Re: Public Notice CRTC 2007-18, items 15 & 27 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: Applications 2007-1423-9 & 2007-0363-8
January 21, 2008
Mr. Robert A. Morin
Secretary General
CRTC
Ottawa, K1A 0N2
Dear Mr. Morin:
1. FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting does not seek to appear at the February 26 public hearing.
2. FRIENDS welcomes CBC's applications and notes that an FM signal should offer CBC's listeners improved signal quality, particularly those who reside or work in Vancouver's urban core near and within high-rise buildings, and also those who listen to CBU's signal in automobiles. FRIENDS also supports CBC's intent to offer an improved signal to residents of the Nanaimo area, including some programming originating in Victoria.
3. However, from previous experience in other Canadian cities where CBC has successfully persuaded the Commission to permit a move from AM to FM, most notably in Toronto, FRIENDS believes that CBC has not been sufficiently forthcoming regarding a potential downside to these applications: namely, a degradation or withdrawal of service to listeners at the periphery of the existing CBU AM 690 listening area owing to barriers to line-of-sight transmission of its FM signal(s).
4. As this factor could well be more pronounced in British Columbia's lower mainland, Sunshine Coast and eastern and central Vancouver Island than elsewhere in Canada, owing to topographical features, FRIENDS asks the Commission to ensure that granting CBC's applications will not disenfranchise any significant number of existing listeners, in particular those who reside or work on the periphery of CBU's listening area.
5. FRIENDS therefore recommends that the Commission require the applicant to agree to the following conditions.
6. That the applicant undertake to:
7. Provide an assurance that the reach of CBU's Radio One signal will be maintained independently of any new station which may be contemplated in Abbotsford;
8. Report to the Commission the coordinates and identity of all reception complaints with respect to the new FM signals on each frequency (88.1, 98.7 and 104.1MHz), along with engineering reports thereon;
9. Bring to the Commission supplementary applications for any additional transmitters which may be needed in order to address reception gaps so identified, and/or increase the effective radiated power of the Mount Seymour, Gabriola Island and Nanaimo FM transmitters; and
10. Continue to broadcast CBU on 690 KHz AM until the above conditions are met.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Morrison
Spokesperson
cc: Bev Kirshenblatt, CBC
Secretary General
CRTC
Ottawa, K1A 0N2
Dear Mr. Morin:
1. FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting does not seek to appear at the February 26 public hearing.
2. FRIENDS welcomes CBC's applications and notes that an FM signal should offer CBC's listeners improved signal quality, particularly those who reside or work in Vancouver's urban core near and within high-rise buildings, and also those who listen to CBU's signal in automobiles. FRIENDS also supports CBC's intent to offer an improved signal to residents of the Nanaimo area, including some programming originating in Victoria.
3. However, from previous experience in other Canadian cities where CBC has successfully persuaded the Commission to permit a move from AM to FM, most notably in Toronto, FRIENDS believes that CBC has not been sufficiently forthcoming regarding a potential downside to these applications: namely, a degradation or withdrawal of service to listeners at the periphery of the existing CBU AM 690 listening area owing to barriers to line-of-sight transmission of its FM signal(s).
4. As this factor could well be more pronounced in British Columbia's lower mainland, Sunshine Coast and eastern and central Vancouver Island than elsewhere in Canada, owing to topographical features, FRIENDS asks the Commission to ensure that granting CBC's applications will not disenfranchise any significant number of existing listeners, in particular those who reside or work on the periphery of CBU's listening area.
5. FRIENDS therefore recommends that the Commission require the applicant to agree to the following conditions.
6. That the applicant undertake to:
7. Provide an assurance that the reach of CBU's Radio One signal will be maintained independently of any new station which may be contemplated in Abbotsford;
8. Report to the Commission the coordinates and identity of all reception complaints with respect to the new FM signals on each frequency (88.1, 98.7 and 104.1MHz), along with engineering reports thereon;
9. Bring to the Commission supplementary applications for any additional transmitters which may be needed in order to address reception gaps so identified, and/or increase the effective radiated power of the Mount Seymour, Gabriola Island and Nanaimo FM transmitters; and
10. Continue to broadcast CBU on 690 KHz AM until the above conditions are met.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Morrison
Spokesperson
cc: Bev Kirshenblatt, CBC
