The CRTC announced in December it has approved Maritime Broadcasting System Limited (MBS)’s application to acquire five English-language commercial radio stations and a transmitter from Bell Media Radio Atlantic Inc. (Bell Atlantic), in a transaction valued at $4.4 million.
The radio stations include CKTO-FM and CKTY-FM in Truro, Nova Scotia, and CKBC-FM Bathurst, CJCJ-FM Woodstock, and CIKX-FM Grand Falls and its transmitter CIKX-FM-1 Plaster Rock in New Brunswick.
MBS operates 24 radio stations across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island; however, it does not currently operate stations in the markets where it is acquiring these radio assets, the CRTC noted in its Dec. 20 decision.
“Approval of the application would substitute one commercial operator for another and, as such, would ensure that the plurality of editorial voices and diversity of elements is not diminished,” the commission said in its decision.
“As noted by the applicant, the Commission expects that the transaction will lead to various synergies between the stations and should help ensure stability and viability across the stations.”
As part of its asset purchase agreement with Bell Atlantic, MBS has committed to offering employment to each employee on terms and conditions that are either better than or equally favourable to the terms and conditions of their current employment, the CRTC noted.
The commission said it is satisfied with MBS’s commitment to local programming and news, which includes broadcasting a minimum of 42 hours of local programming per broadcast week on all five stations, including one hour of local and regional news, 15 minutes of national news, and five minutes of international news.
The licences for CKTY-FM, CKBC-FM and CJCJ-FM were last renewed in 2023 and will expiry Aug. 31, 2030. The licence for CIKX-FM and its transmitter CIKX-FM-1 were previously renewed in 2021 until Aug. 31, 2026. CKTO-FM’s licence was renewed in 2020 and will expire Aug. 31, 2027.
As a condition of service, the commission has ordered MBS to allocate $265,000 in tangible benefits paid in equal instalments over seven consecutive broadcast years to the Nova Scotia Community College’s two-year radio and television journalism program.
