ARCHIVED - Decision CRTC 2001-460

Decision CRTC 2001-460

Ottawa, 2 August 2001

CTV Television Inc.
Winnipeg, Fisher Branch, Brandon, McCreary, Dauphin/Baldy Mountain, Flin Flon, The Pas, Snow Lake and Thompson, Manitoba 2001-0564-4

24 July 2001 Public Hearing
National Capital Region

Acquisition of the assets of CKY-TV Winnipeg and its transmitters

The Commission approves the application for authority to acquire the assets of the television programming undertaking CKY-TV Winnipeg and its transmitters, and for a broadcasting licence to continue the operation of this undertaking. The undertaking includes the following transmitters: CKYA-TV Fisher Branch, CKYB-TV Brandon, CKYB-TV-1 McCreary, CKYD-TV Dauphin/Baldy Mountain, CKYF-TV Flin Flon, CKYP-TV The Pas, CKYS-TV Snow Lake and CKYT-TV Thompson.

The Commission will issue a licence to CTV Television Inc. (CTV) expiring 31 August 2007. The licence will be issued upon surrender of the licence currently issued to Moffat Communications Limited.

Through information contained in the application, the Commission has been made aware of corporate reorganizations undertaken by the current licensee, Moffat Communications Limited, in advance of the present transaction. Moffat Communications Limited is now known as Videon CableSystems Inc. The Commission emphasizes that its approval of CTV's application to acquire the assets of CKY-TV should not be taken as encompassing approval of any of the reorganizations that preceded the current transaction, nor should this approval be viewed as a precedent.

In Decision CRTC 2001-457 and other related decisions issued today, following a group licence renewal process, the Commission approved the licence renewal of a number of other television undertakings owned and operated by CTV. The Commission reminds CTV of its obligations, as set out in those decisions. Specifically, and consistent with the Commission's group licensing approach, the licence to be issued to CTV in respect of CKY-TV will be subject to the terms, conditions of licence and commitments set out elsewhere in this decision, as well as to those contained in Decision 2000-457 and Appendix 2 to that document.

The amount to be paid by CTV to purchase the assets of CKY-TV is $33 million. Based on the evidence filed with the application, the Commission has no concerns with respect to the availability or the adequacy of the required financing.

The applicant made commitments to clear and unequivocal tangible benefits representing incremental expenditures over five years of $3.3 million, or 10% of the purchase price. This is consistent with the requirements of the benefits policy outlined in Public Notice CRTC 1999-97; Building on success - a policy framework for Canadian television. These benefits include a contribution of $1 million over the five years to a script and concept development fund. The fund will be allocated among independent producers in Manitoba and other western provinces. The benefits include a further expenditure of $1.6 million over five years on television programming offering local and regional reflection. According to the applicant, this initiative will result in the production of 52 original half-hour segments per year of special reports, features and mini-documentaries on Winnipeg and Manitoba. The expenditures will be divided equally between in-house and independent production.

The Commission accepts the benefits package, as proposed by CTV. It expects the applicant to adhere to its commitments and the timetable for their implementation, as set out in its application.

In its application, CTV undertook to continue to broadcast a minimum of 8 hours 55 minutes each week of original local news throughout the new licence term. This is the same amount that the previous licensee had committed to provide at the time of last licence renewal, and was the minimum level that the Commission subsequently expected of the licensee in Decision CRTC 95-635. In CTV's group renewal applications, however, and as noted in the above-mentioned decisions issued today, CTV proposed a model in which each of its major stations would broadcast at least 15 hours 30 minutes per week of local programming.

In the circumstances, and in light of the licensing approach set out in Decision 2001-457, the Commission considers that the level of such programming broadcast on CKY-TV should be brought into line with that broadcast on CTV's other major stations. It expects the licensee to achieve this minimum level of 15 hours 30 minutes per week of local programming by 1 September 2002.

By condition of licence, the licensee shall caption 90% of all programming during the broadcast day in each broadcast year, including 100% of all category 1 - News programming.

The Commission notes that this licensee is subject to the Employment Equity Act, and therefore files reports concerning employment equity with Human Resources Development Canada.

Secretary General

This decision is to be appended to the licence. It is available in alternative format upon request, and may also be examined at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca