ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 95-101

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Decision

Ottawa, 24 March 1995
Decision CRTC 95-101
Niagara Television Limited
Hamilton, Ontario - 940636400
Licence Renewal for CHCH-TV Hamilton
Following a Public Hearing held in Toronto beginning on 3 October 1994, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence for CHCH-TV Hamilton from 1 September 1995 to 31 August 2002, subject to the conditions in effect under the current licence, as well as to those conditions specified in the appendix to this decision and in the licence to be issued.
Niagara Television Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEWCO Niagara Television Limited, which, in turn, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Westcom TV Group Ltd. For its part, Westcom TV Group Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Western International Communications Ltd. (WIC), a public company that is ultimately controlled by the Griffiths Family Trust, which represents the four children of F.A. Griffiths and G.E. Griffiths.
Local Reflection
In Public Notice CRTC 1995-48 introducing this and other television licence renewal decisions issued today, the Commission reiterated the importance of the principle of local reflection and reminded television licensees that they have a special responsibility to serve the public within the particular geographic area they are licensed to serve. The Commission notes, in this regard, that, in addition to local news, CHCH-TV provides for local reflection by broadcasting special events for the citizens of the area, such as parades, church services, summaries of regional events, and election coverage. CHCH-TV also produces two local programs, namely "Gardener's Journal" and "University Game of the Week" and intends to undertake, over the new licence term, other initiatives that are distinctly local.
In this regard, the Commission expects the licensee to adhere to the commitment made in its renewal application to broadcast a minimum average of 17 hours per week of original local news during the new licence term, and to ensure that CHCH-TV's primary focus continues to be the audience of Hamilton and the Niagara Peninsula.
Requirement for Either Expenditures on or Exhibition of Canadian Programming - At the Licensee's Option
As also announced in Public Notice CRTC 1995-48, the Commission has adopted a policy, according to which the licensees of most private English-language television stations earning over $10 million in total annual advertising revenues and network payments are being offered the option of either adhering to a condition of licence on Canadian programming expenditures similar to the existing condition, or adhering to a condition of licence requiring the licensee to exhibit a specific number of hours of Canadian drama (category 7), music (category 8) and variety programming (category 9) during the evening broadcast period for each year of the new licence term. The options and the Commission's policy rationale are described more fully in that public notice.
The licensee must advise the Commission which option it has chosen before the new licence term begins on 1 September 1995. Once the licensee has advised the Commission which option it has chosen tofollow, that option becomes the condition of licence in effect throughout the new licence term.
Program Development
The Commission reminds the licensee of the Commission's expectations set out in Public Notice CRTC 1989-27 dated 6 April 1989 and entitled "Overview: Local Television for the 1990s" regarding the important role that local television stations play in program development. In this regard, the Commission notes the licensee's commitment to contribute an annual amount of $200,000 to script and concept development.
Service to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
At the hearing, the Commission discussed with the licensee its performance with respect to providing service to deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. The Commission commends the licensee on its efforts to provide real-time captioning of CHCH-TV's supper-hour newscasts.
Consistent with its policy approach for closed captioning announced in Public Notice CRTC 1995-48, the Commission requires the licensee, from 1 September 1998 to the end of the term of this licence to caption all local news programming, including live segments, using either real-time captioning or another method capable of captioning live programming. In addition, the Commission requires the licensee to close caption at least 90% of all programming during the broadcast day by the end of the licence term.
Employment Equity
In Public Notice CRTC 1992-59 dated 1 September 1992 and entitled "Implementation of an Employment Equity Policy", the Commission announced that the employment equity practices of broadcasters would be subject to examination by the Commission.
The Commission notes the specific initiatives taken by the licensee in relation to aboriginal persons, and encourages the licensee to continue its efforts to achieve employment equity within its organization. The Commission notes, however, that based upon the reports prepared by the Department of Human Resources Development, CHCH-TV's performance in achieving employment equity, particularly with respect to aboriginal persons and persons with disabilities, has shown little improvement since 1992 when the Commission approved the station's transfer to WIC (Decision CRTC 92-821 dated 23 December 1992).
In Decision CRTC 92-821, the Commission stated that it expected WIC to develop and implement an effective plan of action to ensure that adequate employment equity practices are followed on a corporate-wide basis. The Commission notes that WIC now has an employment equity co-ordinator and a committee charged with ensuring that employment equity objectives are met by the individual operations and by WIC as a corporate entity. The Commission expects WIC to improve its efforts with regard to employment equity, particularly with respect to aboriginal persons and persons with disabilities.
The Commission acknowledges and has considered the many interventions submitted regarding the application for the renewal of CHCH-TV's licence.
Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
APPENDIX / ANNEXE
Conditions of Licence for CHCH-TV Hamilton
1. The licensee shall adhere to either condition of licence A or condition of licence B set out below, as chosen by the licensee and communicated to the Commission before 1 September 1995. The licensee shall adhere to its selection throughout the entire licence term.
Condition of Licence A
The licensee shall expend on Canadian programming, at a minimum,
(i) In the year ending 31 August 1996, the minimum required level of expenditures in the year ending 31 August 1995 (before consideration of any overexpenditures or underexpenditures from prior years), increased (or decreased) by the year-over-year percentage change in the total of the station's annual advertising revenues and network payments, as reported in the relevant Annual Return for the years ending 31 August, averaged over the three previous years;
(ii) In each subsequent year of the licence term an amount calculated in accordance with the following formula: the amount of the previous year's expenditures (before consideration of any overexpenditures or underexpenditures from prior years), increased (or decreased) by the year-over-year percentage change in the total of the station's annual advertising revenues and network payments, as reported in the relevant Annual Return for the years ending 31 August, averaged over t
he three previous years;
(iii) In any year of the licence term, excluding the final year, the licensee may expend an amount on Canadian programming that is up to five percent (5%) less than the minimum required expenditure for that year as set out or calculated in accordance with paragraphs (i) and/or (ii) above; in such case, the licensee shall expend in the next year of the licence term, in addition to the minimum required expenditure for that year, the full amount of the previous year's underexpenditure;
(iv) In any year of the licence term, excluding the final year, where the licensee expends an amount on Canadian programming that is greater than the minimum required expenditure for that year, as set out or calculated in accordance with paragraphs (i) and/or (ii) above, the licensee may deduct:
  a) from the minimum required expenditure for the next year of the licence term an amount not exceeding the amount of the previous year's overexpenditures; and
  b) from the minimum required expenditure for any subsequent year of the licence term, an amount not exceeding the difference between the overexpenditure and any amount deducted under a) above;
(v) Notwithstanding paragraphs (iii) and (iv) above, during the licence term, the licensee shall expend on Canadian programming at a minimum the total of the minimum required expenditures as set out in or calculated in accordance with paragraphs (i) and/or (ii) above.
For the purposes of the above condition, "expend on Canadian programming" shall have the same meaning as that set out in Public Notices CRTC 1993-93 and 1993-174 dated 22 June and 10 December 1993, respectively.
For the purpose of the above condition, the licensee is not permitted to credit any overexpenditure made in the previous licence term towards Canadian programming expenditures in any year or years of this licence term.
Condition of Licence B
The licensee shall broadcast in the evening broadcast period (between 6:00 p.m. and midnight) the following average number of hours per week of Canadian drama, music or variety programming in each year of the licence term:
1995-1996 5:30 hours
1996-1997 6:00 hours
1997-1998 6:00 hours
1998-1999 6:00 hours
1999-2000 6:30 hours
2000-2001 6:30 hours
2001-2002 7:00 hours
For the purpose of the above condition, the categories drama, music and variety are defined as set out in Schedule I of the Television Regulations, 1987.
2. The licensee shall adhere to the guidelines on gender portrayal set out in the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) "Sex-Role Portrayal Code for Television and Radio Programming", as amended from time to time and accepted by the Commission. The application of the foregoing condition of licence will be suspended as long as the licensee remains a member in good standing of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC).
3. The licensee shall adhere to the guidelines on the depiction of violence in television programming set out in the CAB's "Voluntary Code Regarding Violence in Television Programming", as amended from time to time and accepted by the Commission. The application of the foregoing condition of licence will be suspended as long as the licensee remains a member in good standing of the CBSC.
4. The licensee shall adhere to the provisions of the CAB's "Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children", as amended from time to time and accepted by the Commission.

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