tranquileye free media papers

What is the future of radio in Canada? According the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), it is grim indeed. Without significantly restructuring of the sector, the CAB says, Canadian radio listeners could be doomed to fewer choices on their radio dial. The solution, according to the CAB, is broad-scale deregulation in areas ranging from Canadian content to ownership.

The National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA) believes that one of the principle causes of commercial radio’s current financial problems is a clear reluctance to innovate and a fear of creativity. Commercial radio has rightly lost listenership over the past several years, not because of the current regulatory environment, but because of its own unwillingness to face the challenges of the future.

The NCRA therefore objects to the general effort by the CAB to cloak an effort to deregulate under the guise of “saving” radio. Since it’s introduction in Canada in the 1920s, commercial radio has gone through significant changes, not the least of which is adapting to fundemental changes in audience behavior. The 1990s, with its plethora of media choices, presents opportunities which should be embraced, not feared.

It should also be clear that the real face of the CAB’s proposed deregualtion is not a healthier, more community- and listener-oriented approach to programming. Rather, the face of deregualtion is in fact that of Howard Stern, the American radio host whose morning show was recently purchased by radio stations in Montreal and Toronto. We urge the Commission to consider the CAB’s proposals with the unmost caution.