ARCHIVED -  Public Notice CRTC 1990-115

Public Notice

Ottawa, 28 December 1990

Public Notice CRTC 1990-115

REVISED LISTS OF ELIGIBLE SATELLITE SERVICES

Related Documents: Public Notice CRTC 1989-102 (18 August 1989), Public Notice CRTC 1990-61 (12 June 1990)

I. INTRODUCTION

Attached to this Public Notice are revised lists of "Part II Eligible Satellite Services" (Part II list) and "Part III Eligible Canadian Satellite Services" and "Part III Eligible Non-Canadian Satellite Services" (Part III list). The Part II list contains satellite services authorized for distribution by licensees holding Class 1 and Class 2 licences and is found in Appendix A. The Part III lists contain satellite services authorized for distribution by licensees holding Part III licences and are found in Appendix B.

The revisions to the lists announced today result from the Commission's consideration of comments received in response to Public Notice CRTC 1990-61 dated 12 June 1990. In that notice, the Commission invited comments on a number of proposed amendments to the lists of eligible satellite services. The proposals involved the addition of Black Entertainment Television, the Consumer News and Business Channel and CFJP-TV (Quatre Saisons) to the lists; the amendment of the restriction on FNN:SCORE, replacing it with FNN:Sports; and the deletion of USA Network, replacing it with WSBK Boston.

The Commission received comments with respect to this Public Notice from 82 interested parties, including: the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), the Satellite Communications Association of Canada (SCAC), Citytv/MuchMusic, Rogers Cable T.V. Limited (Rogers), Videotron Communications Ltd. (Videotron), The Sports Network and Le Réseau des Sports (TSN/RDS), First Choice Canadian Communications Corporation (First Choice), Cablecasting Limited, Cable Atlantic Inc. (Cable Atlantic), Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM), the Family Channel, Allarcom Limited (Allarcom), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and TVOntario.

A number of parties, including TSN/RDS, CAB, the Family Channel, Allarcom, Citytv/MuchMusic, and CBC, suggested that the Commission delay consideration of these matters and deal with updates to the lists of eligible satellite services either at or subsequent to the Commission's upcoming hearing on tiering and linkage issues.

After consideration of these comments, the Commission has accepted the view that it should defer consideration of those matters which may raise concerns relating to tiering and linkage. In particular, the Commission has concluded that it would be inappropriate to add services to the lists of eligible satellite services at this time. The Commission will therefore defer its decision as to whether Black Entertainment Television, Consumer News and Business Channel, and WSBK Boston should be added to the lists of eligible satellite services until after the Commission's hearing on tiering and linkage, scheduled for July 1991.

II. AMENDMENTS TO THE LISTS

1. FNN:Score

Pursuant to Public Notice CRTC 1987-259 dated 30 November 1987, lists of eligible satellite services have contained a note stating that the authorization to distribute the Financial News Network (FNN) service "does not include the programming of SCORE". FNN's SCORE service provided sports event programming. The Commission imposed this restriction since it was of the view that the programming provided on the SCORE service was competitive with that offered by The Sports Network.

FNN announced in September 1989 that it had dropped the SCORE service. FNN is now offering the weekend sports news and information service "FNN:Sports" in its place.

Accordingly, in Public Notice CRTC 1990-61 the Commission noted that it may be necessary to amend the restriction, replacing FNN:SCORE with FNN:Sports.

First Choice, The Family Channel and Allarcom supported the Commission's proposal to replace the restriction on FNN:SCORE with a similar restriction on FNN:Sports. First Choice also suggested that the Commission should consider lifting the restriction and move FNN:Sports to Section "B" of the Part II list.

In their comments, the CCTA, Rogers, Videotron, SCAC, and Cable Atlantic suggested that a restriction should not be placed on FNN:Sports. The CCTA is of the view that since FNN:Sports only shows sports news, highlights, interviews, and sports features, it is not competitive with the programming of TSN.

TSN/RDS stated that "FNN:Sports continues to provide sports programming that, if authorized, would compete directly with both TSN and RDS".

Based on the information available to it, the Commission has determined that the Sports portion of FNN is competitive with the programming provided by TSN and RDS. The restriction on FNN:SCORE will therefore be deleted from the Part II and Part III lists and replaced with a restriction on FNN:Sports.

Furthermore, the Commission is of the view that it is unreasonable to place one programming segment of a service on a different list than the main programming component. The Commission will therefore not place FNN:Sports on Section "B" of the Part II list.

2. USA Network

First Choice had previously recommended to the Commission that "the authority for cable carriage of the USA Network be terminated, and be replaced with superstation WSBK Boston". First Choice based this recommendation on the fact that the USA Network has recently purchased the distribution rights to a number of the same films as First Choice.

Public Notice CRTC 1990-61 requested comments on the removal of the USA Network from Section "B" of the Part II list and its replacement with the service of WSBK Boston.

Allarcom supported the deletion of the USA Network. It suggested, however, that this matter, as well as the addition of WSBK, should be dealt with at the Commission's hearing on tiering and linkage.

Rogers, Cablecasting, and Cable Atlantic argued that the USA Network should not be dropped. Rogers commented that USA Network does not present a competitive threat to First Choice, since it can only be distributed with a pay service.

TSN/RDS recommended that, in order to address the concerns of First Choice, the Commission should remove USA Network from the lists of eligible satellite services without replacing it with WSBK.

After consideration of all the information available, it is the Commission's view that the USA Network poses a competitive threat to Canadian pay services. The Commission will therefore remove the USA Network from Section "B" of the Part II list and from the Part III list.

As discussed in the Introduction to this public notice, its decision on the addition of WSBK to the lists of eligible satellite services will be deferred until after the Commission's public hearing on tiering and linkage.

3. CFJP-TV (Quatre Saisons)

In Public Notice CRTC 1990-61 the Commission requested comments on a proposal to add CFJP-TV (Quatre Saisons) to Section "A" of the Part II list and the Part III list. The Commission noted that this proposed change would reduce the administrative delay associated with the process of having to approve the carriage of CFJP-TV on a case-by-case basis.

The CCTA, Citytv/MuchMusic, SCAC, and Cable Atlantic support the Commission's proposal. CANCOM opposed the addition of CFJP-TV to the lists since it could affect CANCOM's distribution of CFTM-TV Montréal. CANCOM therefore suggested that the Commission continue to deal with all applications regarding the distribution of CFJP-TV on a case-by-case basis.

The Commission recognizes that the addition of CFJP-TV to the lists may inhibit CANCOM's sales of its French-language signal, CFTM-TV, in eastern Canada. The Commission will therefore continue to approve the carriage of CFJP-TV on a case-by-case basis and will not place it on the lists of eligible satellite services.

III. OTHER MATTERS

1.Establishment of a List of Prohibited Services

While not specifically raised in Public Notice CRTC 1990-61, a number of parties recommended that the Commission abandon its practice of approving lists of eligible satellite services. The CCTA suggested that, instead, the Commission establish a list of services that it deems to compete directly with licensed Canadian services or otherwise contravene Canadian law and are thus prohibited from distribution. The CCTA is of the view that this would reduce the Commission's regulatory burden and permit licensees to respond more quickly to customer demand for services. This same proposal was supported by Cable Atlantic.

The Commission notes that many satellite services, particularly those originating from the United States, are in an almost constant state of evolution. New services are launched and existing services change their formats in attempting to find new market niches.

Under the CCTA proposal, as supported by Cable Atlantic, cable systems would be able to carry any new foreign satellite service without prior Commission approval. The Commission would not have the prior opportunity to determine whether the service is competitive with a Canadian pay or specialty service, nor would Canadian pay and specialty television licensees have an opportunity to comment on this issue prior to the services being distributed.

For these reasons, the Commission considers that this proposal would not contribute to the orderly development of the Canadian broadcasting system. The Commission will therefore continue to issue and periodically review lists of eligible satellite services for distribution by Canadian cable licensees.

2.Establishment of a Single List of Authorized Services

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador suggested the Commission use only one list of eligible foreign signals for distribution by all cable systems in Canada.

The Commission is concerned, however, that this proposal does not take into consideration the different purposes served by the Part II and Part III lists.

There are two separate Part III lists defined in the regulations: one for Canadian satellite services and one for non-Canadian satellite services. This distinction is required to administer Sections 23 and 24 of the Cable Television Regulations, 1986.

The Part II list, on the other hand, is divided into Sections "A" and "B". The satellite services on Section "A" may be packaged with either Canadian pay or specialty services, while those on Section "B" may be packaged only with a Canadian pay service.

The Commission is of the view that the maintenance of separate lists is the most efficient method of recognizing the distinction between the carriage requirements for Class 1 and Class 2 licensees on the one hand, and for Part III licensees on the other. It will therefore continue its current practice of maintaining separate lists.

3.KOMO-TV AND KING-TV Seattle

One issue not raised in the Public Notice or by any of the parties that submitted comments relates to CANCOM's western signals (KOMO-TV and KING-TV). Prior to its February 1990 licence renewal decision (Decision CRTC 90-92), CANCOM's licence was subject to the expectation that it provide subscribers in the Mountain and Pacific time zones with programming delivered in appropriate time periods.

While these signals were distributed during 1987 and 1988, CANCOM indicated at its renewal hearing that it could not see a market demand developing for these signals and that it did not plan to reimplement the distribution of these signals during its next licence term. The Commission, in Decision CRTC 90-92, agreed that "it would be unreasonable to expect CANCOM to continue to distribute them", and KOMO-TV and KING-TV were therefore deleted from the list of services authorized for distribution by CANCOM.

For consistency, the Commission is now removing KOMO-TV and KING-TV from the Part II and Part III lists.

In addition, the name of the TVA service has been changed from TCTV to CFTM-TV on the Part II and Part III lists to reflect the language found on the list of services authorized for distribution by CANCOM.

Allan J. Darling
Secretary General

APPENDIX A/ANNEXE A

LIST OF PART II ELIGIBLE SATELLITE SERVICES/

LISTE DES SERVICES PAR SATELLITE ADMISSIBLES EN VERTU DE LA PARTIE II

(Cable Television Regulations, 1986, section l0)/

(Règlement de 1986 sur la télédistribution, art. l0)

A)Access Alberta

Radio Québec

TVOntario

Knowledge Network

Atlantic Television System Ltd. (ASN)

CBC English-language Television Service/Service de télévision de langue anglaise de la SRC

CBC French-language Television Service/Service de télévision de langue française de la SRC

CANCOM

-CHCH-TV Hamilton Ind

- CFTM-TV Montréal TVA

- CITV-TV Edmonton Ind

- CHAN-TV Vancouver CTV

- WDIV-TV Detroit NBC

- WTVS-TV Detroit PBS

- WJBK-TV Detroit CBS

- WXYZ-TV Detroit ABC

Cable News Network (CNN)

CNN Headline News (CNN-2)

The Nashville Network (TNN)

The Arts and Entertainment Network (A&E)

Financial News Network (FNN)*

The Weather Channel (TWC)

Country Music Television

Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-Span)

The Silent Network

The Learning Channel (TLC)

B)WTBS-TV Atlanta

WGN-TV Chicago

WOR-TV New York City

WPIX-TV New York City

Lifetime Television

Authorization for the above-noted services is subject to the following: - when this list of Part II Eligible Satellite Services is replaced by another list of Part II Eligible Satellite Services, the only authorized services will be those contained in the most recent list; accordingly, this list supersedes the list dated l8 August 1989;

- in the case of CANCOM signals, ASN, the CBC English- and French-language Television Services and U.S. satellite services, licensees are required to enter into the necessary contractual arrangements for such carriage.

* In the case of the Financial News Network (FNN) service, the authorization to distribute the service does not include the programming of Sports.

Date of issue: 28 December 1990

APPENDIX B/ANNEXE B

LIST OF PART III ELIGIBLE SATELLITE SERVICES/

LISTE DES SERVICES PAR SATELLITE ADMISSIBLES EN VERTU DE LA PARTIE III

(Cable Television Regulations, 1986, section 24)/

(Règlement de 1986 sur la télédistribution, art. 24)

Part III Eligible Canadian Satellite Services/Services par satellite canadiens admissibles en vertu de la partie III

Access Alberta

Radio Québec

TVOntario

Knowledge Network

Atlantic Television System Ltd. (ASN)

CBC English-language Television Service/Service de télévision de langue anglaise de la SRC

CBC French-language Television Service/Service de télévision de langue française de la SRC

CANCOM

-CHCH-TV Hamilton Ind

- CFTM-TV Montréal TVA

- CITV-TV Edmonton Ind

- CHAN-TV Vancouver CTV

- WDIV-TV Detroit NBC

- WTVS-TV Detroit PBS

- WJBK-TV Detroit CBS

- WXYZ-TV Detroit ABC

Part III Eligible Non-Canadian Satellite Services/Services par satellite non canadiens admissibles en vertu de la partie III

WTBS-TV Atlanta

WGN-TV Chicago

WOR-TV New York City

WPIX-TV New York City

Cable News Network (CNN)

CNN Headline News (CNN-2)

The Nashville Network (TNN)

The Arts and Entertainment Network (A&E)

Financial News Network (FNN)*

The Weather Channel (TWC)

Country Music Television

Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-Span)

The Silent Network

The Learning Channel (TLC)

Black Entertainment Television (BET)

Lifetime Television

Authorization for the above-noted services is subject to the following:

- when these lists of Part III Eligible Satellite Services are replaced by other lists of Part III Eligible Satellite Services, the only authorized services will be those contained in the most recent lists; accordingly, these lists supersede the list of Part III Eligible Canadian Satellite Services and the list of Part III Eligible Non-Canadian Satellite Services dated l8 August 1989;

- in the case of out-of-province educational services, there should be no objection on the part of the originating service;

- in the case of CANCOM signals, ASN, and the CBC English- and French-language Television Services, licensees are required to enter into the necessary contractual arrangements for such carriage;

- in the case of CFTM-TV and CHAN-TV, a licensee also distributing the signal of a local TVA/CTV affiliate shall delete the duplicate programming from the CANCOM services or substitute the local service(s) when the programming is identical.

* In the case of the Financial News Network (FNN) service, the authorization to distribute the service does not include the programming of Sports.

Date of Issue: 28 December 1990