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Public Notice
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Ottawa, 16 January 1984
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Public Notice CRTC 1984-13
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Distant Canadian Signals - Cable Carriage
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On 26 March 1979, the Commission released a Public Announcement entitled A Review of Certain Cable Television Programming Issues in which the Commission reviewed, among other matters, its policy regarding the carriage on cable of distant Canadian signals. Various submissions had been received, prior to this announcement, requesting that the Commission alter its policy by permitting the cable distribution of Canadian stations in communities outside of their licensed coverage area, to increase the program choice available to cable television viewers.
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Based on its examination of the consequences of allowing unrestricted access to distant Canadian signals on cable, the Commission decided to maintain its policy of permitting distant signal carriage on a limited and selective basis when justified in specific situations.
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Among the reasons given by the Commission for the retention of its policy, it cited the adverse economic consequences that could affect local broadcasters if distant Canadian signals were allowed unrestricted cable distribution, at that time.
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The issue of the cable distribution of distant Canadian signals was again raised ln the context of the Commission's recent consideration of cable service tiering. In response to the Commission's call for comments on tiering (Public Notice CRTC 1982-65), various parties proposed that the carriage of the Canadian signals distributed by the Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) network, as well as other existing Canadian television signals which may be distributed by satellite, should be permitted on cable.
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As stated by the Commission in its policy statement on tiering (Public Notice CRTC 1983-245), such proposals raise implications with respect to the Commission's existing policy and should be examined separate from the general tiering deliberations.
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The increasing use of satellites for the delivery of Canadian and foreign programming and the expanding capacity of cable system to distribute new services offers a means to increase the programming choice available to Canadians. In such an environment, the distribution of existing Canadian signals beyond their licensed service areas may be one of the means to ensure that the broadcasting system, as a whole, remains predominantly Canadian. Subject to being convinced otherwise, the Commission proposes to remove the present restrictions on the wider distribution of Canadian signals, other than in those exceptional cases where broadcasters can demonstrate consequential damage to their programming capability. Accordingly, the Commission invites comments from all interested parties on the subject of increased distribution of distant Canadian signals on cable television systems.
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Without limiting the content of any submission, the Commission wishes to receive comments on the following questions:
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1) What mechanisms, if any, should be considered to lessen or compensate for the potential fragmentation of local broadcasters' audience and advertising revenues? Without limitation, such methods might include non-simultaneous program substitution, commercial deletion or commercial substitution.
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2) Should there be any restrictions as to the source of revenues used to support such signals?
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3) In view of the introduction of cable service tiering, should there be any conditions with respect to the placement of such signals on the basic or discretionary tiers? If the signals are distributed on a discretionary tier, should there be any conditions with respect to the linkage with other Canadian or foreign services?
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Comments in response to this notice should be addressed to Mr. J.G. Patenaude, Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa K1A 0N2, and should be received not later than 1 March 1984.
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J.G. Patenaude
Secretary General
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