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Public Notice
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Ottawa, 7 March 1985
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Public Notice CRTC 1985-43
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Cable Distribution of Previews of U.S. Specialty Services
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Pursuant to Public Notices CRTC 1984-1 and 1985-6 dated 5 January and 10 January 1985 respectively, the Commission authorized the cable distribution of unscrambled previews of Canadian pay television and specialty services, subject to certain provisions, including the requirement that previews not occur during major national rating periods.
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In addition, in Public Notice CRTC 7 dated 10 January 1985, the Commission indicated that several cable television licensees had also applied to distribute previews of authorized U.S. specialty services and invited the public to comment on the matter.
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Thirteen submissions were received. Of these, only three were opposed: Calgary Television Limited, licensee of CFAC-TV Calgary and the CTV Television Network Ltd. objected to the unscrambled previews of any discretionary service whether U.S. or Canadian-originated, whereas the CBC basically argued that previews would "only add to the foreign programming burden in our system."
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The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), in its intervention in support of unscrambled previews, stressed their importance as a marketing tool which has already proven its value in increasing the penetration of Canadian discretionary services. The CCTA noted that any increased demand for U.S. specialty services would automatically benefit Canadian discretionary services through the linkage requirements set out in Public Notice CRTC 1984-81 dated 2 April 1984, and recommended that the Commission apply the same criteria as set out in Public Notice CRTC 1985-6 for the cable distribution of the previews of Canadian discretionary services.
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On the basis of the submissions filed, the Commission has received no evidence that the occasional cable distribution of previews of U.S. specialty services will harm television broadcasters, and considers that such selective free viewing will contribute to increasing subscriber interest in these services.
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Accordingly, the cable distribution of previews of U.S. specialty services is authorized subject to the following requirements:
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The previews may not be exhibited by cable television licensees during major national broadcasting rating periods such as those conducted by BBM Nielsen. In addition, the Commission requires that programming distributed during these preview periods consist only of programs that are part of the specialty programming services actually offered to subscribers. The scheduling and content of such programming must also meet the same standards that currently apply to conventional broadcasters.
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Unscrambled previews may be distributed by cable operators on the channel normally used to distribute the U.S. specialty programming services or on any other specialty programming or currently unused channel, other than the community channel, provided that such previews do not cause the removal of any Canadian service that is presently being offered.
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This authorization is granted for a period of one year. The Commission will examine the results of these previews during that period to determine whether or not their authorization should be continued and, if so, under what terms and conditions.
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Fernand Belisle Secretary General
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