CJMB-FM in Peterborough always was a bit of an anomaly in the market – first as a religious station and then as an all-sports format, unusual in such a small city.
 
But now the CRTC has agreed to lift some of the conditions of licence the station said was hampering it from becoming profitable and that could mean a big change coming on air in the near future.
 
It likely means the end of the all-sports format, tough enough to maintain in a larger market. According to the owners, an already weak signal hampered its ability to attract an audience. And then when COVID-19 shut down most of the major sports leagues, it took another huge hit. So My Broadcasting asked the CRTC to get rid of its COL that limited it to only 25% of music allowed in a broadcast day and 50% of spoken word.
 
Despite an intervention from Bell, which owns several music stations in Peterborough, the Commission agreed to the changes, citing the weaker signal as no threat to the bigger companies and the fact CJMB might wind up in financial distress if the restrictions weren’t removed.
 
The station says it considered an all talk format, which was too expensive, broadcasting all CBS Sports, which wasn’t allowed in the licence, or shutting the place down altogether.
 
So what’s next for one of the last place stations in a six station town? What could be a very weird combination of the old and the new.
 
“Approval of the proposed amendment would permit the licensee to replace CJMB-FM’s current talk/sports format with a classic alternative music/sports/talk hybrid format.”
 
In the end, the CRTC bought what My Broadcasting was selling and listeners in the area will soon have another music alternative to the existing ones there.
 
"The Commission considers that the applicant has demonstrated an economic need for the amendment, that the amendment will not have an undue negative impact on other stations in the market, and that approval would not undermine the integrity of the Commission’s licensing process. Either approval or denial of the application has the potential to reduce the diversity of radio programming available in the Peterborough market."
 
CRTC Decision