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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2025-200

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Reference: Part 1 application posted on 29 May 2025

Gatineau, 7 August 2025

North Superior Broadcasting Ltd.
Marathon, Nipigon, and Red Rock, Ontario

Public record: 2025-0038-9

CFNO-FM Marathon and its transmitter CFNO-FM-1 Nipigon/Red Rock – Technical amendments

  1. The Commission has the authority, pursuant to subsection 9(1) of the Broadcasting Act (the Act), to issue licences for the carrying on of broadcasting undertakings and to amend those licences.
  2. Consistent with this authority, the Commission approves the application by North Superior Broadcasting Ltd. (North Superior) to amend the technical parameters of CFNO-FM-1 Nipigon/Red Rock, Ontario, a rebroadcasting transmitter of the English-language radio programming undertaking CFNO-FM Marathon, Ontario. Specifically, North Superior proposed to increase the effective radiated power (ERP) from 200 to 237 watts, to increase the effective height of the antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) from 178.5 to 219.0 metres, to amend the coordinates of the transmitter, and to relocate the transmitter antenna. All other technical parameters will remain unchanged.
  3. The Commission did not receive any interventions in regard to this application.
  4. When a licensee files an application for technical amendments, the Commission requires the licensee to present compelling technical or economic evidence justifying the requested amendments. In this case, North Superior indicated that the proposed amendments are necessary since CFNO-FM-1’s antenna is timeworn, and the communities of Nipigon and Red Rock rely heavily on the station’s services, particularly for news and updates about weather events. The Commission is satisfied that the licensee has demonstrated a technical need for the requested technical amendments.
  5. Pursuant to subsection 22(1) of the Act, this authority will only be effective when the Department of Industry (also known as Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada) notifies the Commission that its technical requirements have been met and that a broadcasting certificate will be issued.
  6. The licensee must implement the technical amendments by no later than 7 August 2027. To request an extension, the licensee must submit a written request to the Commission at least 60 days before that date, using Form 300 available on the Commission’s website.
  7. As set out in section 16 of the Radio Regulations, 1986 (the Regulations), licensees have obligations relating to the broadcast of emergency alert messages received from the National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination System. The implementation of the technical amendments approved in this decision could result in changes to CFNO-FM-1’s authorized contours. The Commission reminds the licensee that continued compliance with section 16 of the Regulations may require that any alert broadcast decoders (e.g., ENDEC) used for the purposes of broadcasting emergency alert messages on CFNO-FM, or on any rebroadcasting transmitters that may appear on the broadcasting licence for that station, be reprogrammed to properly account for the new authorized contours.
  8. This decision is to be appended to the licence.

Secretary General

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