OTTAWA – The CRTC today turned down an application by Bayshore Broadcasting for a new FM radio station in Wasaga Beach – a popular summer hangout about 13 kms north of Toronto on Georgian Bay.
The proposed Classic AC station would have operated at 97.7 MHz (channel 249A) with an effective radiated power of 1,800 watts.
However, the Commission sided with the intervenors which said Wasaga Beach (pop, 12,400 – and which receives many radio stations already) could not support a dedicated local radio station.
“The Commission is concerned with the expanded principal marketing area that the applicant has identified,” reads this morning’s decision. “The Commission notes… that Bayshore’s application indicates that the population within the proposed station’s principal marketing area would number 74,000. This area would clearly extend well beyond the Town of Wasaga Beach and the 3 mV/m contour of the proposed station and would encompass the entire 0.5 mV/m contour of the proposed station.
“Furthermore, the Commission is not convinced by Bayshore’s assertion that there would not be a negative economic impact on existing radio services in the area if its application were approved. The Commission is particularly concerned with the possible impact on CKCB-FM Collingwood, given that Collingwood and Wasaga Beach are less than 25 kilometres apart. It notes that, for the broadcast year ending August 2004, CKCB-FM reported a margin of profitability before interest and tax that was considerably lower than the national average of 18.31%. The Commission also notes that Bayshore’s application indicated that its proposed station would generate advertising revenues of approximately $511,000 in its first year of operation, increasing to approximately $1.1 million in its seventh year of operation. The Commission is therefore concerned that the introduction of a new commercial radio station in Wasaga Beach could jeopardize the quality of service currently being provided by CKCB-FM Collingwood.”
Bayshore Broadcasting owns and operates Country 93, Mix 106 and 560 CFOS in Owen Sound, as well as 98 The Beach in the Kincardine region.
