Re: [IRCA] Applications by CKBD-600 and CBU-690 both

[Scott Fybush <scott@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Patrick Martin wrote:
> What about dual citizenship?  I know of Americans that have moved to
> Canada that have both now as the US would not allow them to drop their
> US citizenship. But again, I have never heard of a U.S. or Canadian
> station moving across the border......
And with good reason - it's simply not done, as such. US-licensed 
stations must operate on frequencies allocated to the US by 
international treaty, and must be owned, at least 51%, by US citizens. 
Canadian-licensed stations must operate on frequencies allocated to 
Canada by international treaty. I believe (but cannot say for certain) 
that they must be owned entirely by Canadian citizens.
The closest we've ever come to a station "moving" across the border 
happened in Winnipeg in the seventies. There was an independent US-based 
station, KCND-TV 12, operating from Pembina, ND with a tall tower right 
on the border, aiming its signal at Winnipeg. Then the CRTC opened a 
third TV allocation in Winnipeg, on channel 9. Izzy Asper, a Canadian 
citizen, was granted that channel 9 allotment. In order to reduce the 
amount of competition his new station would face in Winnipeg, Asper 
bought the "non-license assets" of KCND-TV - the programming, the 
equipment, even the tower. The KCND license was returned to the FCC. The 
new Winnipeg channel 9 signal was given the calls CKND, took the same 
cable dial position KCND had used, picked up KCND's old programming, and 
so effectively, to Canadian viewers, KCND "moved" across the border.
But the channel 12 allotment remained in Pembina, and was eventually 
reactivated, a decade or so later, as a relay of Fargo's Fox station.
So how does this apply to 1550 and 1600 in Ferndale and Blaine, 
Washington? The frequencies themselves can't move across the border, nor 
can the current ownership of the Washington stations hold a Canadian 
license.
If a Canadian citizen were to apply for a new station on the vacated 600 
frequency in Vancouver, the CRTC would open a call for competitive 
applications. Here's what would happen next:
The CRTC considers several factors when it evaluates competing 
applications. It looks at the economics of the market - can it support a 
new station at all? It looks at the proposed format - would it duplicate 
programming already available in the market? In border markets like 
Vancouver, it looks at cross-border listenership, and it strongly favors 
proposals that would "repatriate" listeners who currently tune in to 
US-based signals.
So it's not impossible that a consortium of programmers who now operate 
on 1550 and 1600 could apply for, and even be granted, a new license on 
600. But it's also not a slam-dunk, and it wouldn't (and couldn't) stop 
1550 and 1600 from continuing to do what they do, with new programmers. 
And of course there are good reasons to want to program from across the 
border - all sorts of content restrictions that apply to Canadian 
licensees, including requirements for specific numbers of hours in 
specific languages, logging of programs, religious content balance, and 
so on - don't apply if you're operating from the US side.
s
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