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Could The CRTC Pull This "Station's" Licence?
This is by no means a local story, but it is a pretty unusual one. The CRTC has called a company called Gill Broadcasting to a November hearing to see if it can continue to operate CKYG-FM in Winnipeg. The station is supposed to offer only tourist information for visitors, like weather, promotions of town attractions and even traffic. They are not, by any means, licenced to operate like an actual radio station.
But a complaint from competitor Dufferin Communications alleges they've been carrying on as a real broadcaster despite those restrictions, called The Tourist Information Exemption Order, and now the Commission is probing whether that's true. If they find they're violating the conditions of their licence, they could be ordered off the air entirely, an edict you rarely see.
"...it appears that Gill is operating its tourist information station in non-compliance with the Exemption Order. In particular, it appears that Gill is in non-compliance with the conditions of exemption set out in paragraphs 4 and 7 of the Exemption Order, which relate to the nature of the programming broadcast.
"Given that Gill does not hold a broadcasting licence, it appears that Gill is carrying on a broadcasting undertaking in whole or in part in Canada without a licence and in non-compliance with the Exemption Order."
The owner and station brass have been ordered to the hearing to try and explain themselves and could be told to either adhere to the regulations and change their programming - or lose the ability to be on the air altogether.
There are no current tourist information stations in the GTHA. (I believe they turned the former CJRN into one for Niagara Falls, but it's long gone off the air.) I've often wondered who, if anyone, ever listens to these things beyond the occasional DXer and how they make enough money to keep themselves going.
CRTC Notice Of Hearing Vs. CKYG-FM
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Re: Could The CRTC Pull This "Station's" Licence?
Worth noting, by the way, that Gill Broadcasting applied for a commercial broadcasting licence in Winnipeg in 2021 to turn CKYG-FM into an ethnic commercial station. But the Commission found there wasn't room for another entrant in the market.
They were also denied a similar licence in 2015 for much the same reason.
It would appear that they allegedly could not wait for that idea to be reversed. and may have tried to pursue their goals some other way. The hearing will determine if that happened and what any penalty might be.
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Thread Starter- Saul
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Re: Could The CRTC Pull This "Station's" Licence?
There's one in the Muskokas on 98.3. It often makes it to my DX site in the Kawarthas. I'm not entirely convinced the programming is purely tourism related but I might be splitting hairs and would have to give a serious listen when it's strong enough.
- darcyh
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Re: Could The CRTC Pull This "Station's" Licence?
Didn't something like this occur to a Fort Erie AM station?
- Dave The OTA guy
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Re: Could The CRTC Pull This "Station's" Licence?
Back in 2002 or 2003 CKEY 101.1(Yes, that's right, CKEY-FM) in Niagara Falls was known as "The River". 105.1 CFLZ was a tourist info station with their transmitter atop the Skylon tower near The Falls, and CJRN 710 was another radio station owned by the same company at the time. They wanted to move the tourist info station to 710 and move "The River" to 105.1. I can't remember why they wanted to do this but for a week "River" programming was on 710 before moving to 105.1 It was some clever maneuver to skirt the CRTC rules, I believe.
710 became the tourist information station before ultimately going off the air for good.
After many name changes and call sign changes, 101.1 had gone silent for a period of time, they're back on the air and 105.1 CJED (a call sign associated with their "Ed FM" days) is once again "The River." Different format from years before.