Remember when the CRTC granted a licence for a news/talk station at 960 AM in Mississauga? That was five years ago (!) and CKNT (which I still maintain is perhaps the most unfortunate set of call letters ever chosen or assigned) is STILL not on the air.
 
Apparently, finding a transmitter site has been the biggest hurdle and after endless extensions by the Commission, they only have until November 30 of this year to get up and running - or else. With September now just days away, this doesn’t leave much time.
 
But now there’s a new wrinkle in this story of the little station that couldn't. While the interminable wait for this thing to actually hit air has gone on and on and on, the CRTC granted a licence to something called Radio Humsafar, a South Asian program provider, for a station at 1350 AM in Brampton (the old CKLB/CKDO Oshawa spot.) They have until Oct. 2017 to get their signal out.
 
The problem? The engineers at CKNT think they’ve finally found the perfect spot for their tower, but it’s less than 3 miles away from the Brampton newcomer, and earlier this month, Radio Humsafar wrote the CRTC warning that if the Mississauga newcomer interferes with their signal, it’s up to CKNT to pay for fixing the problem.
 
The Mississauga neighbour’s response? “Interference between the two radio stations is unlikely,” its lawyers contend in a letter to the Commission. “In the event interference does occur, CKNT will fully cooperate with Radio Humsafar in resolving any such interference. However, CKNT believes that the determination of financial responsibility …remedying any interference should be made at such time, based on the nature of the interference.”
 
Neither is on the air yet and there’s already tension and drama in the air! Perhaps this can be CKNT’s first topic – who should pay for transmitter interference? That's if it ever actually gets on the air. The clock is ticking on this thing that should have been broadcasting nearly half a decade ago. I can’t recall ever hearing of another station taking so long to sign on after getting a licence approval.

Last edited by RadioActive (August 29, 2016 7:51 pm)