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March 12, 2023 12:54 am  #1


Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

I’m not sure how I missed this in January, but there’s quite a fascinating battle going on between Bell and Jon Pole’s MyFM outlet in Peterborough. Bell owns two stations there while Pole’s organization has one – and only a 206 watter at that.
 
Bell has complained that the CRTC found Pole’s CJMB-FM out of compliance with its Condition of Licence (COL), which was given on the basis that it be a nearly full time All Sports format. But the station is now known as “Freq 90.5,” playing alternative music and doing only occasional sports coverage.
 
In response, Pole wrote the CRTC a rather remarkable letter some 5 pages long, explaining why it broke format and why it never went back. In essence, the defence states that CJMB was managing as an all-sports station, despite the weakness of its signal, carrying Leafs and Jays games, as well as the Peterborough Petes.
 
But then something happened that no one could have predicted – COVID shut down most sporting events for at least a year and there was no way the station could possibly fulfill its promise to cover games that were no longer being played. So in desperation and with no other choice, it turned to playing music to fill the time that would otherwise have been taken up with team coverage of, well, teams coverage.
 
And that, according to Bell, is not what they promised the CRTC. Pole vaults right over that assertion.
 
“Bell Media has completely misrepresented the concept of compliance. “In their view” MBC could have aired more Jim Rome, John Feinstein (who hasn’t been on air since 2014), or more Blue Jays Baseball. However, all those options would in fact put CJMB-FM out of compliance, as none meet the definition of Local Programming. Bell Media’s easy solution is in fact not a solution.”
 
But Bell insists the pandemic problem is all but over, with leagues back in action and yet, the music continues.

CJMB-FM continues to broadcast principally popular music without any consideration for its COLs and the format it committed to operate.  In this regard, the record of this proceeding demonstrates that, in the week of 24 April to 30 April 2022, CJMB devoted 81% of its programming to musical selections (while its COL #4 set the bar at a maximum 25%), and it aired 19% spoken word programming (which falls significantly under the required 50% as per COL #5).”
 
Pole’s rebuttal attempts to explain why they’re now more into musical scores than sports scores, noting the Petes are in financial difficulty and if the team were to fail, the main component of their promised local play-by-play material would disappear for good. And he argues that, by dint of pandemic necessity, the market has proven it can sustain yet another music station. And at 206 watts, it’s not a threat to either Bell’s or Corus’ existing stations in the market.
 
And then there’s this nice little dig:
 
“Some broadcasters instead of looking for positive solutions during the pandemic chose to decimate their local newsrooms and lay off hundreds of people as a solution such as Bell Media. Bell Media even determined that Sports was a problematic format and changed their Vancouver (CFTE) and Hamilton (CKOC) TSN stations to Business News and their Winnipeg (CFRW) and Vancouver (CKST) TSN stations to Comedy…
 
“It is clear that the Community appreciates what MBC is doing in the Peterborough market and recognizing its emphasis on providing relevant programming to the local audience. If Bell Media is not up to providing this level of programming to the Community of Peterborough and is concerned with the potential impact of CJMB FM and its 206 watts, the CRTC has provided an option for them, in the recent Radio Review, to sell their stations to MBC and Corus.”
 
Ouch! For now, he says CJMB continues with the Petes and the Leafs and adds this little nugget as a slapshot at Rogers, which isn’t even part of the dispute: if the Blue Jays return to “radio only” broadcasts vs “the tv audio feed” CJMB would consider once again adding the Blue Jays back to the programming.”
 
Ouch again!
 
And Pole notes the station, under other owners, has endured two bankruptcies. He ends with this rather ominous warning about such a small station in such a small market not being given any latitude to adjust to changes in the radio landscape there:
 
“If the COL relief is not granted, MBC will have no choice but to simply turn the station off as 18 more years of failure is not an option.”
 
So far, the CRTC has not ruled on this dispute. But stayed tuned. This one has far more drama than an overtime playoff game. And it’s not clear who will come out the winner.
 
[url=https://applications.crtc.gc.ca/ListeInterventionList/Default-Defaut.aspx?en=2022-0169-8&dt=i&lang=e&S=C&PA=B&PT=PT1&PST=A Pole’s response]Bell’s full intervention letter[/url]

Pole's response 

 

March 12, 2023 12:08 pm  #2


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

None of MY's justifications or sharp retorts matter if they're actually operating outside of their COLs.

 

March 12, 2023 12:36 pm  #3


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

It was the tone of Pole's letter that attracted my attention. It was at times nasty and at other times, smug. And anytime you can get in an insult at Rogers, which has nothing to do with the case, it's a bonus. 

I think he presented his argument well overall, but whether that will be enough to sway the Commission is another story. Would the CRTC respond to a threat to shut down a radio station if the owners weren't given permission to change? Generally, they try not to let it get to those dire straits, but this is a new regime, so anything can happen. 

     Thread Starter
 

March 12, 2023 12:49 pm  #4


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

I don't think it would come to that.

MY justifies the change really well, but that's not really the point.

What's unclear is the part where MY submitted an emergency application and the CRTC rejected them, but gave them "guidance." So what that guidance was is the missing piece here. Maybe it was "Go ahead, and we'll clean it up at renewal."

 

March 12, 2023 1:04 pm  #5


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

My favourite part of the letter is where he relates that his station is and always has been (and in his prediction, always will be) sixth in a six station town, and given its very low power, is no threat to Bell. So he wonders why they're protesting so much. Anyway, you don't often see such candor in an official letter submitted to a government department. 

     Thread Starter
 

March 12, 2023 1:07 pm  #6


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

Pole will use any opportunity he can to swipe at Bell. It's personal. Much of his stunting in Kingston is just opportunities to swipe and them, too.

 

March 12, 2023 7:14 pm  #7


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

Did the station violate its condition of license?  Yes.
Case closed.

He's getting awfully smug.  It's time for the CRTC to send some denials his way for a while.  Maybe all of his stations should be audited for other noncompliance like Cancon levels. Maybe the commission should issue short renewals due to the blatant wilful noncompliance by this owner.

His "local" radio stations feature out of market voice tracks, networked news and employ virtually no one.  He can swipe at others but he uses the identical bare bones, corner cutting business model in smaller markets than Bell and Rogers so everyone thinks he doing something heroic.  I see the same arrogance as the big guys, just on a smaller scale.

Last edited by Tomas Barlow (March 13, 2023 1:16 am)

 

March 13, 2023 10:08 am  #8


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

Tomas Barlow wrote:

Did the station violate its condition of license?  Yes.
Case closed.

He's getting awfully smug.  It's time for the CRTC to send some denials his way for a while.  Maybe all of his stations should be audited for other noncompliance like Cancon levels. Maybe the commission should issue short renewals due to the blatant wilful noncompliance by this owner.

His "local" radio stations feature out of market voice tracks, networked news and employ virtually no one.  He can swipe at others but he uses the identical bare bones, corner cutting business model in smaller markets than Bell and Rogers so everyone thinks he doing something heroic. I see the same arrogance as the big guys, just on a smaller scale.

Personally, CRTC needs to get out of the format business and worry about what matters.   The fact they are running music vs sports is doing what is need to be done to ensure the financial survival of the station.   The fact you have to apply to switch to a spoken word format or music format for a commercial license is ridiculous.    The CRTC's job shouldn't be protecting another commercial stations business.   It should be to ensure fees are paid/can be paid, Cancon is played (if we are going to keep going with that), legal requirements are met and any technical compliance is adhered to.    If the CRTC comes back demanding they flip to sports full time, they will hand the license back, and the community will in fact lose a voice.  That market is not going to have a line up of people wanting a 206 watt station.     Reality is, the world has changed, and the market has changed.   Decisions had to be made.   Sports on radio across North America has not recovered outside play by play.    Bell knows this and to say other wise is totally a lie.   The bigger issue for me, is how is running TV audio OR pre-recorded comedy with no local hosts on radio providing a local service worthy of taking up a signal?    Bell now has a few of these, some at 50,000 watts.   That to me is a bigger issue.    People in glass houses should not throw stones. 

Last edited by radiokid (March 13, 2023 10:10 am)

 

March 13, 2023 10:14 am  #9


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

Tomas Barlow wrote:

Did the station violate its condition of license?  Yes.
Case closed.

He's getting awfully smug.  It's time for the CRTC to send some denials his way for a while.  Maybe all of his stations should be audited for other noncompliance like Cancon levels. Maybe the commission should issue short renewals due to the blatant wilful noncompliance by this owner.

His "local" radio stations feature out of market voice tracks, networked news and employ virtually no one.  He can swipe at others but he uses the identical bare bones, corner cutting business model in smaller markets than Bell and Rogers so everyone thinks he doing something heroic. I see the same arrogance as the big guys, just on a smaller scale.

Those stations couldn't exist otherwise.
 

 

March 13, 2023 10:26 am  #10


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

radiokid wrote:

Tomas Barlow wrote:

Did the station violate its condition of license?  Yes.
Case closed.

He's getting awfully smug.  It's time for the CRTC to send some denials his way for a while.  Maybe all of his stations should be audited for other noncompliance like Cancon levels. Maybe the commission should issue short renewals due to the blatant wilful noncompliance by this owner.

His "local" radio stations feature out of market voice tracks, networked news and employ virtually no one.  He can swipe at others but he uses the identical bare bones, corner cutting business model in smaller markets than Bell and Rogers so everyone thinks he doing something heroic. I see the same arrogance as the big guys, just on a smaller scale.

Personally, CRTC needs to get out of the format business and worry about what matters.   The fact they are running music vs sports is doing what is need to be done to ensure the financial survival of the station.   The fact you have to apply to switch to a spoken word format or music format for a commercial license is ridiculous.    The CRTC's job shouldn't be protecting another commercial stations business.   It should be to ensure fees are paid/can be paid, Cancon is played (if we are going to keep going with that), legal requirements are met and any technical compliance is adhered to.    If the CRTC comes back demanding they flip to sports full time, they will hand the license back, and the community will in fact lose a voice.  That market is not going to have a line up of people wanting a 206 watt station.     Reality is, the world has changed, and the market has changed.   Decisions had to be made.   Sports on radio across North America has not recovered outside play by play.    Bell knows this and to say other wise is totally a lie.   The bigger issue for me, is how is running TV audio OR pre-recorded comedy with no local hosts on radio providing a local service worthy of taking up a signal?    Bell now has a few of these, some at 50,000 watts.   That to me is a bigger issue.    People in glass houses should not throw stones. 

Absolutely they should be in the business of formats. Otherwise people would sign on as a Christian or community station, and then immediately flip to a category 3 format and try and take on the top competitors in the market potentially weakening several stations.

 

March 13, 2023 2:08 pm  #11


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

I agree with Radiokid. Let the marketplace decide. You can't cut it as a Top 40 station and a flip to Country is your plan. Go for it. Here in Canada, the Country station in town or its Corporate masters will whine to the CRTC that there is not enough advertising revenue in the area to support to stations with the same format. Well, maybe it's time to up your game with a new marketing strategy and force your opponent to change formats instead of having the government do it for you. Can you imagine if the Government told CKEY, CKFH or CFTR they couldn't change formats to compete with CHUM for the Top 40 audience. It forced CHUM to do better and they did eventually sending CKEY  to battle CFRB for the MOR crowd and CKFH to compete with CFGM for the farmers and truckers Country crowd. Through the 70's and mid 80's CHUM and CFTR battled ruthlessly to claim Toronto's top 40 crown with 1050 waving the white flag in June 1986.

 

March 13, 2023 6:20 pm  #12


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

Good for Pole, I hope he wins. F Rogers and Bell both. I refuse to listen to any radio stations under their control. My choices in my area are Max FM 89.1 9 , owned by Bayshore Broadcasting , Max FM 97.7 ,also a Bayshore entity, and for AM,  Corrus's  AM640. The CD players in my old Malibu and F150 work fine and are usually my go to. 

 

March 13, 2023 7:01 pm  #13


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

mic'em wrote:

Good for Pole, I hope he wins. F Rogers and Bell both. I refuse to listen to any radio stations under their control. My choices in my area are Max FM 89.1 9 , owned by Bayshore Broadcasting , Max FM 97.7 ,also a Bayshore entity, and for AM,  Corrus's  AM640. The CD players in my old Malibu and F150 work fine and are usually my go to. 

Did Corus eliminate Q107 Calgary legally? It's now a repeater of QR77. 
Rogers also manages to get away with a Smith Falls licence being a repeater of Ottawa's CityNews 1310.
(Rogers also tried to make 101.1 an Ottawa station as XFM back in the day but it ended quickly)

The big guys can do anything they want, but the second a little guy does something they shouldn't...
 


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

March 14, 2023 12:48 am  #14


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

NONE of them should be doing any of it.  It's past time for consequences.

 

March 14, 2023 12:56 am  #15


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

Not exactly a threat to Bell's business.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
 

March 14, 2023 5:09 am  #16


Re: Bell Vs. MyFM: Could Spoiled Sports Lead To Silent Peterborough Stn.?

Tomas Barlow wrote:

NONE of them should be doing any of it.  It's past time for consequences.

CRTC always punishes the little guy and turns a blind eye to the big guys.
 


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.