THE HIT POLICY

Greg Diamond – ByrnesMedia

Once again the CRTC has turned over another stone that has been left sitting for far too long. This time it’s the hit regulations on FM. I was speaking with a colleague recently and when I informed him of this, his reaction was “I don’t even remember what that is anymore.” He’s not alone. Not many programmers have had a need to pay attention to their hit level in the past decade and frankly, the whole thing is reminiscent of a hitching-post law that’s antiquated, but yet still on the books. Nevertheless, the policy as it now exists, states:

1. English-language commercial FM stations must ensure that less than 50% of all musical selections aired during each broadcast week are hits. For English-language campus stations, the level of hits aired during each broadcast week must not exceed 10% of all musical selections in the case of community-based campus stations, and 30% in the case of instructional stations.

 

2. For English-language commercial FM radio stations other than those serving Montréal and Gatineau-Ottawa, a hit is defined as any musical selection that, up to and including 31 December 1980, reached one of the Top 40 positions in the charts used by the Commission to determine hits.

 

3. For English-language commercial FM radio stations in Montréal and Gatineau-Ottawa, as well as for campus stations, a hit is defined as any musical selection that, at any time, has reached one of the Top 40 positions in the charts used by the Commission to determine hits.

 

4. For the latter group of stations, the latest charts used to determine hits are those contained in publications dated up to and including two Saturdays before the date of broadcast. Canadian selections that enter the Top 40 are considered to be non-hits for one year from the date that they first enter the Top 40. For all stations, selections performed and aired live, or contained in a live performance recorded primarily for broadcast, are not considered as hits.

It’s little wonder that those who aren’t programming Oldies or working in Montreal and Ottawa/Hull allowed this to slip from memory.

The Commission is asking for input (by March 4th) on the following issues:

1. Whether protecting Oldies on AM still makes sense.

 

2. Should Oldies be allowed to migrate to FM, since it would fly in the face of the Commission’s desire for increased Emerging Artist exposure?

 

3. Should the Oldies format remain at 30% CanCon if on FM?

 

4. Does the Montreal and Ottawa-Gatineau policy aid in “linguistic duality” and if so, should there be adjustments anyway?

 

5. Is the current definition of a hit still relevant?

 

6. Are there other charts that should be used to designate hits?

Let’s examine each of these points.

Oldies on AM

The answer whether this is still worth pursuing is simple – no. I say that not from a desire to see AM Oldies decline further, but rather to see it become viable on FM, where increasingly we see people applying for licenses with formats that are becoming more and more niche-oriented and in many cases just plain vague and confusing. Oldies would make for a much more stable and encompassing format with better revenue opportunities were it allowed to flourish on FM – which it would.

Emerging Artists

Sometimes you just can’t have your cake and eat it too. The CRTC obviously takes its cultural mandate seriously, but this needs to be weighed against their stated desire to forge a more market-driven course for the broadcasting industry coupled with a responsibility to provide consumers with reasonable amounts of choice. By not allowing a major format on FM because, by definition, it does not air Emerging Artists is to allow the former to unfairly overshadow the latter. If Oldies are prevented from being aired on FM for this reason, then we need to also look at the Classic Rockers, the Gold-Based AC’s, etc.

CanCon Levels

It’s only fair that Oldies be held to the same compliance levels as other commercial FM’s.

Montreal/Ottawa-Gatineau

With the exception of primarily CHR’s, this is already a non-issue for many stations in these markets since their formats are those where hit-content doesn’t matter much (just like elsewhere in the country), but just the same, you would be hard-pressed to convince an owner of a Francophone station that eliminating hits on English stations would help his business. Interestingly, if you take Montreal as an example, both Corus and Astral have multiple stations in both languages, so in their case an elimination of hits would give them total freedom to decide how best to position their stations to maximize revenue, while minimizing theft from Peter to Paul. This Commission has surprised before and it would be nice to see some relief in these markets, but substantive change at this time seems far less likely than in the rest of the country.

Changes to the Hit Definition

With the exception of campus stations and the two markets mentioned above, just get rid of it.

Which Charts

Considering most charts have a nasty habit of disappearing over time, then it seems wise to place one’s money where the odds are best. The CRTC has proposed the addition of the Nielsen BDS Country Spins Chart and the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 Chart - both are logical choices. If you are thinking of suggesting another list(s), please keep in mind that the desire is to have things as streamlined as possible, and therefore less would be better.

Whether you agree with me or not on this topic, we should all once again applaud the CRTC for continuing to make their presence less intrusive and allow for market-forces to play a greater role in shaping our industry. The Commission appears to be genuine in their desire to hear from broadcasters on this matter, so let’s do our part and offer our comments so we can largely do away with this policy. As stated previously, you have until March 4th to respond. However, like in politics, if you don’t participate, then you shouldn’t complain later.

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