This Montreal Gazette article fills in a lot of the gaps. Some of it has been posted in other threads, but the "News to Me" item was that the CRTC left the door open for an English language clone of Paul Tietolman's (approved today) French "100% local New-Talk Format". With no requirement that it be on AM.
Two new AM radio stations approved for MontrealBy Steve Faguy, The Gazette
November 21, 2011 3:49 PM
Montrealers are soon going to hear two new high-power AM radio stations, including a French-language news-talk station that's going to go up against 98.5FM and a frequency change for TSN Radio 990.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announced Monday two decisions on a total of nine applications for AM frequencies in in the Montreal area, five of which were for two clear-channel frequencies that have been unused since Info 690 and 940 Hits were shut down in January 2010.
The CRTC gave 940 AM to 7954689 Canada Inc., a group headed by Montreal businessmen Paul Tietolman, Nicolas Tétrault and Rajiv Pancholy. The station will be used for a French news-talk format that promises 100 per cent local programming and a budget that climbs to $10 million a year. It would compete directly with the 98.5FM (CHMP), news-talk and sports station owned by Cogeco Diffusion Inc. The group had also applied for a similar station in English to compete against Astral Media's CJAD, but the commission denied that application because 690 and 940 were taken and the group would not accept 990 as the station's frequency.
"If Tietolman wishes to pursue its proposal by using an alternative frequency, it may submit a new application to the commission, which will then examine the new application on its own merits," the commission wrote in its decision.
The other clear channel, 690 AM, was given to TSN Radio 990 (CKGM), which had applied for a frequency change to improve its signal. At 990, the station is required to change its signal at night to avoid interfering with CBC stations on the same frequency in Winnipeg and Corner Brook, N.L. TSN Radio owner Bell Media submitted dozens of complaints from listeners and advertisers about the poor signal at night, particularly in the West Island, when Canadiens games are on.
With 990 freed up, the CRTC awarded that frequency to Dufferin Communications Inc., which will setup a French-language music and talk station for Montreal's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community called Radio Fierté. Dufferin's parent Evanov Communications Inc. owns 13 radio stations, but this will be their first one in Quebec.
Evanov vice-president Carmela Laurignano told The Gazette the group is "extremely, extremely happy" to have its application approved and looks forward to bringing a first-of-its-kind station to Quebec. The group operates a similar LGBT station, Proud FM, in English on a low-power FM frequency in Toronto.
The CRTC also denied an application from Cogeco Diffusion for an English-language all-traffic station, saying it was "not satisfied that the proposed service would represent the best use of a high-power AM frequency in Montreal."
The station would have acted as a sister station for Radio Circulation 730, which launched in September and replaced CKAC Sports. The two would have been funded mainly through an agreement with the Quebec Transport Ministry that would give each station $1.5 million a year in exchange for advertising time. The English station was already being advertised by the government as coming soon and Cogeco had sought applicants for jobs as traffic announcers.
As with Tietolman-Tétrault-Pancholy, the CRTC said Cogeco could re-apply for another frequency.
The decisions require the three approved applications to be operating within two years, but each has said it would like to be on the air by next fall.
In a separate decision also issued Monday, the CRTC denied four applications for low-power AM radio stations in Montreal, three with multilingual ethnic programming and one for a French-language religious station. The CRTC ruled the Montreal market could not handle the additional stations, which would compete with five existing ethnic stations and religious station Radio Ville-Marie (CIRA-FM 91.3).
The denied applications were from Radio Humsafar Inc. and Ontario businessman Neeti P. Ray for stations mainly targeting the South Asian community, La Méga Radio inc. for a station mainly targeting the Latin American community, and Gospel Media Communications for the proposed religious station.
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http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/rad ... story.html