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Decision
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Ottawa, 6 April 1989
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Decision CRTC 89-128
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Lethbridge Television Limited
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Lethbridge, Burmis, Brooks and Coleman, Alberta -881025100
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Following a Public Hearing in Edmonton commencing 14 November 1988, the Commission renews the broadcasting licences for CFAC-TV-7 Lethbridge and its rebroadcasting undertakings CFAC-TV-4 Burmis, CFAC-TV-5 Brooks and CFAC-TV-6 Coleman, from 1 September 1989 to 31 August 1994, subject to the conditions specified in the appendix to this decision and in the licences to be issued.
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Lethbridge Television Limited, licensee of CFAC-TV-7 and its rebroadcasters, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Selkirk Communications Limited (Selkirk). Effective control of Selkirk resides with the Canada Trust Company pursuant to the provisions of a voting trust agreement respecting the 80% of the voting shares that are held by independent directors of Selkirk. Selkirk is also the owner of Calgary Television Limited, licensee of CFAC-TV Calgary and its rebroadcasters, and of several other Canadian broadcasting undertakings. The Commission has received applications for the transfer of effective control of Selkirk to MacLean Hunter Limited and for the subsequent transfer of control of Lethbridge Television Limited to WIC Western International Communications. The Commission is to consider these applications at a later date.
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CFAC-TV-7 began broadcasting in 1955 as an affiliate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In Decision CRTC 76-207 dated 12 April 1976, the Commission approved an application by the licensee for authority to disaffiliate from the CBC. On 1 September 1976, the licensee commenced operation as an independent station.
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According to the licensee, CFAC-TV-7 strives to offer its audience a high quality, locally-oriented, alternative program service. The Commission notes that, by pooling its resources with those of its sister station, CFAC-TV Calgary, CFAC-TV-7 has been able to put together a competitive schedule of acquired programs. Moreover, with the economies of scale achieved by this co-operation, CFAC-TV-7 has been able to produce programs of particular interest to southern Alberta viewers.
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Over the course of the current licence term, CFAC-TV-7 has consistently exceeded its commitments with respect to the production of local programming. The station has generally concentrated its production efforts on news and current affairs programming. With the addition during the current licence term of a late evening newscast on Sunday, the station currently provides a comprehensive local news service.
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Since agricultural news is important in its community, CFAC-TV-7 produces a weekly farm show, "Farm Line" and a commodities analysis program "Commodity Futures Magazine". In addition, CFAC-TV-7, in co-operation with CFAC-TV Calgary, CHAT-TV Medicine Hat and CKX-TV Brandon produces "Mechanic at Large", an automobile maintenance program which has been successfully syndicated to other stations.
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CFAC-TV-7's local productions for children include the programs "Kidstreet", a weekday morning game show produced in co-operation with CFAC-TV, CHCH-TV Hamilton and CanWest Broadcasting Ltd. and involving Northstar, an independent production company, and "Spelling Bee". The Commission notes that CFAC-TV-7 occasionally gives French immersion students a chance to compete in this latter program.
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The Commission commends the licensee for its active involvement with local native groups during the current licence term. Recently, CFAC-TV-7 co-produced "Blood Lands", a half-hour documentary on the Blood reserve, and "Free Spirit", a half-hour documentary about native artists.
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Based on the licensee's accomplishments as reviewed at the Edmonton hearing, including its production of Canadian programming, the Commission is satisfied with CFAC-TV-7's performance during its current licence term.
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In its application, CFAC-TV-7 committed to broadcast an average of 11 hours 20 minutes per week of original local programs of which 7 hours 34 minutes will be local news programs. The Commission expects the licensee to maintain, at a minimum, this weekly level of local production during each year of the new licence term. Moreover, in light of the fact the licensee has in the past demonstrated the capability to exceed this level, the Commission encourages CFAC-TV-7 to continue to exceed its minimum commitment to local production during the new licence term.
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According to its financial projections, CFAC-TV-7 will expend $1,354,000 on Canadian programming in the first year of the licence term. As stated in the Public Notice introducing this and other television renewal decisions issued today, the Commission expects licensees of television stations that earned less than $10 million in total advertising revenue in 1987/88 to adhere to their projected first-year expenditures on Canadian programming, at a minimum, and to adjust such expenditures in subsequent years in accordance with the prescribed formula, which is linked to station advertising revenues. The Commission is satisfied that this approach offers a reasonable and fair means of ensuring that the Canadian program expenditures of each television station keep pace with changes in its revenues. Accordingly, inasmuch as CFAC-TV-7's advertising revenues in 1987/88 were less than $10 million, this expectation applies in respect of this station.
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The Commission notes that CFAC-TV-7 has committed $50,000 for program development over the course of the new licence term. In this regard, the Commission refers the licensee to the program development funding guidelines set out in the Public Notice introducing this and other television renewal decisions issued today. Projects currently in development include a series of improvisational comedy-drama programs and a musical variety series which would "highlight the fine arts in southern Alberta from music to dance, to sculpture to paintings". In keeping with its history of involvement with local native groups, CFAC-TV-7 is also developing in co-operation with Native News Media a proposal for a monthly series entitled "Buffalo Journal". The Commission encourages the licensee to pursue these development initiatives.
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The Commission also notes that CFAC-TV-7 intends to spend $1.35 million over the new licence term to upgrade its production and transmitter equipment.
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In renewing these licences, the Commission authorizes the licensee to make use of the Vertical Blanking Interval. The Commission expects the licensee to adhere to the guidelines set out in Appendix A to Public Notice CRTC 1989-23 dated 23 March 1989 entitled "Services Using the Vertical Blanking Interval (Television) or Subsidiary Communications Multiplex Operation (FM)".
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With respect to services for the deaf and hearing impaired, the licensee indicated that all acquired programs that have been closed captioned will be transmitted in that form. It stated, however, that while it intends to adopt a computer text system to caption its local news when it is economically feasible to do so, it did not have the financial capability to install and staff such a system at this time.
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As noted in the Public Notice introducing this and other television licence renewal decisions issued today, the Commission considers that all television licensees have an obligation to take steps to ensure that their local programming is made accessible to deaf and hearing-impaired viewers. Accordingly, the Commission expects CFAC-TV-7 to close caption, at a minimum, headlines and appropriate scripted portions of its early evening newscasts during the new licence term.
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The Commission also expects CFAC-TV-7 to acquire a telephone device for the deaf (TDD) during the first year of the new licence term and to install it wherever is most appropriate, such as in the master control room, to ensure access to the station by deaf and hearing-impaired viewers over the entire broadcast day.
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Overall, taking into account the licensee's commitments to contribute to the production of high quality Canadian programs over the next five years, the Commission is satisfied that the licences for CFAC-TV-7 and its rebroadcasters should be renewed for a full term.
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The Commission acknowledges the intervention from Venture Entertainment Group in support of CFAC-TV-7's licence renewal. Matters raised in interventions submitted by the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) have been addressed in the Public Notice introducing this and other television renewal decisions issued today.
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Fernand Bélisle
Secretary General
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APPENDIX
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Conditions of licence for CFAC-TV-7 Lethbridge and its rebroadcasters, CFAC-TV-4 Burmis, CFAC-TV-5 Brooks and CFAC-TV-6 Coleman, Alberta
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1. The licensee shall adhere to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' self-regulatory guidelines on sex-role stereotyping, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.
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2. The licensee shall adhere to the provisions of the Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children published by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.
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