CFAI-FM

On February 15, La Coopérative des Montagnes Limitée – Radio Communautaire was given approval to operate French-language FM community stations at Edmundston (Type B), Grand Falls (Type A) and Saint-Quentin/Kedgwick (Type A) – serving the Madawaska, Haut-Victoria and Restigouche-Ouest areas of northwestern New Brunswick in which the population was predominantly Francophone. The licences would expire August 31, 1991.

The Grand Falls station would operate on 105.1 MHz with an ERP of 2,900 watts. The applicant was asked to seek alternate frequencies for Edmundston (proposed 92.7 MHz with 4,100 watts) and for Saint-Quentin/Kedgwick (proposed 95.3 MHz with 1,215 watts).

The applicant proposed to broadcast a total of 122 hours per week on each station, including 16 hours to be devoted exclusively to each station’s individual listenership. In addition, each station would contribute programming to the other two stations for a total weekly local production of 69 hours 20 minutes per week at Edmundston, 47 hours at Grand Falls, and 32 hours 40 minutes at Saint-Quentin.

On August 21, the CRTC approved the application by La Coopérative des Montagnes Ltée to utilize the 101.1 MHz frequency with an ERP of 600 watts at Edmundston and the 90.1 MHz frequency at Saint-Quentin.

On April 2, CFAI-FM and its retransmitters signed on the air.

On May 20, La Radio Communautaire des Hauts Plateaux Incorporée was authorized to acquire CFAI-FM-2 Kedgwick/Saint-Quentin from La Coopérative des Montagnes Limitée. The new owner proposed to increase local programming from 32 hours 40 minutes to 62 hours per broadcast week. In addition to this local program production, the station would broadcast 58 hours of programming originating from CFAI-FM Edmundston and CFAI-FM-1 Grand-Sault. 

Under the new owners, CFAI-FM-2 became known as CFJU-FM.

On the same date, the CRTC renewed the licence of CFAI-FM Edmundston to August 31, 1996. The term would enable the Commission to assess at an early date the licensee’s compliance to the Radio Regulations, 1986 and the FM policy. The Commission requested the station’s logger tapes of the programming broadcast during the week of 3-9 November 1991. The licensee subsequently informed the Commission that it was unable to submit a number of those tapes and the Commission found that other tapes were incomplete and at times unintelligible. There were also concerns over the amount of French-language music played on the station. The Commission approved the proposal to increase its production of local programming from 69 hours 20 minutes to 94 hours per broadcast week. However, it was a condition of licence that the licensee not reduce this proposed level of local program production by more than 20%. The licensee intended to retain its existing programming sources – programming would be obtained from the Edmundston studios, from CFAI-FM-1 Grand-Sault and from CFAI-FM-2 Kedgwick/Saint-Quentin, all on a part-time basis.

On the same date, the CRTC renewed the licence of CFAI-FM-1 Grand-Sault to August 31, 1996. This term would enable the Commission to assess at an early date the station’s ability to honour its obligations, particularly with regard to local programming, given its financial difficulties. In the area of local programming, it was broadcasting only 18 hours a week rather than the 47 hours to which it had committed. CFAI-FM-1 was operated simultaneously with CFAI-FM Edmundston whose licence was renewed for a three-year term this same date. The Commission approved the licensee’s request to reduce the level of local programming from 47 hours to 26 hours per broadcast week. However, it was a condition of licence that the licensee not reduce this level of local program production by more than 20%. The licensee intended to retain its existing programming sources – programming would be obtained from the studios at Grand-Sault, from CFAI-FM Edmundston and from CFAI-FM-2 Kedgwick/Saint-Quentin, all on a part-time basis.

In view of the approval of the transfer of ownership of CFAI-FM-2, the Commission deleted the condition of licence relating to the simultaneous operation of stations CFAI-FM Edmundston, CFAI-FM-1 Grand-Sault, and CFAI-FM-2 Kedgwick/Saint-Quentin by La Coopérative des Montagnes Limitée, and replaced it with the following condition: It is a condition of licence that the licensee operate CFAI-FM Edmundston and CFAI-FM-1 Grand-Sault simultaneously during the new licence term. The Commission approved the applicant’s request to delete the existing condition of licence limiting advertising to a maximum of 20% of the station’s total broadcasting time. However, it was a condition of licence that the licensee not solicit advertising in the province of Quebec.

On November 7, the CRTC gave CFAI-FM a short-term renewal to August 31, 1998 as the Commission had a number of concerns with the station’s performance. The licence for CFAI-FM-1 was renewed to August 31, 2000.

On June 26, CFAI-FM received a short-term licence renewal until August 31, 2023. Issues of non-compliance were cited as the reason.