OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC will hold a public hearing on several radio stations proposed for the Ottawa-Gatineau region along with several TV applications on Tuesday.
Among the applicants seeking a radio licence are Corus Radio Company for an English-language news talk station on frequency 101.9 MHz and Astral Media for an English-language soft adult music format on 99.7 MHz.
Other proposed formats are tourist radio, religious radio, adult album alternative, blues music and pop alternative.
The CRTC said it would consider the radio licence proposals, for either the 99.7 MHz, 101.9 MHz or 101.7 MHz frequencies, as competitive radio applications. They were originally scheduled to be heard at a public hearing on December 3, but were later rescheduled for May 13. The CRTC issued a call for applications for radio broadcasting licences for Ottawa and Gatineau on June 22, 2007.
Also on the docket are several TV applications, including four national English-language ethnic Category 2 channels by Telelatino Network Inc. and one by Rogers for Baseball TV, and radio filings for other regions of the country.
The commission will also consider the radio renewal of CJMS Saint-Constant, which has apparently not complied with its condition of licence regarding its contributions to Canadian content development for the 2006 broadcast year and its requirement to submit its annual report for the year ending Aug. 31, 2007. The CRTC is asking the licensee to show cause at the hearing why a mandatory order should not be issued that would require it to comply with these requirements.
Another item under consideration is a request by Wightman Telecom Ltd. for a licence to operate a regional VOD programming undertaking in Clifford, Teeswater, Mildmay, Neustadt, Gorrie and Ayton. It is seeking a condition of licence that would allow it to distribute programming containing commercial messages where those commercial messages were already included in a program previously aired by a Canadian programming undertaking.
