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Decision
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Ottawa, 21 December 1990
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Decision CRTC 90-1151
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Alain Larivière
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Saint-Camille, Saint-Cyprien and Sainte-Germaine-Station, Quebec - 900446600 - 900445800 - 900443300
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Following a Public Hearing in the National Capital Region beginning on 27 November 1990, the Commission approves the applications for authority to acquire the assets of the broadcasting receiving undertakings serving the above-mentioned communities from Marcel Parent, and for broadcasting licences to continue the operation of these undertakings, under the same terms and conditions as the current licences.
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The Commission will issue licences to Alain Larivière, expiring 31 August 1994, upon surrender of the current licences. The operation of the undertaking serving Saint-Camille will be regulated pursuant to Parts I and II of the Cable Television Regulations, 1986 (the regulations), and that of the undertakings serving Saint-Cyprien and Sainte-Germaine-Station, pursuant to Parts I and III of the regulations. The authority granted herein is subject to the same conditions as those specified in the current licences as well as any other other condition that may be specified in the licences to be issued.
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The purchase price relating to this transaction is $235,000. Based on the evidence filed with the applications, the Commission has no concerns with respect to the availability or the adequacy of the required financing and is satisfied with the benefits package flowing from this transaction.
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The Commission expects Alain Larivière to ensure that the proposed expenditures of $18,550 are made in accordance with the schedule outlined in the application.
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With regards to the undertaking serving Saint-Camille, the Commission considers the purchaser's undertaking that the costs associated with the commitments outlined in the application will not form part of any rate increase filing under subsections 18(6) and 18(8) of the regulations to be an important element of the application.
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As for the undertakings serving Saint-Cyprien and Sainte-Germaine-Station, the Commission reiterates its longstanding policy that subscribers should not be required to pay higher fees merely because the ownership or control of a cable television system has changed hands and, as such, the Commission views Alain Larivière's assurances in this regard as being particularly important.
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In addition to the services required or authorized to be distributed pursuant to the applicable sections of the regulations, the applicant is authorized, by condition of licence, to distribute, at its option, CFJP-TV Montréal, received via satellite, as part of the basic service of the undertaking serving Saint-Camille.
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The applicant is also authorized to distribute CFJP-TV Montréal, received via satellite, as part of the basic service of the undertaking serving Saint-Cyprien.
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Consistent with Decision CRTC 89-487 dated 19 July 1989, the Commission approves, by condition of licence, the request to be relieved from the requirement of paragraph 9(1)(f) of the regulations to distribute, as part of the basic service and on the basic band of the Saint-Camille undertaking, if channels are available, the programming service of an English-language television station owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and distributed to the licensee via satellite or microwave relay. The Commission notes that the applicant proposes to continue to distribute distant station CKMI-TV Québec, which is affiliated with the CBC's English-language television service.
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Consistent with this same Decision, the Commission also approves, by condition of licence, the licensee's request to be relieved of the requirement that it distribute, at Saint-Camille, pursuant to paragraph 9(1)(i) of the regulations, extra-regional television service CFAP-TV (TQS) Québec, in view of the poor reception quality of this signal. The Commission notes that the applicant proposes to distribute instead CFJP-TV Montréal.
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Moreover, the Commission approves the applicant's request with respect to section 23 of the regulations. Accordingly, for the undertakings serving Saint-Cyprien and Sainte-Germaine-Station, it is a condition of each licence that the applicant be relieved of the requirement that it distribute at least four television programming services delivered to its local head end by a network operator licensed to extend television and radio services to remote and underserved communities, at least one of which must be a Canadian television programming service, so long as it does not distribute any U.S. television service.
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In approving this request, the Commission has taken into account the licensee's and the applicant's arguments that these communities are predominantly French speaking and that the subscribers show very little interest for English-language programming; that the undertakings' financial situations do not enable them to carry these services and that the licensee does not want to significantly increase its subscriber fee. Accordingly, based on the facts of these particular cases, the Commission is of the view that this approval is in the public interest.
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The Commission notes the written intervention from Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. with respect to the requirement of section 23 of the regulations.
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
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