CRTC Loosens Format Restrictions On CIQX/Calgary

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NEWCAP gets the CRTC to remove the "Specialty FM Format" restrictions from its Smooth Jazz CIQX (CALIFORNIA 103)/CALGARY, leaving the door open for the station to evolve from its Smooth Jazz format once its seasonal CHRISTMAS music format goes away. 

The station's license had carried the Specialty tag, whch restricted it to airing 70% Jazz and Blues and 35% Canadian content; NEWCAP cited "significant financial losses" and low ratings for its request to drop the format designation, and asserted that the Smooth Jazz format "was not sustainable or viable in CALGARY now or in the future, given the conditions of licence associated with its Specialty licence." 

NEWCAP told the CRTC that its proposed new format would be "similar to the New Adult Contemporary/Smooth Jazz format currently offered by CIWV-FM HAMILTON/BURLINGTON, which operates as a conventional non-Specialty FM licensee."

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