CANADIAN RADIO NEWS –Jon Pearkins
jon@pearkins.com
On November 28th, the CRTC released a Broadcast Decision revoking the license of CIWW-1310, as requested by its owner, Rogers. To date, however, there has been no corresponding Broadcast Decision(s)
revoking the licenses of the Bell AM stations that went off the air in June. The Bell situation is more complex, as it also involves three Ontario AM stations that Bell hopes to sell; the CRTC has announced a Hearing in February 2024 to consider that sale. As mentioned below, the shared Bell-owned CKST-1040/CFTE-1410 transmitter site in Vancouver is still standing, in stark contrast to the CFRN-1260 Edmonton transmitter site, which has already been cleared, presumably for sale to a developer of residential or retail construction similar to what already exists on the land around it, all of which is just inside Edmonton City Limits.
The future of the CKST/CFTE transmitter site offers a number of possibilities. Bell could still find a buyer for the two stations. They could also follow Jim Pattison’s example of renting out the site to one or more stations that are looking for a new transmitter site; Pattison kept the former CJOR-600 site for more than a decade before CISL-650 began renting it. There are likely several current AM stations with aging transmitter infrastructure that might find it better to move to the relatively new CKST/CFTE site than to rebuild their current site. The last and most unlikely possibility is the demolition of the transmitter site, mainly because current zoning severely restricts use of the land for other purposes, making an
interested buyer hard to find.
Yet another half year extension of CHQR’s license, implying that the CRTC has again postponed a decision on CHQR’s current FM simulcasting, would seem to eliminate any possibility of owner Corus simulcasting
any of its other News/Talk AM stations until that CRTC decision is made.
All times listed are Eastern Standard Time (EST). {UT -5}
610 BC Kamloops CHNL Stingray-owned NL Radio is the only non-Corus-owned station running “The Shift”. CHNL has been airing it from 0100-0800 daily, most of it Live, with Shawn Hewitt as the host,
except Saturdays with Jawn Jang. There will be no more Live shows, but re-runs are expected to be aired for some period of time, which may vary among stations currently airing it.
630 AB Edmonton CHED Now airing re-runs of The Shift from 0100-0700 weekdays, ending at 0800 on weekends. There is speculation that each local Corus station will continue airing re-runs until they decide how best to use the time period; even national host Shawn Hewitt is saying that there is no hint of a new national program to take his show’s place.
640 ON Richmond Hill CFIQ Now airing re-runs of The Shift overnights.
680 MB Winnipeg CJOB Now airing re-runs of The Shift overnights.
750 SK Melfort CKJH A DXer in the US Midwest with an AM Stereo-capable DX receiver reports this week that he is getting strong signals from the station, but they never decode into Stereo. No word from the
station as to whether this is a temporary issue or a technical issue that they cannot afford to fix.
770 AB Calgary CHQR A CRTC decision on the fate of CHQR’s unauthorized FM simulcasting, and related issues, has again been delayed, with the short-term “Administrative renewal” of the license of “CFGQ-FM
Calgary, and its transmitters CFGQ-FM-2 Banff and CHQR Calgary” until June 30 2024. Now airing re-runs of The Shift overnights.
900 ON Hamilton CHML Now airing re-runs of The Shift overnights.
980 ON London CFPL Now airing re-runs of The Shift overnights.
1040 BC Vancouver CKST All towers and transmitter shacks are still standing despite the station being off the air since June. A reporter on December 2nd also noted that full daytime strobe and nighttime red tower lighting were fully functional on all the towers.
1310 ON Ottawa CIWW The CRTC released a Broadcast Decision on November 28th, revoking the license of the station. Former owner Rogers requested the “revocation” effective October 27th, in a three-page
letter that looks a lot like a polite version of the kinds of sharp criticism addressed to the CRTC by the late Ted Rogers Jr during CRTC Hearings. The letter clearly states that the CRTC is wholly to blame for CIWW going off the air due to its “outdated radio regulations that no longer support AM stations like CIWW” and “its August 22nd announcement regarding its moratorium relating to radio undertakings”.
1410 BC Vancouver CFTE All towers and transmitter shacks are still standing despite the station being off the air since June. The transmitter site and some of the towers are shared with CKST-1040.
Canadian Radio News (CRN) posts on https://radiowest.ca by Dan Sys provide much of the information for this column, with additional tips from Broadcast Dialogue.
IRCA DX Monitor Dec 9 published Dec 4 via WOR iog (2023-12-05)