Update on The Candian Multicultural Radio

FEATURE

Hartley College Anthem Audio Files:
| Tamil | English |

Click here to visit the PPA Trust Website

You can rest assured that your email address will be kept in the strictest confidence. Also, we will never publicly display your active email address on the HartleyCollege.org, ensuring your personal privacy.

Hartley College Global Website - Beta

Naatha Vinotham - HCPPA UK - 2023

Annual Picnic of HCPPA Canada & USA - 2022

HCPPA Canada & USA Executive Committee for 2022-23

An Appreciation to Mr. V. Eeswaranathan

AGM and Hartley Nite of HCPPA Canada & USA - 2022

Naatha Vinotham - HCPPA UK - 2022

HCPPA UK Website

Global Hartleyites Forum 2021 - HCPPA UK

More>>

Mr. Murugesu Thambiayah

Mrs. Somasuntharam Sakunthaladevi

Mrs. Thambiayah Nagamuthu

Mrs. Atputhamalar Sivasambu

Mr. Ramalingham Vallipuram

More Obituaries >>

	:: Update on The Candian Multicultural Radio

Canadian Multicultural Radio

Apr. 26, 2003: Tamil Group Lands Much-Prized Radio Station Licence

Jul. 19, 2003: Tamil Group Retains Radio Licence

Jul. 12, 2004: CMR 101.3 FM Starts Test Transmission in Toronto

^ Tamil Group Lands Much-Prized Radio Station Licence

By Binoy Thomas
Date: Apr. 26, 2003

Hear! Hear! Toronto's multiethnic communities have claimed a prime position in the radio world, Canadian Multicultural Radio (CMR) has won the much-prized and coveted licence to operate an exclusive FM (101.3) channel. This is the first time in Canada's history that an FM radio station will be totally devoted to serving a city's multi-ethnic communities. The suspense is over for a dozen companies including such seasoned operators like Chin Radio and Infinity Radio now that CRTC, the regulatory body for all broadcast media in Canada has pronounced the winner. The decision became public on April 17.

The people behind Canadian Multicultural Radio, based in Scarborough, have been active in Toronto's large Tamil community for the past several years. They have a 24-hour SCMO radio service and a 24-hour Tamil TV channel on Rogers Digital Network called Tamil Vision. CMR has reason to beam given the tough fight and the relentless campaign mounted by all applicants to convince the CRTC to nod in their direction. But they are in HM (humble mode!), not wanting to gloat, but focus on the triumph as something achieved by Toronto's multicultural communities. Mohan Nadarajah, the President of CMR said, after winning the licence, "Through its decision today, the CRTC has made an important contribution in the reflection of the new reality of Toronto. We look forward to cooperating with all those interested in providing programming to the many underserved communities in Toronto. We would like to thank the over 20,000 individuals and groups, from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds as well as our partners and team for their support." Nadarajah further thanked the "21 MPs, 12MPPs and 17 city councilors and Mayors representing the width and scope of the Greater Toronto Area, for their support of our licence".

Along with CMR, the other applicants issued licences for radio stations in Toronto are La Cooperative Radiophoniqu de Toronto Inc, Sam Lorenzo Latin American Community Centre, and another long-term South Asian favourite Sur Sagar Radio Inc." However, CMR is the only one that will be broadcasting on an FM frequency.

Radio business, particularly for the ethnic communities, is all about music. And when it comes to music, FM makes all the difference. Like an insider told the Voice, "When there is stereo sound available, who would want to listen to mono anymore?"

Nadarajah says, "By its decision, the CRTC greatly expanded the quantity and quality of radio service to Toronto's growing ethnic communities and doing so without sacrificing the current level and breadth of service. We look forward to working with Toronto's new and existing ethnic broadcasters and programmers as we work towards CMR's official launch."

CMR expects to go on air by late fall. But there is a lot that needs to be done before 101.3 is up and running. According to the CMR application a minimum of 22 ethnic groups in Toronto will receive radio service from 101.3FM. Languages to be served by the new station include: Urdu, Tamil, Hindi, Punjabi, Filipino, Farsi, Vietnamese, Somali, Spanish, and Arabic to name only the major ones. Though it serves a number of communities, its viability will depend on how well it is received by the South Asian communities. Nearly 50 per cent of the programming hours are set aside for Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi and Tamil.

S. Sivakumaran, the dynamic Chief Operating Officer of CMR is looking forward to the challenge that has landed on his lap. And happily so. He says that right now everything is fluid. The station will assume its final shape only after extensive consultations with the various communities involved. "We don't want to launch it until all the details are in place," says Sivakumaran. There are both strategic and creative aspects that have to be sorted out. How much music? How much news, when? Where to build the radio station?

A priority for CMR is to identify partners in different communities to make the venture a success. Siva says, "We are very happy that the CRTC made the decision to give the licence to a South Asian community. Now in each of the community that we are committed to serve, we want to identify the best producers available." Though the small print of this collaboration is yet to be worked out, under the CMR umbrella, producers will get variety of options to work with. This inclusion of independent talents is expected to help the communities to stay better informed and of course, be entertained.

Siva says that the station will act as a cultural exchange for various groups. "One of our tasks will be to promote intercultural cohesion."

Neethan, who is Director of Programming at CMR, has divided the cross-cultural programming neatly into three segments: Music, Women's issues, and Youth. Naturally, the cross-cultural programming will be in English. Now that CMR has been given this unique opportunity, the people behind it will be in the public focus. Each step they take will be watched with interest. And frankly, in some quarters, there would be hope that they would falter and fall.

A lot will be at stake for the guys at CMR. No doubt this station is going to be held up against the mirror of public opinion and compared and criticized. The various communities represented within its multicultural spectrum will themselves be challenged and given an opportunity to present their viewpoints to a broader audience. But make no mistake, 101.3 FM is going to be a lot of fun. Now hear this good news - the morning peak hours of 7-10 are devoted to music from the Indian subcontinent! I am looking forward to listening to an AR Rehman or an Alisha Chinai in full stereo sound while crawling along 401 this fall.

Courtesy: The Weekly Voice

^ Tamil Group Retains Radio Licence - Cabinet Rejects Terror Allegations

By Binoy Thomas
Date: Jul. 19, 2003

S.Sivakumaran, the Chief Operating Officer of Canadian Multicultural Radio is ecstatic. "I am over the moon," he told the Voice about the Cabinet decision not to cancel the much-prized CRTC licence that his company had won last April to run a radio station (the first ethnically owned station in Toronto).

The CRTC decision in April to award the licence to the Canadian Multicultural Radio (CMR) was immediately assailed by a large number of people, many of them hopefuls who were sorely disappointed.

There were all sorts of rumours ranging from corruption to terrorism. Since CMR belongs to a Tamil group, there was a serious concern that they had ties to the LTTE, an organization that is banned as a terrorist outfit in the States, but is only on the watch list in Canada. In the past few weeks, there has been a strong demand from the Canadian Alliance to include the Tamil Tigers among the 31 organizations that are banned in Canada.

The CRTC appeal process allows other parties to complain to the Government of Canada, which in turn, can cancel the licence if a Cabinet decision is taken to that effect. The Cabinet met on July 16 and decided to uphold the CRTC decision. In a press release issued by the Department of Canadian Heritage, it was stated: After a careful review of the petitions received by the Governor in Council, the Government of Canada announced today its decision (P.C. 2003-1049) to uphold Decision 2003-115 of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), concerning the awarding of an FM Radio licence to Canadian Multicultural Radio (CMR) in the Greater Toronto Area.

The decision, reached in April of this year, was found not to derogate from the attainment of the policy objectives as stated within subsection 3(1) of the Broadcasting Act."

The decision puts to rest the contentious licence battle for what many believe would be the last licence for an FM station within Toronto. The new station, 101.3 FM, will start its service this fall.

Allegations of terrorist ties were brought to the attention of the CRTC last summer by Sri Lankan Canadians, who wrote letters opposing a radio licence application by Canadian Multicultural Radio.

The letters claimed the numbered company behind the radio bid was tied to the World Tamil Movement (WTM) allegedly a front for the LTTE.

The letters also claimed WTM volunteers had gone door to door in Tamil neighbourhoods in Toronto to intimidate Sri Lankans into supporting the radio licence bid.

Denis Carmel, a CRTC spokesman, told the National Post that of the "thousands and thousands" of responses to the proposed station, only a few raised concerns about terrorism and the station responded to all the allegations in full.

"We felt there was a competitive process and people were being a little too passionate. The language of these letters was vague and there was a lot of interventions, most of them favourable," he was quoted in the Post report.

Several of the 47 petitions that sought a review alleged a link to the Tamil Tigers.

S. Sivakumaran, says that those who complained are supporters of applicants who lost. He said the station was able to respond to every allegation in detail and that was evident in the favourable decision that has been taken by the Cabinet.

Courtesy: The Weekly Voice

"All contents copyright � 1998-2024 HartleyCollege.org and HartleyCollege.com. All rights reserved. The services, tools, and information in HartleyCollege.com and HartleyCollege.org web sites are for the benefit of the Hartley College, her Past Pupils' Assotionation and Hartleyites. Hence, the Hartley College Global Webteam reserves the right to ensure that their use are within the generally accepted principles."