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Public Notice
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Ottawa, 21 December 1992
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Public Notice CRTC 1992-86
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PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CABLE TELEVISION REGULATIONS, 1986
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In Public Notice CRTC 1991-59 dated 5 June 1991 the Commission announced its new community channel policy, to replace that which had been in place for the previous 15 years. The new policy was the result of a review process initiated in 1990, and reflects changes in a number of key areas, including financial support, sponsorship advertising, and content, all designed to strengthen the mechanisms by which the community channel serves the objectives of the Broadcasting Act, and to ensure that community programming remains a vital and important component of the broadcasting system.
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The Commission wishes to reiterate that citizen participation remains the cornerstone of the community channel. It therefore requires that access to the community channel be free and open and insists that access should not, under any circumstances, depend on the availability of a sponsor, or other forms of financial support.
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This notice sets out the Commission's proposals for amendments to certain sections and subsections of the Cable Television Regulations, 1986 (the regulations), such changes being necessary in order to accommodate and give effect to the new policy governing the operation of the community channel.
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ADVERTISING
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In 1986, the Commission introduced a number of measures relating to advertising on the community channel which allowed limited forms of sponsorship and contra advertising. These measures were clarified in Circular No. 348 Sponsorship Messages on the Community Channel dated 27 July 1988.
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On a number of occasions the Commission has expressed its concerns with regard to the influence of commercial activities on programming orientation, and on licensees' community channel access policies. The Commission has been concerned that cable licensees, who already have a reliable revenue base, not be permitted to draw advertising revenues in competition with conventional broadcasters.
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As stated in Public Notice CRTC 1991-59, the Commission will retain its current restrictions on sponsorship and contra advertising. However, the Commission does propose to amend the regulations to permit the mention of the address and telephone number of sponsors in contra and sponsorship messages.
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The Commission reiterates its expectation that all revenues generated from advertising activities be reinvested in the operation of the community channel.
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To ensure that licensees are in compliance with the community channel policy, particularly with respect to advertising, citizen access and the overall orientation of the community channel, the Commission proposes to amend the regulations to require licensees to retain an audiovisual (as opposed to audio or audiovisual) recording of all their programming for four weeks from the date of distribution, and to require Class 1 and Class 2 licensees with 2,000 or more subscribers to submit such an audiovisual recording to the Commission upon request. In this regard, the Commission notes that cable licensees generally supported the retention of an audiovisual recording of all their programming for a 28-day period.
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In addition, the Commission proposes to amend subsection 14(1) of the regulations to include requirements for the logging of the time of commencement of each commercial message, its duration and the name of the sponsor, as well as the time of commencement of each alphanumeric service and its duration. This will allow the Commission to monitor the time allocated to sponsorship activity and local bulletin board messages.
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In a subsequent section of this notice, the Commission outlines specific amendments for cable systems with less than 2,000 subscribers.
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SHARING THE COMMUNITY CHANNEL WITH COMPLEMENTARY PROGRAMMING
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Currently, Class 2 licensees are permitted by the regulations to distribute complementary programming on the community channel (as described in Public Notice CRTC 1985-151). The distribution of such programs is not currently authorized on Class 1 undertakings as they fall outside of the existing definition of community programming. In the Commission's view, the exhibition of a limited amount of government and public service information material, as well as the carriage of the Question Period portions of provincial or territorial proceedings, would be in the public interest.
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The Commission therefore proposes to amend the regulations to authorize the distribution, by Class 1 licensees, of government and public service information material, as well as the provincial or territorial Question Period proceedings on the community channel.
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Licensees will be expected to adhere to the principle that local community programs be given scheduling priority. In keeping with the Commission's policy of free and open access, licensees must not require financial payment in exchange for the distribution of program material.
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SMALL CLASS 2 SYSTEMS
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In keeping with its objective of reducing the regulatory burden on small undertakings, the Commission proposes to amend the regulations to remove the requirement that licensees of Class 2 systems with fewer than 2,000 subscribers provide community programming on the community channel. In such instances, these licensees will be expected to provide, as a minimum, a local alphanumeric service, which could include both classified advertising and public announcements.
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As an incentive to encourage these licensees to maintain a degree of local community programming service, the Commission proposes to amend the regulations to permit Class 2 licensees with fewer than 2,000 subscribers, and Part III licensees in unserved communities, to air up to 12 minutes of commercial messages during each clock hour of community programming.
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The Commission proposes to further amend the regulations to define an "unserved community" as one having no local AM or FM radio station or television station.
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The Commission notes that, while the regulations define AM and FM radio stations as being only those that originate programming (as distinct from those that rebroadcast programming), the same distinction is not made in the case of television stations. Accordingly, in communities that would otherwise fall within the proposed definition of "unserved", but which are served by the signal of a local television station that rebroadcasts programming, cable licensees will be required to apply for permission to distribute local advertising on the community channel. The Commission hereby advises that it will, as a general rule, be favourably disposed to approve such applications. OTHER MATTERS
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For the purpose of uniformity, the Commission intends to amend the regulations to include the four general provisions respecting "programming content" that are found in the Commission's radio, television, pay television and specialty services regulations.
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The Commission hereby invites comments on the proposed amendments set out in the attached Schedule. Comments should be addressed to Allan J. Darling, Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N2 and should be received no later than 2 February 1993.
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Related Documents: "Policies Respecting Broadcasting Receiving Undertakings (Cable Television)" dated l6 December l975; "A Review of Certain Cable Television Programming Issues" dated 26 March l979; "Bicycled Programs on the Community Channel" Circular No. 286 dated 6 December 1982; "Community Channel Policy Review" Circular No. 297 dated 12 June 1984; "Complementary Programming on the Community Channel" Public Notice CRTC 1985-151 dated 18 July 1985; "Regulations Respecting Broadcasting Receiving Undertakings" Public Notice CRTC 1986-182 dated 1 August 1986; "Sponsorship Messages on the Community Channel" Circular No. 348 dated 27 July l988; "Balance in Programming on Community Access Media" Public Notice CRTC 1988-161 dated 29 September 1988; "Policy Regarding OpenLine Programming" Public Notice CRTC 1988-213 dated 23 December 1988; "Community Channel Policy Review" Public Notice CRTC 1990-57 dated 5 June 1990; and "Community Channel Policy" Public Notice CRTC 1991-59 dated 5 June 1991.
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
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