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Ottawa, 9 July 1992
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Decision CRTC92-456
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Southmount Cable Limited
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Hamilton (part of) and the Township of Glanbrook (part of), Ontario- 910862200
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Pursuant to Public Notice CRTC 1992-11 dated 5 February 1992, the Commission approves the application by Southmount Cable Limited (Southmount) for authority to distribute, pursuant to paragraph 10(1)(j) of the Cable Television Regulations, 1986 (the regulations), the programming service of WNEQ-TV (PBS) Buffalo, New York, received over the air, so long as it does not distribute the signal of WQLN (PBS) Erie, Pennsylvania.
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Southmount currently distributes WQLN, together with the signal of a second PBS station, namely that of WNED-TV Buffalo, as part of the basic service. It proposes to substitute WNEQ-TV for WQLN. In support of this proposal, the applicant stated that there is a strong following for this service amongst its subscribers, and that the reception quality of the Buffalo signal will be significantly better than that of WQLN. Moreover, the programming of WQLN largely duplicates that of WNED-TV, and the proposed service is therefore expected to provide more variety to subscribers.
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WNEQ-TV began operation in May 1987. In Public Notice CRTC 1986-182 dated 1 August 1986 announcing the enactment of the regulations, the Commission noted that the carriage of non-Canadian television stations that commenced operation later than 1 January 1985 would not be authorized through the regulations. Instead, licensees wishing to carry such stations were directed to apply to the Commission for specific authorization on a case-by-case basis.
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Ontario's public educational broadcaster, TVOntario (TVO) submitted interventions opposing the present and other similar applications. TVO stated that, while WNEQ-TV currently does not conduct membership drives, there is no guarantee that it will not do so in the future, either directly or through its sister station WNED-TV. It argued that an approval of this application would result in "consequential damage to TVO's revenue-generating activities and as a result our ability to serve Ontarians with high-quality educational programming".
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The Commission has considered all of the evidence before it, including the views advanced by the applicant and the intervener. It is satisfied that, since this proposal involves the replacement of one PBS signal for another and thus does not represent any increase in the number of U.S. signals distributed on the undertaking, it should not result in any undue impact on Canadian broadcasters and that approval of this application is warranted.
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
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