Here is the rationale provided by Harvard:
Harvard Broadcasting has made numerous attempts to make CKEA-FM a successful station since it first went to air in 2010 with a variety of formats that could operate under the current conditions of license.
Launching as a Triple A (AAA) format, we were confident that the conditions of license would fit within the traditional boundaries of the format. It soon became apparent that the appetite for AAA in Edmonton just wasn’t there. More notably the music that made the format unique during the time of the application process had become more mainstream and was already being played in the market by other operators before our launch making it even more difficult to allow our newly launched station to mark its territory as something truly new and unheard in Edmonton.
Shortly after the launch of CKEA-FM, the CRTC in Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2010-640 relieved CHMC-FM of their Category 3 (Smooth Jazz) specialty licence, leaving CKEA-FM as the only commercial FM station with Category 3 Condition of Licence obligations.
Once a decision was made to attempt to fill another hole in the Edmonton market, CKEA was limited to the formats it could consider due to the Category 3 Condition of Licence. Regardless, we found an opportunity after a series of changes in the market that left Adult Contemporary fans underserved. Therefore, the choice was made to change formats and build the best AC station we could while meeting the conditions of our existing licence. Over time, this too proved to be difficult as the format’s popularity drifted more and more towards the Pop genre making it near impossible to continue delivering a consistent sounding AC station. The ratings reflected this as the station was still anchored at the bottom of the market. It was even more evident in the hours where we focused more heavily on the Category 3 music (Jazz & Blues) showing that the AC audience just didn't buy into this style of music as part of the AC brand. This made us vulnerable in the market, and it's wasn't very long before a station with no restrictions on their licence moved into the format making a more consistent sounding AC than we could offer and the audience soon migrated to them.
Because of this move to AC by a competitor last year, it presented another opportunity opening the door for CKEA-FM to try Classic Hits. While we have seen some growth in the hours in which the Category 3 is not required, the hours in which Category 3 does reside are not nearly as strong. Listeners to the station do not understand this as a condition of licence but rather poor programming choices, and change to other options in the market. This causes a dramatic effect on our overall share in the market place once again leaving us in the bottom of market ratings of FM commercial stations in Edmonton.
Harvard would like the Commission to recognize that CKEA-FM has met its Category 3 obligations through its first licence renewal despite significant losses.
Harvard believes that approval of the request to amend the broadcasting licence is consistent with recent CRTC decisions and would help ensure competitive parity in Edmonton putting an end to the disadvantage CKEA-FM has operated under.