Squamish won't be getting a proposed new commercial FM radio station after an application put forth by Matthew McBride was denied by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on Friday (Jan. 20).
McBride, who has radio stations in several other small markets, proposed broadcasting 126 hours of local programming each week with a minimum of nine hours of spoken word programming. The station was to offer a rock music format aimed at listeners between the ages of 25 to 54.
The application, which was received by the CRTC in January 2009, received two interventions in opposition. Officials with Westwave Broadcasting Inc. and Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. voiced their concerns about the station's potential effect on the market.
Westwave, which is based in Sechelt, expressed concerns over the Squamish market's ability to sustain a new FM station, the applicant's ability to reach projected revenues and the applicant's minimal capital and operational cost projections.
Rogers, which owns existing station Mountain FM, argued that Squamish cannot support a stand-alone service and that the region continues to experience the effects of an uncertain economy.
McBride, who also owns stations in Pemberton, Tofino, Ucluelet and a yet-to-be-launched station in Port Moody, argued that the station in Squamish would not be a stand alone, but would work with his existing stations. He added that all voices would be locally sourced and not voice tracked from outside the market. McBride also said that Mountain FM has seen a slight increase in its revenues between 2001 and 2006, which indicates that Squamish is a growing market.
The CRTC reviewed the financial performance of Mountain FM in recent years and saw merit in Rogers' arguments against allowing McBride's station into the market. The commission ruled that the combined impact of a new station potentially launching in Whistler later this year and McBride's proposal could have a significant adverse effect on Mountain FM.
Check the Jan. 27 print edition of The Chief for more on this developing story.
