OTTAWA – The CRTC has approved a new English and Aboriginal-language Native Type B FM station and a new English-language commercial FM station to serve the Winnipeg area.
Evanov Communications will air an adult contemporary (35%) and new easy listening (65%) music format targeted to those aged 45 years and over. The frequency of the new FM station is still to be determined. The music offering will focus on soft melodic selections with less instrumental, a minimum of blues and no jazz selections.
“The proposed format will add to the programming diversity in the Winnipeg radio market by complementing the musical offering currently provided by several of the incumbent radio stations in Winnipeg that provide similar music formats targeted to the same demographic,” states the commission in its decision. Evanov has committed to devote at least 100 hours of the broadcast week to local programming.
Native Communication Inc (NCI) will launch a Native Type B FM station that will feature a Rock, pop and hip hop music format that will appeal to urban Aboriginal youth between the ages of 18 and 35 years. The proposed station will offer 126 hours of local programming in each broadcast week with a music offering focusing on 40% Aboriginal selections and 60% commercial content. Of the 20 hours of spoken word programming broadcast weekly, at least 10 hours will be in an Aboriginal language. A number of spoken word features will be targeted to an Aboriginal audience. Overall, the station will devote 61 hours of the broadcast week to programming that is oriented to an Aboriginal audience.
NCI has pledged that, beginning in the station’s third year of operation, 40% of all category 2 musical selections aired in each broadcast week will be Canadian. NCI also stated that approximately 50% of the Canadian content category 2 music will be performed by Aboriginal talent and approximately 5% will be in an Aboriginal language.
“While NCI plans to solicit advertising, it also indicated that it will derive revenues from government grants and fundraising activities such as memberships and bingo. Taking into consideration the applicant’s distinct target audience and the varied sources of revenue available to it, the commission is of the view that the applicant’s proposed station will not have an undue economic impact on the Winnipeg radio market.”
The commission believes the NCI station will complement the current province wide service offered by its station CICY-FM by focusing specifically on the needs and interests of urban Aboriginals in Winnipeg. It noted that NCI’s proposal meets the cultural objectives set out in the Native Broadcasting Policy and that it will serve an under-served group in the Winnipeg market.
In its decision the commission denied two competing applications from Newcap Inc. and YO Radio Management Inc.
