By Ahmad Hathout
After being denied a licence to operate an FM radio station in Yellowknife, Cabin Radio is getting another shot after the CRTC said it found the market may not be as well served now as when it evaluated its application.
The online news radio station filed an initial licence application in August 2019, but the regulator denied it last year on the basis that the market could not support another as commercial radio revenues across the country saw two years of declines. Cabin Radio then quickly filed another application asking for an exception to the regulator’s two-year moratorium on re-applications because it said dire circumstances in the market require more stations.
The CRTC agreed by majority decision on Thursday, thus opening another proceeding and accepting applications from interested parties to operate an additional radio station in the city.
“Cabin Radio’s new application reveals that circumstances have changed since its original application,” the CRTC said Thursday. “Specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic and the wildfires in the Northwest Territories have highlighted the importance of having increased access to radio content in the north.”
The regulator said it will consider various factors, including how the station will reflect local community, diversity and language; its business plan to ensure longevity; and its impact on the existing market, including projected audience share overlap.
Applications, which must also be sent to Innovation Canada to get technical approval, are due by May 13. A public consultation will be held on the applications at a later date.
“This announcement represents progress,” Cabin Radio told itself in a statement.
“We’re pleased that the CRTC has recognized what residents have long been telling us: they are not as well served as they could be on the FM dial,” it added. “We’re excited to demonstrate to the regulator that we are the best-positioned applicant to make a real difference in the way we support northern performers, invest in the communities around us, and report robustly and meaningfully on Yellowknife news.”
The market currently includes the public broadcaster, one English-language commercial station operated by Vista Radio called True North FM, one French-language community radio station operated by Société Radio Taïga, and an indigenous radio station operated by the Native Communications Society of the Northwest Territories.
In response to Cabin Radio’s application, Vista and Native Communications Society complained that the market could not sustain another station, which would put their financial viability at risk.
Cabin Radio received support from an MLA and a cabinet minister from the Northwest Territories government.
Nunavut and Atlantic region commissioner Ellen Desmond filed the dissenting opinion.
She argued that Yellowknife has been underperforming on revenue and profit not just in the Whitehorse and Iqaluit markets, but nationally as well. Inflation has been on the rise as well, she noted.
On the moratorium, Desmond argued that Cabin Radio’s application was not sufficient to make an exception to the rule.
“With respect to my colleagues, I do not agree that it is procedurally fair to process this second application at this time,” she writes. “If the Commission is to make an exception to the Policy, it must be justified and reasonable in the circumstances. I am not satisfied that Cabin Radio, in its filing, has provided the Commission with sufficient reason to deviate from the established practice. Permitting this second application to proceed departs from the legitimate expectations that are set out in the Policy.”
What’s unclear now is what will happen with Cabin Radio’s application in front of the Federal Court of Appeal that challenged the CRTC’s original decision denying its request for the licence.
On that, Cabin Radio editor Ollie Williams told Cartt in an email: “we’ll be examining our next steps in light of the new information.”
