ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 86-974

Decision

Ottawa, 30 September 1986

Decision CRTC 86-974

CF Cable TV Inc.

Part of Montreal and of Laval, Quebec - 860336700 - 860335900 - 860948900

Following a Public Hearing in Sainte-Foy, Quebec on 16 June 1986, the Commission renews the licence for the broadcasting receiving undertaking serving part of Montreal. It also approves the application to amend this licence by changing the authorized service area by consolidating under the same licence the currently authorized service areas in Montreal and Laval. This will permit the licensee to centralize and coordinate the management of these two undertakings which already offer the same range of services and charge identical fees.

The Commission will issue a Class 1 licence to CF Cable TV Inc. for the period of 1 October 1986 to 30 September 1990. The operation of this undertaking will be regulated pursuant to Parts I and II of the Cable Television Regulations, 1986 (the regulations) (SOR/86-831 dated 1 August 1986) and the licence will be subject to the conditions specified in this decision and in the licence to be issued.

The Department of Communications (DOC) has advised the Commission that it is prepared to renew the Technical Construction and Operating Certificate for a period of only two years, until 30 September 1988. Accordingly, approval of the renewal granted herein beyond that date, to 30 September 1990, is subject to the receipt of further technical certification from the DOC.

With respect to audio programming services, the licensee is reminded that, pursuant to section 16 of the regulations, it must distribute all the mandatory audio programming services, including local AM stations. The Commission notes in this regard that in Public Notice CRTC 1986-182 dated 1 August 1986, which announced the regulations, it stated:

The Commission recognizes that the mandatory carriage of all local stations will create problems of spectrum availability in some major urban areas...in those instances where major problems relating to spectrum availability do arise, licensees may apply for a condition of licence to modify the priority carriage requirements.

The Commission recognizes that the problem of spectrum availability may arise in the Metropolitan Montreal area, particularly if all of the local AM stations are distributed throughout the territory amalgamated under the new licence. If such is the case, the licensee should submit to the Commission as soon as possible an application for exemption from section 16 of the regulations, specifying which stations it would not be able to distribute in all or part of its authorized service area.

With respect to television services, the Commission approves, by condition of licence, the licensee's application for exemption from paragraph 9(1)(c) of the regulations with regard to the priority designation of CJOH-TV-8 Cornwall, Ontario. The licensee is therefore authorized to distribute the signal of this station on a basic service channel available by means of a converter rather than a channel on the basic band (channels 2 to 13).

The Commission received a written intervention from Bushnell Communications Limited, licensee of CJOH-TV Ottawa and its rebroadcaster CJOH-TV-8 Cornwall, which expressed opposition to the licensee's request for exemption. In support of its application, the licensee pointed out that the current situation has existed for years and that none of its subscribers has ever complained. It also said that there is a great similarity between the programming of CJOH-TV and CFCF-TV Montreal, especially during prime time, and that the latter station is already carried on the licensee's basic band. It added that CJOH-TV-8 essentially rebroadcasts the programming of the CTV network for the residents of Cornwall and Eastern Ontario.

Consistent with Decision CRTC 85-1310 dated 27 December 1985, the Commission relieves the licensee, by condition of licence, from the application of paragraph 9(1)(c) of the regulations with respect to the priority designation of the educational television station CFTU-TV (C.A.N.A.L.) Montreal. The licensee is therefore authorized to distribute this programming service on a channel of the basic service available by converter.

The Commission notes that the licensee proposes to continue the distribution of more than one affiliate of a U.S. television network, which is contrary to the Commission's policy with respect to the distribution of U.S. networks. However, since such distribution has been in place in some parts of the service area for nearly fifteen years, the Commission considers that an exception is justified in this case. It therefore authorizes the licensee to continue the distribution of the signals of WMTW-TV (ABC) Poland Spring, Maine, and WVNY (ABC) Burlington, Vermont, on the basic service of this undertaking.

The licensee also proposes to continue the distribution of a number of alpha-numeric and special programming services. In accordance with the regulations, the licensee may distribute any alpha-numeric service without further Commission authorization. The licensee is authorized to continue to distribute, without advertising material, promotional material for pay TV as a special programming service. It is authorized to distribute French Television Programming (TVFQ-99) on the basic service.

With regard to the distribution of the ethnic programming service, the Commission authorizes the licensee, by condition of licence, to include video and/or audio sponsorship mention, including logo, name, address and type of business undertaking in program credits on the ethnic channel of this undertaking. In this particular instance, the licensee is also authorized to add French- or Englishlanguage subtitles to feature films on the multicultural special programming service where these are an integral part of the original production.

The Commission notes that the distribution of Greek radio is in conformity with paragraph 16(3)(d) of the regulations.

The Commission notes that the licensee will allocate a budget of almost $1 million to the operation of its community channel in 1986. It produces an average of 12 hours of original programming per week in French and English, including the weekly program "Bits and Pieces" featuring local artists. A series of programs is also produced with the winners of music competitions in Quebec and the rest of Canada. The licensee also distributes some programs for the hearing impaired including "signes et échanges" and "vidéo-sourds". The licensee indicated that its plans for three decentralized community production centres had not materialized and that it had chosen, instead, to decentralize through the use of mobile productions and sectorial broadcasts. The Commission has noted the licensee's commitment to maintain and enhance the existing services during the next term of licence and expects this commitment to be fulfilled.

The licensee is authorized to charge subscribers a maximum basic monthly fee of $12.28 for the delivery of programming services on its basic service. This amount forms the base portion of the basic monthly fee for the purpose of section 18 of the regulations. It is a condition of licence that the licensee delete commercial messages from television signals received from broadcasting stations not licensed to serve Canada and substitute suitable replacement material in place of such messages upon receipt of notice in writing from the Commission.

The Conseil des Média Communautaires de Laval inc. submitted an intervention asking to be recognized [TRANSLATION] "as the one and only valid representative of community television in Laval, and for specific technical and financial support, management of the community channel, and local control over broadcasting". In its reply, the licensee emphasized its community access policy and reiterated its community channel objectives, including that of [TRANSLATION] "serving the greatest possible number of human interests"; it also said that it was willing to continue working closely with the intervener by providing it with technical and human resources. The licensee added that decentralized broadcasting would start again in the fall of 1986 and that it would provide Laval subscribers with additional evening repeats of programs of special interest to them. The Commission considers that the licensee has replied to this intervention satisfactorily and it is convinced that this undertaking provides fair access to any group with an interest in community programming.

The Commission also notes the intervention submitted by the Syndicat des employés des services techniques de CF Câble TV with respect to the poor quality of service offered to subscribers and suggested that the technical problems were due to the fact that the system is outdated. The Commission has noted the licensee's reply which underlined the measures taken to resolve the problems raised in the intervention, including the reconstruction of its distribution system, which is currently underway.

Fernand Bélisle
Secretary General