Commercial radio stations to contribute more to community radio: CRTC decision

OTTAWA—More money will be coming to the campus and community radio sector through the Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC), the CRTC announced Thursday in a new regulatory policy for the sector. Under the new policy, commercial radio stations that make more than $1.25 million in revenues per year will allocate 15 per cent of their annual Canadian content development (CCD) contributions to the CRFC. “We didn’t get everything we asked for, but I’m happy with what we did get,” Melissa Kaestner, executive director of the CRFC, told The Wire Report. “The really great thing is that we got some of the mandatory base annual contributions. So while that fluctuates every year, we can at least get a sense of probably how much we’re going to be getting.” Canadian private broadcasters are required by law to give a small portion of their revenues to CCD contributions. Prior to Thursday’s decision, private radio broadcasters had to pay 60 per cent of their CCD contributions to artistic development organizations the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR) and MUSICACTION. The other 40 per cent could be set aside for local initiatives that qualified for funding at the radio station’s own discretion. Now FACTOR and MUSICACTION’s share of the CCD pie will be reduced to 45 per cent of private radio contributions. The commission said in its new policy that the change will result in a 3.2 per cent reduction in revenues for FACTOR and a 2.4 per cent reduction for MUSICACTION. But the decision will result in about $775,000 in additional funds for the CRFC. The CRFC got off the ground in 2008 when it received a donation of $1.4 million from Astral Media Radio for spending over seven years on development programs within the sector. Earlier this year, Astral Media donated another $300,000 to the fund. In a written statement to the CRTC prior to its hearings on the community radio sector in January, the CRFC wrote, “the difference between what the sector is receiving and what we need, is $20.4 million.” In addition to direct funding from private radio stations, the CRFC will also receive 0.5 per cent of the value of any commercial transaction in the radio sector, such as the sale of a station. Previously, FACTOR and MUSICACTION received 2 per cent from radio transactions. The decision Thursday reduces their share to 1.5 per cent to accommodate the CRFC. The decision effectively shuffles the contributions so that community radio receives more funding without demanding new contributions from commercial stations. “We’re pleased with the decision, that the commission heard our arguments that we shouldn’t be required to contribute any more in terms of our Canadian content obligations,” Susan Wheeler, Rogers Media’s vice-president of regulatory affairs, told The Wire Report. Thursday’s policy also eliminated the differences between Type A and Type B community radio stations. Now all campus and community radio stations will have the same conditions of licence. Type A stations were community radio stations in small markets where there was no competing private radio station of the same language in that market. Type B stations were in larger markets where there was at least one private radio station broadcasting in the same language. Under the former regulatory policy, Type A stations had to ensure that 15 per cent of their weekly content was spoken word, and Type B stations had to air at least 25 per cent spoken word content. During the CRTC’s hearings on the sector, the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA) said the spoken word requirements for both types of stations should be harmonized at 15 per cent because smaller stations with fewer resources have had trouble producing enough local spoken word content each week. The CRTC agreed with that recommendation, putting into place a 15 per cent spoken word minimum for all campus and community radio stations. The commission also changed the sector’s programming requirements, increasing the Canadian content requirements for Category 2 music—which covers popular music such as rock and pop—and Category 3 music, covering “special interest music” and genres such as folk, world beat, jazz and non-classical religious music. Previously, 35 per cent of all Category 2 music and 12 per cent of Category 3 music had to be by Canadian artists. In its decision Thursday, the commission increased those minimum Canadian content requirements to 40 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. But the commission said it will issue a call for comments before it implements the changes to ensure they are appropriate. In a dissenting opinion to the decision, CRTC commissioner Marc Patrone said he was concerned that campus and community radio could become more commercial under the new regulatory framework. “My concern, based on submissions made during this proceeding, is that community radio may gradually become something more akin to a commercial venture. There is some evidence suggesting this is already happening,” Patrone wrote. Patrone said, for example, that community radio stations could ration their hit songs for broadcast during peak listening hours to attract listeners. He added that the decision “watered down” spoken word requirements by making the minimum 15 per cent across the board. “This higher requirement recognized the need for Type B stations to be distinct from private commercial stations operating in the same market,” Patrone wrote. “I can understand why he would have those kinds of concerns, but I don’t necessarily agree with him,” Kaestner said. “I think when you have volunteers participating, there’s going to be a natural tendency for a difference in the programming that each volunteer offers.” Wheeler said she can see how community stations may have more programming flexibility, but said the issue is not a problem in the radio markets in which Rogers operates. “There is a potential that in some markets—and I know it’s more of an issue in Quebec than it is in English Canada—that there is the potential for competition. But generally, in the markets that we’re operating in, community radio has remained complimentary to the commercial sector,” Wheeler said. jmigneault@thewirereport.ca

Commercial radio stations to contribute more to community radio: CRTC decision

Broadcast | July 22, 2010

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