The CRTC has approved the change in ownership of two AM radio stations in Montreal — French-language CFNV (AM940) and English-language CFQR (CFQR 600).
The stations are being sold by 7954689 Canada Inc., a privately owned radio broadcasting company controlled by Nicholas Tétrault, Rajiv Pancholy and Paul Tietolman, to Ronald Richards Realty Inc. (RRRI), which is wholly owned by Ronald Richards. RRRI is in fact acquiring all of the shares of 7954689 through the transaction and, as the sole shareholder, Richards will exercise effective control of the two radio stations.
After the CRTC’s review of the application to change the ownership and effective control of the stations, the commission determined the total value of the transaction is $1,122,752. As such, the new owner will be required to pay tangible benefits totalling $67,366 in equal payments over seven consecutive broadcast years to various Canadian content development funds, including the Canadian Starmaker Fund, Fonds RadioStar, FACTOR, Musicaction, and the Community Radio Fund of Canada.
In its application, 7954689 had said the two stations would continue to celebrate the cultural diversity of Montreal by allocating time to music from content subcategory 33 (World beat and international) and including daily programs dedicated to Caribbean artists and music. In addition, CFQR, which serves the Anglophone official language minority communities of Montreal, would continue the production and broadcast of programs benefiting these communities, it said.
The stations’ licensee has committed to ensuring 100 per cent of its programming broadcast during each week is local programming. The CRTC in its application approval reminds the licensee that local programming must incorporate spoken word material that includes local news, weather, sports coverage, and the promotion of local events and activities.
The broadcasting regulator also expects the stations to devote at least five per cent of their musical selections each week to selections from Canadian emerging artists, and Indigenous musical selections should also be included on the stations’ playlists.
The licences for CFNV and CFQR will expire on Aug. 31, 2027.
