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CRTC Licence: Part Three - Low Power TV!

 
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Oct 20, 2004 12:21 am    Post subject: CRTC Licence: Part Three - Low Power TV! Reply with quote

CRTC Licence: Part Three - Low Power TV!


By Maurice Ali, Journalist



My home away from home!


Our application to obtain a broadcasting licence takes twists and turns as more information about the CRTC and it's workings become known. So it was with some trepidation that I rushed through work and drove frantically down to the Canadian Radio And Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to ask some hard questions about our application and what options were available to us. The office for the CRTC in Ontario is located in downtown Toronto in a government office building.


The building where CRTC offices are located.

I arrived at the building and noticed that the security there was not present and I could go up to the sixth floor without the usual scrutiny. Anyway, I met the usual lady who ran the office (a really nice and helpful lady who was from my home town, by-the-way.....). I spent the next half hour asking questions relating to when, where, and what our chances would be to get a broadcasting licence in Ontario.


The Actual Office


We will most definitely be making a strong application for a broadcasting licence - but what kind of licence? There is still the chance of going for the high power radio licence in North Bay. However, more and more, I feel that applying for this area may adversely affect the present applicant's ability to get on with the station. It really depends on who the original applicant is and if they are small and well intentioned; then we may pass on this and not delay the proceedings by as much as one year (because of our application). We are not assholes here at FOF!

What we may do is to apply for a low-power licence in the Toronto area. It appears from our appropriation of funds, that our organization is committed to audio visual work at the present moment as we have spent five hundred percent more in this medium than in other areas. Therefore, it was with much excitement that I found out about the approval of the first low-power TV licence in Quebec issued last year. The station operates a few hours every day providing community access TV for the people in the area. Having said that, I must note that a series of applications were made by an Ontario individual who broadcasts by satellite to try to get a similar application, but to no avail. I feel we may stand a better chance than this individual since we are requesting the application first before broadcasting, and using a philosophical argument as the basis of the application in addition to the monetary and technical aspects of the application.

I must note that even if we are approved for the application, that means a call for competing applications and hearings. As you can imagine, we will be hard pressed to compete with the many organizations that will enter the competition at that point. However, it is the mandate of this organization to promote free speech and low-power TV is a big move in that direction. Opening up this market in English speaking Canada will give the common man in Ontario an opportunity to express themselves without tacit approval from the few large broadcasting corporations in the Ontario area. Our quest and application to open up this type of venue would give us the kind of notoriety we need as serious players in our mandate as a free speech advocacy group committed to allowing "the mass media to the masses". However, our primary objective at FOF; is to get the application approved as we really do want to make a low-power TV station work!

More on this as the situation unfolds.




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