The CRTC says it will issue a decision regarding Cabin Radio’s application for a Yellowknife FM radio frequency within the next week.
In an advisory late on Friday, the federal broadcasting regulator listed the application among its “anticipated releases” for the period from July 28 to August 1.
Cabin Radio first applied for a commercial broadcast licence to serve Yellowknife in 2019.
In 2023, the CRTC rejected that initial application without opening it, saying it had decided through a study of the market that Yellowknife was not large enough to support two commercial FM stations.
Cabin Radio applied again and the CRTC ultimately decided to hold a public hearing regarding the second application – and an application from Vista Radio, the incumbent commercial FM operator in Yellowknife – in February 2025.
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The regulator, revisiting its 2023 decision, said it had chosen to hold a hearing as it now believed Yellowknife was “not as well served as it could be.”
In particular, the CRTC said the Covid-19 pandemic and wildfires in the NWT had “highlighted the importance of having increased access to radio content in the North.”
The CRTC is expected to issue decisions at the same time on the applications from both Cabin Radio and Vista Radio, which operates True North FM. Vista is seeking a second licence that would allow it to serve Yellowknife with two stations.
The regulator can choose to give new licences to both companies, award a new licence to one but not the other, or leave the situation as it is and award no new licences at all.
Cabin Radio has operated as an online station since March 2018, broadcasting as though it were a commercial FM station but with programming accessible online via its website and app.
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