CRTC Kicks Butt

[radiofan]

CRTC acts to ensure radio stations follow the rules

November 13, 2014 – Ottawa-Gatineau – Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today ordered Radio India to not carry on a broadcasting undertaking in Canada, in whole or in part, without a licence. Radio India must also stop having its programming broadcast from an over-the-air transmitter located in the United States whose signal reaches into Canada.

The CRTC called Radio India to appear at a public hearing on October 15, 2014. Among other things, the CRTC found that Radio India produces programming for broadcast on the radio at its studios in Surrey, British Columbia. The company has an agreement with Way Broadcasting Operating LLC, the licensee of KVRI 1600 AM, located in Blaine, Washington, to transmit the programming over the air from a transmitter that reaches into Canada. In addition, the majority of Radio India’s revenue comes from Canadian advertisers.

Under the terms of the CRTC’s mandatory order, Radio India must cease having its programming broadcast over the air on KVRI 1600 AM by 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on November 13, 2014. It is also prohibited from carrying on a broadcasting undertaking at Surrey or anywhere else in Canada, except in compliance with the Broadcasting Act.

The mandatory order does not affect Radio India’s programming that is streamed over the Internet, provided that the company complies with the CRTC’s exemption order for digital media.

The CRTC today also issued mandatory orders to Radio Punjab Ltd. and Sher-E-Punjab Radio Broadcasting Inc. These companies had previously entered into agreements with the CRTC and taken steps to address the CRTC’s concerns regarding their compliance with the Broadcasting Act.

Read more at: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/whatsnew.htm http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=903949

Broadcasting decisions:

2014-587 Radio India (2003) Ltd.
Surrey, British Columbia
The Commission issues a mandatory order that, among other things, prohibits Radio India (2003) Ltd. from producing radio programming in Canada and transmitting it to Canadian audiences using the facilities of radio stations located in the United States.

2014-589 Radio Punjab Ltd.
Surrey, British Columbia
The Commission issues a mandatory order that, among other things, prohibits Radio Punjab Ltd. from producing radio programming in Canada and transmitting it to Canadian audiences using the facilities of radio stations located in the United States.

2014-591 Sher-E-Punjab Radio Broadcasting Inc.
Richmond, British Columbia
The Commission issues a mandatory order that, among other things, prohibits Sher-E-Punjab Radio Broadcasting Inc. from producing radio programming in Canada and transmitting it to Canadian audiences using the facilities of radio stations located in the United States.

Broadcasting orders:

2014-588 Radio India (2003) Ltd.
Surrey, British Columbia
Radio India (2003) Ltd., Baljit Kaur Bains and Maninder Singh Gill are ordered, pursuant to section 12(2) of the Broadcasting Act, to not carry on a broadcasting undertaking at Surrey, British Columbia, or anywhere else in Canada, except in compliance with the Broadcasting Act.

2014-590 Radio Punjab Ltd.
Surrey, British Columbia
Radio Punjab Ltd. and Gurpal S. Garcha are ordered, pursuant to section 12(2) of the Broadcasting Act and consistent with the Consent Agreement, dated 8 October 2014, to not carry on a broadcasting undertaking at Surrey, British Columbia, or anywhere else in Canada, except in compliance with the Broadcasting Act.

2014-592 Sher-E-Punjab Radio Broadcasting Inc.
Richmond, British Columbia
Sher-E-Punjab Radio Broadcasting Inc., Surinder Kaur Badh, Ajit Singh Badh, Jasbir Singh Badh, Gurdial Singh Badh and Sukhvinder Singh Badh are ordered, pursuant to section 12(2) of the Broadcasting Act and consistent with the Consent Agreement, dated 9 October 2014, not to carry on a broadcasting undertaking at Richmond, British Columbia, or anywhere else in Canada, except in compliance with the Broadcasting Act.

[radiofan]

CRTC demands “Pirate Radio” station Radio India shut down at midnight

By PETER O’NEIL, Vancouver Sun November 13, 2014 10:54 AM

OTTAWA - Canada’s regulator of the airwaves has taken perhaps the final step in its recent crackdown on B.C.’s “Pirate Radio” industry, issuing an order Thursday demanding that Radio India shut down operations by midnight Pacific time.

After years of tolerating three Punjabi-language stations broadcasting illegally into the Lower Mainland from U.S.-based transmitters, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said it’s had enough.

“Operating without an authority is one of the most serious offences under the Broadcasting Act,” Tom Pentefountas, the CRTC’s vice-chairman of broadcasting and chairman of the three-commissioner panel that heard arguments from Radio India last month, said in a statement.

“We will not tolerate any business or individual that is broadcasting illegally in Canada.”



Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/CRTC+d ... z3IzAfyDLc

[jon]

Will these guys be the next CRTC target?
http://www.kiss1027.fm/

Jay La Rochelle commented on Dan Sys' Canadian Radio News that the station is licensed to New York State but broadcasts from studios in Kingston, Ontario.

The station, WLYK, is run by Rogers through a local management agreement with owner Border International Broadcasting. According to Wikipedia, "Ownership of Border International Broadcasting is currently divided between four shareholders: U.S. citizens John Clancy and David Mance (34% each), Rogers Broadcasting (20%), and Craig Harris (12%). Harris also resides in the U.S. but currently lists his citizenship as Canadian."

[Dan Sys]

Then there's these guys:
http://947hits.com/
WYUL 94.7 in Chateaugay, New York. Not sure what their studio status is but they list addresses in Montreal, Cornwall, and Malone, New York on their contact page.

[jon]

Then there's these guys:
http://947hits.com/
WYUL 94.7 in Chateaugay, New York. Not sure what their studio status is but they list addresses in Montreal, Cornwall, and Malone, New York on their contact page.

This from an August article:

Not only does the station target Montreal listeners, but advertisers as well, with about 90% of its advertising coming from this region. (It also targets Cornwall in eastern Ontario, in addition to Malone.)

It even has a studio here, where Marty Lamarre contributes Montreal traffic reports and Brad Johns does his evening and weekend shifts. They also heavily promote the station in the West Island and other areas.

ref. - http://blog.fagstein.com/2014/08/13/crt ... -stations/

[jon]

Operator ordered by CRTC to cease Radio India broadcast into B.C.
Marsha Lederman
VANCOUVER — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Nov. 13 2014, 9:41 PM EST
Last updated Thursday, Nov. 13 2014, 9:46 PM EST

The unrepentant managing director of a radio station ordered by the federal broadcast regulator to cease broadcasting into British Columbia says he will appeal.

“We are doing everything by the Canadian Broadcasting Act and we are going to appeal this decision to the federal court,” Maninder Gill said when reached by The Globe and Mail late Thursday.

Earlier, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission issued a stern warning to Radio India, ordering it to stop broadcasting into Canada from the United States by midnight.

“Operating without an authority is one of the most serious offences under the Broadcasting Act,” read a statement by Tom Pentefountas, vice-chairman, broadcasting, who chaired the panel that heard submissions on the matter in October. “We will not tolerate any business or individual that is broadcasting illegally in Canada. The issuance of these mandatory orders demonstrates that we are committed to maintaining the integrity of the [Canadian] broadcasting system. We will not hesitate to act when necessary.”

When asked what the commission might do, a CRTC spokes-person indicated that the order would be registered with the federal court. “And if necessary, the commission will be able to take steps to enforce as it’s an order of the federal court,” said Patricia Valladao, manager of media relations. But she emphasized that the CRTC feels “really confident that they will respect the mandatory order.”

In a crackdown on pirate radio, the CRTC summoned three stations serving the South Asian community in the Surrey and Vancouver area – Radio India, Radio Punjab and Sher-E-Punjab – to the October hearing in Gatineau, Que. The radio stations, which have studios in the Lower Mainland and signals transmitted from Washington State, were to answer concerns that they were broadcasting in Canada without licences.

Before the hearing, the CRTC reached agreements with Sher-E-Punjab and Radio Punjab. While the terms are confidential, both agreed to stop the broadcasts, the commission said.

“We had this conversation with the CRTC,” Radio Punjab owner Gurpal Garcha told The Globe on Thursday. “They said you can’t do it. So we shut down. We’re just on [the] Internet.”

The orders do not affect programming that is streamed over the Internet.

In its notice of hearing, the CRTC wrote that Radio India, which has studios in Surrey, had an agreement with the licensee of KVRI 1600 AM in Blaine, Wash., which transmits its programming. Radio India’s website states: “In the lower mainland of British Columbia … you can enjoy these programs live on KVRI 1600 AM.”

On Thursday, the CRTC also ordered Radio India to provide “proof that it is no longer broadcasting, and will not in the future broadcast” from KVRI 1600 AM. Mr. Gill and Radio India owner Baljit Kaur Bains were further ordered to not have an ownership interest or involvement in any element of a business connected with a radio station operating out of the United States with a signal that reaches into Canada.

The CRTC on Thursday also ordered Radio Punjab and Sher-E-Punjab to divest their relevant interests and provide proof of that to the CRTC, with deadlines. Radio Punjab was also ordered to not have a future “interest or involvement of any nature” in any element of a business connected with a radio station operating out of the United States that has a transmitter that reaches into Canada.

[freqfreak2]

I'm still trying to get my head around the pea under the CRTC's mattress here (to mix metaphors).

Let's say an American station, that happens to be near-border, hires a Canadian firm (maybe for a dollar a year) to produce programming and is compensated by being able to sell the spots. Is that illegal?

How is the situation the CRTC is upset about all that much different from this scenario? Is it that Canadian broadcasters are exerting pressure on the regulator, citing - perhaps - that ad revenue is at stake?

Seems to me, from all the "radio is dying" news I've heard about, that the revenue ship sailed long ago and is now docked at/on alternative media devices.

What's really at play here or am I missing something?

[Eldon-Mr.CFAY]

Greetings,
Don't blame the CRTC at all for coming down hard on these South Asian companies broadcasting one hundred per cent Canadian programming to the Greater Vancouver South Asian market from high power border transmitters in the USA. Those stations were licensed by the FCC to provide local programming for Whatcom County originally not Vancouver, British Columbia! Also the ad revenue and tax thing I completely understand with all the South Asian businesses been located in Canada. To add to this these companies have some pretty shady business practices too compared to other Canadian businesses so I do not blame the CRTC to order them to stop broadcasting over 1550, 1600 and of course the tiny 1110 in Oak Harbor, Washington. By the way 1110 AM in Oak Harbor, Washington which is 70 miles south of the border is only a 500 watt Daytime only station and they started simulcasting KWLE 1340 Anacortes , Washington which is currently not South Asian programming several months ago. Both 1110 AM Oak Harbor and KWLE 1340 (The Whale) in Anacortes were bought by New Age Broadcasting which is South Asian owned but apparently they are letting former non-South Asian owners of KWLE manage and program the two stations now. None of the programming there is South Asian at all so far!

By the way Greater Vancouver as I have mentioned before has two licensed radio stations serving the South Asian population, CJYE 93.1 FM (RED FM) and CJRJ 1200 so there are two stations providing service already to that market. As well the CRTC will be holding a hearing in the very near future for AM stations in Greater Vancouver for 600 khz. etc. and several of these South Asian border broadcasters indicated they would apply for Canadian AM licenses in Greater Vancouver. It does remain to be seen what happens and if the CRTC will license any of them for a new South Asian format station but that is what seems to be happening for the future. If you drive down 120th Street (Scott Road) you will see a ton of South Asian Canadian businesses and many of them advertise or have advertised on these border stations!

Anyway thanks to Radiofan, Jon and others for updating on the situation. It will be interesting to see what happens with all this! One thing for sure, these South Asian border broadcasters have certainly done a number in the CRTC cornflakes bowl!!!

73s All the best from Eldon

[jon]

What's really at play here or am I missing something?

As I explain in this other thread viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19345 Canadian, U.S. and British broadcast regulators have long had to deal with people who wanted to circumvent the regulators' rules by broadcasting back into the country from a foreign radio or TV station. If they allow it to continue, it is grossly unfair to stations in their country that are obeying the rules, especially when those rules cost them big bucks. Which is what is happening in Vancouver. Two South Asian stations licensed by the CRTC to Greater Vancouver had to compete with three Canadian companies broadcasting from Washington State. The latter three had lower costs and broadcast more of what their Vancouver audiences want to hear.

The equivalent would be a Canadian CHR station having to compete with a U.S. border station that also had a decent signal into the same market, but didn't play any CanCon, didn't pay any annual fees to FACTOR and whatever else was required by license, and could air spoken word material listeners wanted to hear that was not allowed in Canada.

[jon]

Dan Sys' Canadian Radio News is reporting that both 1550 and 1600 are still running South Asian language broadcasts as of 40 minutes ago. 1110 switched to a simulcast of 1340 Anacortes more than a month ago.

The CRTC deadline was midnight last night.

As I understand it, that fact alone puts them In Contempt of Federal Court, and is normally considered serious enough to warrant charges even if they both shut down later today with an apology.

[radiofan]

They could possibly be doing "live" broadcasting from the actual studios of 1550 and 1600.

If they are doing that, there is the matter of Green Cards or US work permits.

They could travel to the US and tell Customs they are going for groceries and gas etc. Get caught at that and the penalties can be much stiffer than anything the CRTC dishes out.

A Canadian going to their summer cottage in Birch Bay isn't allowed to do any work on their own property other than basics like cutting the lawn etc. They have to hire Americans to do any renovation type of work.

[rwbrown]

In southern Ontario a similar situation exists with a Mississauga based ethnic broadcaster using WTOR 770 (TOR for Toronto) ref: http://www.birach.com/wtor.html and http://eawaz.com/ are not being very secretive. It is a daytime-only radio station really licensed to Youngstown, New York that airs brokered multicultural programming targeted at the Greater Toronto Area. The station's 13,000-watt directional signal is, aimed almost completely into the province of Ontario.

So, when is the CRTC going to catch up with these pirates?

[jon]

Just looking at Radio India on 1600, here are the exact terms of the Mandatory Orders released by the CRTC yesterday:

1. Accordingly, pursuant to section 12(2) of the Act, the Commission hereby orders Radio India (2003) Ltd., Baljit Kaur Bains and Maninder Singh Gill to not carry on a broadcasting undertaking at Surrey, British Columbia, or anywhere else in Canada, except in compliance with the Act. In particular, Radio India (2003) Ltd. must, by 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on 13 November 2014, cease to have its programming broadcast over the air via a transmitter whose signal reaches into Canada, whether by arrangement or otherwise, without a licence or authority pursuant to an exemption.
   
2. In addition, the Commission orders Radio India (2003) Ltd. to file proof with the Commission that it has terminated its arrangements with Way Broadcasting Operating, LLC, licensee of KVRI 1600 AM by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on 20 November 2014 including proof that it is no longer broadcasting and will not in the future broadcast its programming over the air from KVRI 1600 AM. Such proof might include a letter from Way Broadcasting Operating, LLC confirming that the arrangements have been terminated and that Way Broadcasting Operating, LLC is no longer broadcasting, and will not in the future broadcast on its radio station, the programming of Radio India or programming created or broadcast by Radio India, Baljit Kaur Bains or Maninder Singh Gill or any company or organization that Baljit Kaur Bains or Maninder Singh Gill own or with which they are affiliated.
   
3. Furthermore, the Commission orders Radio India (2003) Ltd, Baljit Kaur Bains and Maninder Singh Gill to not have an ownership interest or involvement of any nature in any element of a business connected with a radio station operating out of the United States that has a transmitter whose signal reaches into Canada, to the extent that such arrangements may be in contravention of the Act.

Live broadcasting from the U.S. is still a violation of these Mandatory Orders. Now that these Orders are in place, everyone involved could move to the U.S. and still be in violation, and both Bains and Gill would not be able to return to Canada without facing legal action.

As for the other examples of cross-border broadcasting, the CRTC will get there, just give it time. The combination of complaints by the two Canadian competitors that hold broadcast licenses in the Vancouver area, and the size, number and longevity of the cross-border players involved in this situation easily made it rise to the top of the CRTC's "Most Wanted List".

[Tape Splicer]

I just checked 1600 and 1550 Khz from my listening post here in Chilliwack and thought I heard "South Asian" programming on those frequencies. I went to 1110 and did not hear anything from here. as of 10:30pm Saturday evening.

I checked online and found these links for the three radio stations ...
KVRI 1600 Audio on the stream
http://www.surfmusic.de/radio-station/k ... 15259.html

KRPI 1550 Audio on the stream
http://www.krpiradio.com/listehttp://wo ... liven-live

KPRA 1110 No audio on stream
http://worldradiomap.com/us-wa/play/krpa_live

I also checked for these stations with the "tunein" app on m y tablet and the only station that came up was KRPE 1550 with South Asian programming and an legal ID at the top of the hour by an english speaking announcer.

[radiofan]

KRPA 1110 has been simulcasting KWLE 1340 from Anacortes ofr the past few weeks. 1550 and 1600 were still running South Asian programming on Friday afternoon.