MONTREAL — A year after it proposed to kill TSN Radio 690 by converting it into a French-language radio station, owner Bell Media is drumming up public support to save it.
As part of its application to acquire Astral Media, which includes CJAD, Virgin Radio and CHOM, Bell is asking the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for an exception to its policy that limits the number of radio stations in one market that can be owned by the same company.
It also set up a website, savetsn690.ca, to encourage the station’s listeners to write to the commission in support of that request.
In its last application to buy Astral, which was rejected by the commission in October, Bell did not request an exception, deciding that one would probably not be granted. Instead, it proposed to convert the station into a French-language one, which would not violate the common ownership policy because neither Bell nor Astral have French-language AM stations in Montreal. (Astral owns NRJ and Rouge FM in Montreal, as well as Boom FM stations in various regions.)
The proposal to turn TSN Radio into RDS Radio was met with overwhelming opposition by TSN listeners. More than 700 individuals filed comments, the vast majority opposed to the proposal. Three even showed up at the hearing to plead their cases in person.
“It is evident from these interventions that consumers see TSN Radio as a crucial part of the cultural fabric of English-speaking Montréal,” Bell writes in its new application, which was published Wednesday by the commission.
If an exception is granted, Bell would own four of the five English-language commercial radio stations in Montreal, representing a 60 per cent share of listening hours (67 per cent when you exclude CBC). The Beat, owned by Cogeco Diffusion, would be the only commercial competitor, though a sixth English-language commercial station owned by Tietolman-Tétrault-Pancholy Media is set to launch this year at 600 AM.
Cogeco vice-president of public affairs René Guimond said the company had no comment at this time about Bell’s request for an exception. TTP Media co-owned Paul Tietolman said his group also had no comment.
Though Cogeco was a vocal opponent to Bell’s first request to buy Astral Media, citing competition concerns, Bell’s request for an exception in Montreal mirrors one that Cogeco requested when it purchased Corus Entertainment’s Quebec radio assets in 2010. The CRTC exceptionally allowed Cogeco to keep three French-language FM stations in Montreal (CKOI, Rythme FM and 98.5) so that the latter could act as a flagship station for a new radio news network called Cogeco Nouvelles. Bell said its request for an exception for TSN 690 was for similar reasons.
Bell said without the exception, it would be forced to sell or shut down TSN 690, and a sale would not come with broadcast rights to Canadiens games nor any guarantee that the new owner would commit to keeping the money-losing all-sports format. Neither of these options, Bell said, would satisfy TSN’s listeners.
In addition to the intangible benefit of keeping the station alive and committing to its current format for seven more years, Bell also proposed to give $105,000 to Concordia University for sports journalism scholarships and $140,000 to support amateur sports in Montreal if it is allowed to keep TSN 690, each donation spread over seven years.
Asked by the commission why Bell would not consider selling one of the other Astral stations instead, Bell said the three “are operated as a cluster” and share resources including news and traffic. “We are, therefore, not prepared to divest CJAD, CJFM-FM (Virgin), or CHOM-FM.”
The CRTC will hold a public hearing in Montreal beginning May 6 to discuss the application by Bell to buy Astral Media, including the exception for TSN. Comments from the public are being accepted until April 5. Click here to read the application and comment on it.
sfaguy@montrealgazette.com