Rock 95 Broadcasting wins Toronto FM slot

The CRTC has awarded a coveted Toronto FM radio slot to independent broadcaster Rock 95 Broadcasting Ltd. to offer an “indie-rock” music station that will target the city’s young adults, the commission said Tuesday. In its decision, the commission said the new station—which would operate on the now-vacant FM slot at 88.1 MHz—will be required to ensure that at least 40 per cent of the music it plays each week comes from Canadian artists. At least 60 per cent of that Canadian music must come from “emerging artists,” the commission added. “Even in the age of digital media, Canadian artists who do not have major-label support face a tough road to success,” Len Katz, the CRTC’s vice-chair of telecommunications, said in a release accompanying the decision. “Rock 95’s station will give much-needed radio exposure to those artists and listeners will have an opportunity to discover new talent.” The 88.1 MHz frequency became available in the country’s most profitable radio market after the CRTC revoked the licence of Ryerson University community station CKLN in February 2011 due to poor program logs, paperwork problems and a lack of involvement from Ryerson students, whose fees accounted for a significant portion of station revenues. More than 20 individuals and companies applied for the licence to operate a new station on the frequency when the CRTC called for applications last September, after Dufferin Communications Inc. applied to use the slot to boost the signal of its local PROUD-FM station. The commission considered those applications at a hearing that began on May 7 in Toronto. In its decision, the commission said Rock 95 promised to dedicate more airtime to emerging artists than any other applicant. It said a new station run by Rock 95 would also “enhance the diversity of news voices,” while allowing the company to benefit “from synergies with its two stations in Barrie, CFJB-FM and CKMB-FM.” Under the terms of its licence conditions, the new station must also broadcast 126 hours of local programming each week, “including 10 hours and 48 minutes of spoken word programming, of which 2 hours and 50 minutes would consist of pure news,” the commission said. It added that Rock 95 had also agreed to go “over and above the basic annual contribution” requirements by pledging to devote $2.045 million over seven years to Canadian content development. Also on Tuesday, the CRTC said it approved an application by Bhupinder Bola to operate a “predominantly English-language” FM station in Markham, Ont. that will offer an adult album alternative and adult contemporary music format. In its decision, the commission said Bola’s application to operate the commercial FM station at the 105.9 MHz slot promised to offer 36.9 per cent ethnic and third-language programming that would primarily target the region’s South Asian and Chinese communities. It said a competing application by a numbered company to operate an ethnic AM radio station in Markham was impractical due to the company’s request to use two separate frequencies at different times of the day.

Rock 95 Broadcasting wins Toronto FM slot

Broadcast | September 11, 2012

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

Rock 95 Broadcasting wins Toronto FM slot

Broadcast | September 11, 2012

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Related Stories

Millions of Canadians live in news deserts, CCPA finds

‘Outdated’ regulatory tools unsuitable for online environment, streamers tell CRTC

Rogers laying off customer service workers; Corus cutting Global News staff, radio jobs

CRTC approves sale of 21 BC radio stations from Bell to Vista

Reuse & Permissions

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us