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Decision
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Ottawa, 1 August 1985
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Decision CRTC 85-633
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Pathonic Communications Inc.
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Sherbrooke and Trois Rivières, Quebec - 850264300 - 850263500 - 850429200
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Following a Public Hearing in Montreal on 13 May 1985, the Commission renews the broadcasting licences for CHLT-TV Sherbrooke and CHEM-TV Trois-Rivières from 1 October 1985 to 30 September 1990, subject to the conditions of licence specified in the licences to be issued.
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CHLT-TV Sherbrooke and CHEM-TV Trois-Rivières serve the Eastern Townships and St. Maurice Valley. These stations are affiliates of the TVA network; in addition to network programming and their own local productions they broadcast a large amount of programming from CHEM-TV Montreal.
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The Commission commends the licensee on its performance with regard to local production. The logs submitted by the licensee, covering a one-week period in March 1985, indicated that it was in compliance with its commitments concerning the quantity and nature of local programming and that CHEM-TV was, in fact, exceeding these by broadcasting 7 hours 55 minutes of local productions in comparison to its commitment of 4 hours.
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In its renewal applications, the licensee proposed to rationalize the operations of the two stations by producing a combined total of 22 hours 30 minutes of local programming each week. At least 13 hours of the local programming will be produced by CHLT-TV and 5 hours by CHEM-TV According to the licensee, this proposal has numerous advantages, including the flexibility that it will give the licensee to produce programs using the facilities of either station. The licensee does not propose to make any significant changes to the type of local programs produced by the stations, which will continue to focus on news and public affairs programming (15 hours of news, 6 hours of local events coverage, and 1 hour 30 minutes of public affairs each week). In addition, the licensee indicated plans to produce sports and music programs from time to time. The Commission notes the proposals described above with interest, and it will follow their implementation closely during the next term of licence.
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While CHLT-TV and CHEM-TV's contribution to the TVA network is currently limited to occasional newsclips included within network newscasts, Pathonic International Inc., a subsidiary of Pathonic Communications Inc., does produce special feature programs for broadcast on the TVA network. The Commission notes the undertaking of Pathonic International Inc. to produce, in co-operation with the TVA network, 6 hours of such programs during the 1985-1986 season, using the equipment and staff of CHLT-TV and CHEM-TV. The Commission encourages the licensee to continue to develop its activities in this area.
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In its Public Notice CRTC 1985-58 dated 20 March 1985 entitled "Introducing Flexibility into the Concept of Local Television Programming", the Commission stated that programs produced in co-operation with other broadcasters will be recognized as local productions. In this regard, the licensee stated that it intends to use its subsidiary, Pathonic International Inc., to co-produce programs with CHLT-TV and CHEM-TV, as well as with the licensee's other stations, CFCM-TV Quebec City and CFER-TV Rimouski.
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The Commission approves the application to amend the licence for CHEM-TV Trois-Rivières by increasing its effective radiated power from 5,120 watts to 123,200 watts. This increase will enable the licensee to expand its coverage and eliminate reception problems in certain parts of its existing service area.
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In accordance with paragraph 22(1)(b) of the Broadcasting Act, the Commission will only issue the licence amendment, and the authority granted herein may only be implemented, at such time as written notification is received from the Department of Communications that it will issue an amendment to the Technical Construction and Operating Certificate.
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With respect to the intervention submitted by the Centre Québécois de la déficience auditive advocating the use of closed-captioned television programs, the Commission notes that, in Decision CRTC 85-106, the licensee was authorized to add closed-captioning for the deaf and hard-of-hearing in the vertical blanking interval of CHLT-TV and CHEM-TV.
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Fernand Bélisle Secretary General
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