commission finds that Torres proposed the best business plan”, reads that decision. “This applicant projected revenues of $491,000 in its first year of operation, increasing to $991,000 in the seventh year, and stated that it anticipates that the station will generate profits in its third year of operation. In the Commission’s view, this is reasonable when viewed in terms of the revenues of stations operating in comparable markets.”
Applications made by My Broadcasting Corporation and Radio Markham York also vying to serve Georgina were denied.
