CRTC Calls for Comments on Appropriateness of New Radio Licence for Grimsby/Beamsville, Ontario

The CRTC has received an application for a broadcasting licence to operate a new commercial radio station to serve Grimsby and Beamsville, Ontario. The Commission is seeking comments on market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications to serve Grimsby and Beamsville. The Commission encourages interested persons, including the applicant, to submit additional information that it will take into consideration before making a final determination on whether it should proceed with a call for applications.

The deadline for the receipt of interventions is 26 February 2024. Only parties that file interventions may file a reply to matters raised during the intervention phase. The deadline to file replies is 7 March 2024.

Background

1. The Commission set out its procedure for issuing calls for applications for broadcasting licences to operate radio stations. According to that procedure, applications for new radio stations in markets of all sizes will generally result in the issuance of a call for applications with the following exceptions:
   • proposals with very little or no commercial potential or impact, including some low-power applications;
   • proposals to provide the first commercial service in a market;
   • proposals by the sole commercial operator in a market to improve service to the market, either through an AM to FM conversion or a new station;
   • proposals to provide the first commercial service in the other official language in a market or to convert the only station in the other official language from AM to FM; and
   • proposals to convert stations from AM to FM in markets with two or fewer commercial operators.
2. The Commission will also take into account the availability or scarcity of spectrum when considering applications that propose to use one of the last known frequencies in a market. Such applications will not be eligible to be considered under one of the exceptions to the issuance of a call.
4. Upon receipt of an application that does not fall within one of the exceptions to the issuance of a call, the Commission will publish a notice of consultation to seek comment on market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call. The Commission will also publish the following information in the notice of consultation: the applicant’s name, the type of service proposed (commercial mainstream or specialty, community, campus, etc.), the technical parameters proposed (frequency, band, broadcast power) and a sampling of the main communities included in the primary contour of the proposed station’s coverage.

Application for Grimsby and Beamsville

4. The Commission announces that it has received the following application for a broadcasting licence to operate a new commercial radio station to serve Grimsby and Beamsville, Ontario:

   Applicant	Type of service	Technical parameters	Main communities included in the primary contour
   Dufferin Communications Inc. (Dufferin)	Commercial radio station	88.5 MHz FM with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 2,000 watts (maximum ERP of 4,000 watts)	Grimsby and Beamsville

5. Dufferin’s proposal would constitute a first commercial radio service to the communities of Grimsby and Beamsville. As mentioned above, applications for first commercial radio services in a market can be considered under the exceptions to the issuance of a call. However, in this case, the frequency proposed by Dufferin is one of the last known available FM frequencies in Grimsby and Beamsville, as well as in the Hamilton Central Numeris Market.
6. the Commission determined that the Hamilton/Burlington radio market could not sustain any additional commercial radio stations at the time.  The Commission would generally not be disposed to accept applications for new commercial radio stations to serve the Hamilton/Burlington radio market for a period of two years following the issuance of the above-mentioned decision. However, given that Grimsby is located at the eastern extremity of the Hamilton Central Numeris Market and that Beamsville is located in the St. Catharines Central Numeris Market, the Commission finds it appropriate to seek comments as to whether it should consider applications to serve Grimsby and Beamsville.

 In light of the above, the Commission calls for comments on the capacity of Grimsby and Beamsville to support a new station and on whether it should issue a call for applications for new radio stations to serve these communities. The Commission encourages interested persons, including the applicant, to submit additional information that it will take into consideration before making a final determination on whether to proceed with a call for applications.

7. Following receipt of comments, the Commission will conduct an assessment of the capacity of Grimsby and Beamsville to support an additional station, taking into account economic and financial data as well as the comments received in the public consultation.
8. As indicated in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2014-554, the Commission will weigh factors such as market capacity, spectrum availability or scarcity and interest in serving the market when deciding whether to:
   • publish the application for consideration during the non-appearing phase of a public hearing;
   • issue a call for applications; or
   • make a determination that the market cannot sustain additional stations, return the application and issue a decision setting out this determination.