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Decision
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Ottawa, 18 January 1985
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Decision CRTC 85-34
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CANAL, Corporation pour l'Avancement de Nouvelles Applications des Langages Ltée
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Montreal, Quebec - 841399900 - 842134900
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At a Public Hearing in Hull, Quebec on 27 November 1984, the Commission considered applications by CANAL, Corporation pour l'Avancement de Nouvelles Applications des Langages Ltée (CANAL) for broadcasting licences to operate an educational television station in Montreal and a television network to distribute to cable television undertakings via satellite, educational programming to be produced by CANAL.
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CANAL is a non-profit corporation composed of Quebec collegiate and university educational institutions, which at present has thirteen members, including "Télé-Université" of the Université du Québec. The corporation's aim is to administer the broadcasting of programs provided entirely by member institutions, including the development of programming schedules and the provision of technical maintenance. At the present time, "Télé-Université" offers televised and correspondence courses; the televised courses are carried on a number of cable television undertakings in Quebec through a bicycled distribution system of video cassettes.
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The corporation will be financed, for the most part, by annual membership fees to be paid by member institutions and calculated on the basis of air time used.
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The purpose of these applications is to provide a unique and innovative service that will complement existing radio-television services in Quebec, including that provided by the Société de Radio-télévision du Québec (Radio-Québec).
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Although Radio-Québec holds a licence to operate an educational network, its programming is generally aimed at a wider audience than CANAL's target audience and its educational character is not necessarily or primarily defined in terms of formal education. During a broadcast week of approximately seventy-five hours, Radio-Québec currently broadcasts about fifteen hours of "Télé-Université" programs, and only one of them, "Octo-Puces" is a credit course.
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CANAL's proposed programming is composed mainly of credit courses, general educational courses and programs which provide information with respect to the other programs broadcast. An electronic bulletin board displayed between programs will provide information on the scheduling and content of future programs.
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In this respect, the Commission has taken note of the intervention presented by COGECO Inc., which opposed the applications in question because it felt that CANAL's programming could be included in the programming of Radio-Québec.
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CANAL justifies the requirement to operate a television station in Montreal, in addition to a Quebec-wide television network, by the low penetration rate of cable in the Montreal area. Through the operation of a television station in Montreal it will be possible to reach a public, particularly students, that otherwise could not receive such a service.
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The Commission notes that the Department of Communications (DOC) has indicated that it will authorize on a temporary and exceptional basis only, the proposed use of channel 62 as a low-power station, since this channel is designated as a Class B channel and should be utilized at a higher power level. This special authorization is being granted by DOC at the request of the applicant in order to facilitate the early introduction of the service and is conditional on the applicant applying to change channels or increase the transmitter power. The Commission reminds the applicant that this requires the submission of an application to amend its licence.
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In light of the above, the Commission approves the application by CANAL for a licence to carry on an educational television broadcasting transmitting undertaking in Montreal, operating on channel 62 of the UHF band, with a transmitter power of 100 watts and will issue a licence expiring 30 September 1987, subject to the conditions of licence specified in this decision and in the licence to be issued.
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Following the introduction of this new station in the Montreal area, all cable television undertakings located within this station's official Grade A and B contours must, in line with the Cable Television Regulations, give the signal priority distribution on their basic band, unless, following an application to this effect, the Commission grants an exemption to the undertakings concerned to allow them to offer CANAL's signal on the mid band or super band portion of its primary service tier. In this regard, CANAL indicated at the hearing that, in order to avoid displacing to mid-band or super-band a signal currently offered on the basic band, it would not object to cable television undertakings using the mid band or super band for the distribution of its signal.
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It is a condition of this licence that construction of the station be completed and that it be in operation within twelve months of the date of this decision or such further period as the Commission may, upon receipt of a request for extension before the expiry of the said twelve months, deem appropriate under the circumstances.
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The Commission also approves the application for a licence to carry on a television network operation to transmit certain of CANAL's educational programs to Quebec cable television undertakings via satellite. The Commission will issue a licence expiring 30 September 1987, subject to the conditions of licence specified in the licence to be issued.
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Pursuant to a provisional agreement between CANAL and the Société d'Édition et de Transcodage T.E. Ltée (La S.E.T.T.E.), a period of three hours per day, for a weekly total of twenty-one hours, will be set aside for CANAL to use the transponder of La S.E.T.T.E.'s satellite, when the latter is not broadcasting programs from French Television Programming (TVFQ-99). La S.E.T.T.E. will charge no fee for this service.
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At the hearing, CANAL indicated that some of the programs provided by member institutions will be sponsored programs. These programs will be produced and financed by contributions from sources other than the general revenue budget allocated for programming. CANAL would like to rebroadcast such programs in their entirety, including mention of the sponsoring organization.
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In Decision CRTC 81-717, which renewed the network licence for the Ontario Educational Communications Authority (TV Ontario), the Commission had no objection to TV Ontario's request that the names of sponsors of some programs be mentioned on the air. In light of this and the unique, experimental nature of CANAL's project, the Commission has no objection under the circumstances to CANAL mentioning the names of sponsors of programs on the air. The Commission, however, intends to follow closely the development of the project and expects CANAL to submit a progress report within six months.
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The Commission notes CANAL's statement made at the hearing to the effect that it is committed to welcoming "all educational institutions that would like to use the channel". (Translation) The Commission encourages CANAL to continue its efforts to promote participation by such educational institutions.
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Fernand Bélisle Secretary General
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