The CRTC has okayed the sale of CHEK, and issued a new seven-year licence to the tenacious Victoria station that lifts many of the conditions of licence placed on the station when it was owned by Canwest.

The station — now owned by a consortium that includes staff and local investors — is no longer required to air priority programming and is free to share news resources with its former sister station, CHAN in Vancouver.

The CRTC also exempted the deal from its traditional ‘tangible benefits’ condition, which would have seen 10% of the sticker price put towards programming and other perks for the community. The new owners argued that a benefits package would put added strain on the already beleaguered station — it is losing $12 million per year, according to the CRTC — and that CHEK would be a boon to the area simply by staying in business and continuing to provide employment and news coverage.

The CRTC valued the transaction at just over $1 million, though the purchase agreement itself was just $2.

CHEK’s limited finances also helped get it off the hook for priority programming, though this move was opposed by groups including the CFTPA and the Writers Guild of Canada. The former requirements of its Canwest days have been lifted, though the commission noted in its ruling that it expects CHEK ‘to make best efforts to broadcast priority programming whenever possible.’

The seven-year licence does, however, require CHEK to take part in a public hearing in 2012 for a second look at its priority programming.