Some of us who have been watching the sometimes bizarre history of Sauga960 suspected this might happen. And it's clear the owners did also. But after a CRTC ruling on Friday, they were given a very unpleasant surprise. 

The station asked the Commission for permission to increase the amount of ethnic programming it could air to 22%, with a plan to replace its current English-language format with foreign shows between 7 PM and midnight. It claimed the increasingly diverse population of the city of licence would be well served by the move. 

It didn't take long for the other ethnic broadcasters in nearby markets to intervene, saying "not so fast!" CINA, CJMR and CHLO all told the CRTC the station was never licenced for that kind of programming and that their stations were already suffering from a downturn in advertising, so any such change would hurt them financially. 

The CRTC also noted that any station is allowed to devote 15% of its airtime in a third language (defined as anything except English, French or Aboriginal) - and CKNT wasn't even doing that! 

The station's response was almost hilarious. It said it wanted to keep airing shows in English - but with a few "foreign" words thrown in to help newcomers to the country feel more welcome!

"It stated that, one week, Southeast Asians will be invited to speak about their community and, the following week, South Americans will be offered the same opportunity and so on. The applicant further stated that the proposed amendment would establish connections within its community, thereby allowing CKNT to better serve the community and give listeners a greater sense of immediacy and connectivity to its news talk content. "

Whoo boy. Credit, at least, for creativity. But the Commission didn't buy it for a second, noting that was still essentially an English broadcast and they didn't need an increase. And besides, they weren't even using the 15% window as it was. Request denied. 

In the end Sauga960 will stay English, although I can't help but wonder if they'll give this another try somewhere down the road. 

CRTC CKNT Decision