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Ottawa, 13 August 1992
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Decision CRTC 92-549
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CFCF Inc. (Quatre-Saisons)
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Montréal, Quebec - 912838000 - 912839800
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Following a Public Hearing in Montréal and Quebec City beginning on 23 March 1992, the Commission renews the broadcasting licences issued to CFCF Inc. for the Quatre-Saisons television network undertaking and for the programming undertaking consisting of CFJP-TV Montréal, the mother station, and its transmitter CJPC-TV Rimouski from 1 September 1992 to 31 August 1995, subject to the conditions specified in the licences to be issued.
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This three-year renewal of the Quatre-Saisons licences reflects the Commission's dissatisfaction with the licensee's almost total refusal to make any specific commitments for the next licence term. This period will enable the Commission to conduct an early review of the programming direction Quatre-Saisons decides to take in future years.
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The March 1992 hearing was the Commission's first opportunity to publicly examine Quatre-Saisons' performance since it was first granted a licence in September 1985 in a competitive context (Decision CRTC 85-733). The Commission sought to review with the licensee the extent to which it had achieved its principal objectives to provide Montréal and the remainder of Quebec with a second private French-language television service that is both complementary and distinctive. It was the licensee's commitments in these areas upon which the Commission based its decision to licence the network. The Commission also expected the licensee to outline specific plans and related commitments for the new licence term.
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Quatre-Saisons' first years of operation were very turbulent and were marked by numerous unexpected setbacks. Several of the more innovative operating concepts initially proposed were abandoned and the orientation of its programming was changed several times. The problems reached a peak in 1991 when the losses of more than $123 million accumulated since 1986 threatened the network's existence and made it necessary to prepare a recovery plan with cuts at all levels, namely in programming and in the hours of broadcast.
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Quatre-Saisons indicated in its Promise of Performance submitted with the licence renewal application that, under this recovery plan, it would be [TRANSLATION]" unable to make formal commitments other than to comply with the rules on Canadian content". It also indicated that the program schedule included with its application was for the current season (1991-92) and was an interim schedule unrepresentative of its plans for the future. It added that the financial projections submitted with the application, in particular the amounts to be spent on programming, were a mathematical extension of its recovery plan and could not, therefore, be considered a financial commitment on the part of the network.
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The Commission is aware of the licensee's financial difficulties and the large capital outlay that was required to commence operations and meet the commitments and expectations set out in Decision CRTC 85-733. The Commission notes in this regard that heavy spending on programming allowed Quatre-Saisons to gain a solid foothold in the major Quebec markets in its first few years of operation. According to the BBM surveys for the fall of 1991, Quatre-Saisons drew an audience share of 19% in Montréal and 18% in Quebec City. The network's programming expenditures exceeded by more than 94% the initial estimates for the first five years of operation, clearly a remarkable effort.
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The Commission cannot accept, however, the strategy adopted by Quatre-Saisons, which has effectively been to ask the Commission to accept as a seven-year Promise of Performance an overall plan containing no detailed commitments whatsoever, a plan that is likely to be changed as the licensee sees fit. In the circumstances, the Commission would be unable to carry out its monitoring role under the Broadcasting Act and, more particularly, would be creating a situation that would be completely unfair to other licensees.
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Another Commission concern pertains to the statements made by the licensee during the hearing regarding its intent to move away from certain aspects of its original plan, notably by adopting a strategy of differentiation rather than complementarity, but without indicating the specific direction in which it is heading. The licensee also indicated that it plans to become a less varied network by aiming its programming mainly at an audience of people between the ages of 18 and 49, thus eliminating any children's programming. However, children's programming was one of the main objectives of the original plan in 1985, under which the licensee was to offer several programs targeted specifically at younger audiences.
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Notwithstanding the restrictions that Quebec legislation places on advertising to children, the Commission expects Quatre-Saisons to revise its programming policy as it pertains to Canadian children's programming, particularly in light of the need for programs of this type that reflect the concerns and aspirations of young "Québécois". The Commission expects the licensee to present Canadian programs for children on a regular basis. To that end, it may wish to consider pooling its resources with other Canadian broadcasters in collaborative projects, coproductions or other innovative partnership arrangements.
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The Commission notes the licensee's statements regarding CFJP-TV's policy on the broadcast of multicultural programs, particularly with regard to news and to public affairs content, and to its efforts to ensure that ethnic groups are represented among its staff.
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The Commission notes that most of the funds Quatre-Saisons spent on programming during the first term of its licence went to independent producers. In its renewal application, the licensee stated that it had exceeded its objectives in this area, as most of its programs, with the exception of information programs, were produced by independent producers. The licensee also indicated at the hearing that it planned to continue making extensive use of independent producers; all new programs for the 1992-93 season will be produced in co-operation with independent producers. The Commission notes the intervention on this matter presented at the hearing by the Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec.
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In the context of the renewal applications by French-language television networks and stations in Quebec, the Commission received a number of interventions concerning the quantity and quality of the captioning provided by Quebec television broadcasters. The Commission acknowledges in particular the brief submitted jointly by the Quebec Centre for the Hearing Impaired, the Canadian Captioning Development Agency and the Regroupement québécois pour le sous-titrage. In light of these interventions, the Commission considers it necessary to set the following expectations:
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- that Quatre-Saisons take the measures to ensure constant monitoring of captioning activities during all broadcasting periods;
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- that Quatre-Saisons increase the number of hours of captioning from year to year;
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- that Quatre-Saisons submit a report, within six months of the date of this decision, on consultations with groups of hearing impaired persons. The report should describe any improvements in captioning quality, special measures taken to publicize scheduling changes for captioned programs or the addition of new ones to the schedule, and technical improvements in the transmission and reception of captioned signals.
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The Commission also received a joint brief from La Magnétothèque, the Canadian Captioning Development Agency and the Regroupement des aveugles and amblyopes du Québec which underlined the importance of providing the visually impaired with the Audiovision service on French-language television.
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The Commission therefore expects Quatre-Saisons to file an annual report, beginning in September 1993, on the increase in captioned program time over the previous year and the measures it has taken to improve its service to the visually or hearing impaired, such as live captioning and implementation of a descriptive video system.
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The Commission considered the many other interventions to the renewal applications, in particular that presented at the hearing by the Canadian Institute of Adult Education, which was very critical of the quality of certain Quatre-Saisons programs and their depiction of crime and violence. The licensee acknowledged during the hearing that films considered as being violent accounted for between 15% and 16% of the films its broadcasts. The Commission notes the willingness expressed by Quatre-Saisons at the hearing, in response to suggestions from the Association nationale des téléspectateurs and the archbishops of Montréal and Quebec City, Monsignor Jean-Claude Turcotte and Monsignor Maurice Couture, to co-operate in improving its relations with viewers and representative organizations.
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Allan J Darling
Secretary General
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