Last Friday, the CRTC announced 27 companies each of whom are vying for 88.1 in Toronto. This is about what we anticipated. We know many of the broadcasters; many are unknown and possibly non-broadcasters. (Here is the list) Please pray for our application and that the CRTC would favour our's.
Our first Advisory meeting is tonight. Please pray for our committee.
November 30, 2011
Our application has been submitted. The 70-plus page application is stuffed with great ideas for specialty shows, Toronto features, development of Canadian music and letters of endorsement. We took our time writing the application as new ideas continued to form and we wanted to include them all. It includes surveys by two research companies, wisdom from two engineer consultants and other ideas from a consultant of mainstream radio. Our Station Manager Scott Jackson feels very confident of the application.
An Advisory Committee has been formed who will meet to help guide the new FM station. These people are Reg Middel (President of Curtash Communications in Brampton and former on-air personality), J. Paul Firminger (Engineer and technical with 40 years broadcasting experience), Eric Spath (Event Coordinator with World Vision), Fazal Karim (CEO of the Christian Herald, Toronto), Hiram Joseph (recording artist and performer for 25 years, Toronto), Drew Brown (CCM recording artist), Herbie Kuhn (announcer with Toronto Raptors and motivational speaker), Sean Wood (Pastor of Toronto area churches) and Scott Jackson (President of LIFE 100.3, former WAY-FM Nashville VP)
We are projecting July 2014 as a possible sign-on date, although it could be up to six months after that.
Please pray for us. There is a lot of competition for the 88.1 frequency.
April 19, 2011
In February, CKLN appealed to the Federal Court to have the CRTC re-examine their status so they would not lose their license due to negligence of the Broadcast Act. On April 15, 2011 the Federal Court of Appeal announced that it will not hear an appeal from CKLN Radio in Toronto for its broadcast licence.
Soon, the CRTC will announce "a call for applications," inviting broadcasters to compete for the vacant 88.1 FM licence.
As mentioned before the delay for an appeal, Trust Communications Ministries (which owns LIFE 100.3) will apply for a Christian format to serve Toronto listeners at 88.1.
We believe we have a great presentation, especially since there is no Christian radio serving Toronto. However, two radio consultants have commented that our application is a long shot. There are favours and political considerations which could negate our application. The good news is that God is bigger than "a long shot" and if we don't apply, we will miss a great opportunity for Kingdom building.
At this time we do not need funding. We need prayer support for wisdom for the application, to be written by LIFE 100.3 President Scott Jackson.
Below is a projected timeline. Any number of variables could change this projection.
APPROXIMATE TIME-LINE
FUNCTION
DETAILS
Before February 28
Appeal by Ryerson
Ryerson can appeal to the CRTC to re-establish their license. If that fails - next step.
On April 15, the appeal was denied.
February 28-June 1
Prepare Eng Brief
Hire an engineer to prepare a technical brief which describes our coverage area and possible interference areas. This is sent to Industry Canada. May - this was completed.
December 1
Submit the Application
Official radio application to the CRTC. This document provides all the detail - start-up costs, 7-year financial forecast, programming ideas, marketing, estimated audience, etc. It must be so thorough and compelling that the CRTC feels our application makes the best use of the airwaves. December 2 this was submitted.
Friday January 13, 2012
Made Public
The CRTC advised the public of the 27 applicants vying for the Toronto frequency.
May/June 2012
Deficiencies
The CRTC will request a written clarification of various part of the application. Ahead of schedule. The first round began February 13.
August/September
Public Interventions
During this 3-week period, we are required to invite the public to comment on our application. Other radio broadcasters will send letters to the CRTC in opposition. Their letters carry the most influence leading to a CRTC decision.
Between November 2012 - February 2013
The Hearing
A hearing is held in Toronto where all applicants are required to present their business plans. With 27 applicants, this could take 3 weeks.
February 2013-July 2013
Wait
The CRTC reviews all the intervention letters for all the applications and prepare a written decision.
After July 2013
CRTC Decision
The CRTC announces their decision. This document explains their reason for choosing the winning application and reasons for denying the others.
July 2013-February 2014
Fundraising & Building the station
The real work begins. Finding property for offices and studios, hiring, raising money for these capital costs. We will move as quickly as possible, pending funding.
March 2014
Testing the signal
Play an announcement, repeatedly, to test the signal strength and coverage and be approved by Industry Canada.
July 2014
Launch
First day of broadcast.
January 31, 2011
Friends, I have some exciting news! Trust Communications Ministries, the charity organization which owns LIFE 100.3 in Barrie, is moving into the expansion mode again.
TCM has been slow to expand. There are many cities in Canada without Christian radio, but keeping our eye on the ball in Barrie and producing, what we hope is a quality product, has been our priority. In our eleven years as an organization we have discussed and prepared four other applications. Two were denied by the Commission (Kitchener and Iqaluit) and we reconsidered our pursuit of two others, feeling that perhaps that these seemingly good opportunities were not meant for us.
For years LIFE listeners living on the southern border of our signal footprint have asked if we would expand into Toronto. It is a common request but we did not see a viable opportunity, until now.
Last Friday, the CRTC revoked the broadcast license of CKLN. Should CKLN fail in their attempt to appeal the Commission's decision, the 88.1 frequency in Toronto will be open for applications. With our proximity to Toronto, with our infrastructure feeling secure and seeing the need for Christian radio, I now feel that this is our time.
Today, I am announcing to you, my friends in Canadian Christian radio, our intention to submit an application for a new station, not a repeater station. I realize there are probably many other broadcasters who may be also interested. It is my hope that by publicly announcing our intention we would not face the awkward situation of attacking the dream of another Kingdom Builder but instead, have the loving support, prayers and encouragement of all our radio friends.
Had another Christian broadcaster announced their intention to apply for a Toronto radio station we would not pursue this opportunity, thinking, "it doesn't matter who applies, as long as the job gets done."
Our strategy is simple: we need all the prayers we can get. The mainstream competition will be more than enough. Hopefully the CRTC will stand by their decision, and in the next year they would favour our application and the Lord would bless this endeavour.
