Chetwynd broadcaster with some Indigenous content has licence renewed after CRTC ‘admin error’ delay

CHETWYND, B.C. — The nation’s broadcasting licence bureau has given a Chetwynd-based transmitter a new lease of life after renewing its licence this month.

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued a full renewal to the Chetwynd Communications Society (CCS) to expire in 2030, according to an announcement on August 18th.

The CCS operates both radio station Peace FM and television station Chet-TV, according to technical director Ray Semenoff.

The licence includes programming featuring the First Nations Cree language, with some interviews with Elders from local Indigenous communities such as Saulteau First Nations (SFN) and West Moberly First Nations (WMFN).  Local programming will occur daily from 6 a.m. until 12 a.m. 

Local programming on the radio has existed since the mid-1990s, while the TV station came on air in 2000. Additionally, the station has a rebroadcast transmitter in Dawson Creek.

“[Our] programming is focused primarily on local,” said Semenoff. “Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, Tumbler Ridge [and] as far as Prince George.

“Local events and activities get filmed. We do regular stuff on television. We [shoot] the District of Chetwynd council’s monthly meetings and a couple of other locally produced shows. Music festivals that may happen in the area, we will get a camera or two out there and do them.”

However, according to what the CRTC described as an “administrative error,” the CCS’s licence expired in 2020. 

In the interim, Semenoff said the CCS operated on a “temporary dispensation” with the licence pending.

“Right during the onset of Covid, the CRTC lost the application to renew,” said Semenoff. “[There was] no record of it. Nobody can find anything.

“I sent it, and got a reply saying they confirmed they received it. The CRTC is not a fast agency to respond. After waiting months and months and months, we made a query asking, ‘hey, what’s happening with our TV licence?’ They responded, ‘what TV licence?’”.

It took 14 months to begin the process of licence renewal, or from “ground zero” according to Semenoff, with the renewal coming after hearings in March.

Additional programming will feature councils and town halls, community bulletins, music shows, documentaries and a TV bingo show.

Semenoff said adding the Indigenous language programming came with special provisions and an additional CRTC licence.

“When we went to apply, they said, ‘do you broadcast in another language?’ I’d mentioned we broadcast some content in Cree. [We had] to get special CRTC approval for doing that.”

The parameters included having on-hand linguistic staff to translate. While the station does not have paid staff, it does have several volunteers from SFN and WMFN who translate Cree for on-screen subtitles.

“I explained to the CRTC panel we have a few interviews on the air, and some of the interviews were in Cree, and we have translated them to English,” said Semenoff. “They were satisfied with that.”

There are five paid staffers and five volunteers at CCS studios, located at 2, 4612 North Access Road in Chetwynd. 

The current licence will expire in August 2030. More details about CCS can be found on its website.