|
|
|
Ottawa, 29 August 1994
|
|
Public Notice CRTC 1994-107
|
|
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT TO DECISIONS CRTC 94-702 TO 94-705 - APPROVAL OF CABLE DISTRIBUTION OF FOX NETWORK AFFILIATES
|
In Public Notices CRTC 1994-25, 1994-68 and 1994-68-1, dated 14 March, 10 June and 30 June 1994, respectively, the Commission announced an application by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) to add the signal of WUHF-TV Rochester, New York, an affiliate of the FOX network, to its authorized distribution; and applications by approximately 50 cable licensees from Ontario and the Western provinces, for authority to add other affiliates of the FOX network, received via microwave or optical fibre. All but two of these cable licensees proposed to distribute the FOX signal on an unencrypted (unscrambled) discretionary tier. The Campbell River T.V. Association of Campbell River (a Class 1 licensee), and Shaw Cablesystems (B.C.) Ltd. of Fairmont Hot Springs and Columere Park (a Part III licensee), proposed the distribution of a FOX signal as part of the basic service.
|
|
After consideration of all aspects related to these applications, including detailed review of the supporting and opposing interventions, the Commission has decided to permit Class 1 cable licensees, and Class 2 cable licensees having between 2,000 and 6,000 subscribers, to add the distribution of a fourth U.S. conventional commercial network service on a discretionary tier. Accordingly, such licensees who have applied for the discretionary distribution of a FOX affiliate have been authorized to do so, subject to existing linkage requirements as well as to the availability of local channel capacity. Part III cable licensees, and Class 2 cable licensees with fewer than 2,000 subscribers, will be permitted to add the distribution of a fourth U.S. conventional commercial network service either as part of the basic service or on a discretionary tier.
|
Consistent with this approach, the Commission has approved the application by Shaw Cablesystems (B.C.) Ltd., a Part III licensee in respect of its cable system at Fairmont Hot Springs and Columere Park, to distribute the signal of a FOX network affiliate, received via microwave, as part of the basic service (Decision CRTC 94-705). A similar application proposing the distribution, as part of the basic service, of a fourth U.S. conventional commercial network service by The Campbell River T.V. Association, a Class 1 licensee, has been denied; the licensee has, however, been authorized to distribute such a service, at its option, on a discretionary tier (Decision CRTC 94-704).
|
The Commission has also decided to approve CANCOM's application to add WUHF-TV to its authorized distribution (Decision CRTC 94-702). Concurrent with Decision CRTC 94-702 and with this public notice, the Commission has issued revised lists for Part II and Part III Eligible Satellite Services to include the signal of WUHF-TV Rochester, New York (Public Notice CRTC 1994-108). This will permit all Part III cable licensees, as well as all Class 2 cable licensees with fewer than 2,000 subscribers, to distribute the signal of WUHF-TV as received via CANCOM, on either the basic service or on a discretionary tier, and will also permit the distribution of this same signal, on a discretionary tier only, by Class 1 cable licensees, and by Class 2 cable licensees having between 2,000 and 6,000 subscribers.
|
|
IBACKGROUND
|
|
Since 1979, the Commission's general policy with respect to the cable carriage of conventional U.S. television services has been to allow the distribution of up to a maximum of three commercial services and one non-commercial service, when one or more of these services is received other than directly over the air at a cable licensee's local head end.
|
|
Over the years, this has come to be known as the Commission's "3+1" policy, and has led to the widespread distribution by cable systems across Canada of television signals providing the ABC, CBS and NBC network services, together with the non-commercial PBS service.
|
|
In the United States, FOX is generally considered to be a fourth conventional, commercial television network similar to ABC, CBS and NBC. The emergence of the FOX network and the present applications have prompted the Commission to revisit its "3+1" policy.
|
|
II MODIFICATION TO "3+1" POLICY
|
|
In approving these applications, the Commission is modifying its "3+1" policy by allowing, for Class 1 cable licensees and Class 2 cable licensees with 2,000 to 6,000 subscribers, the distribution, as part of the basic service, of any three of the four conventional commercial U.S. network services in addition to the non-commercial PBS network service, and allowing the distribution, on either an encrypted or unencrypted discretionary tier, of a fourth conventional commercial U.S. network service, subject to the Commission's existing linkage rules in relation to the distribution of Canadian specialty and pay television services.
|
|
Part III cable licensees and Class 2 cable licensees with fewer than 2,000 subscribers will be allowed to distribute a fourth U.S. conventional commercial network as part of the basic service, without further authorization when received via CANCOM or upon application if received via other means.
|
|
III DISCUSSION OF THE CABLE APPLICATIONS - THE COMMISSION'S RATIONALE
|
|
The Commission received some 120 interventions supporting the CANCOM application, submitted primarily by representatives of the cable industry. It also received over 475 interventions supporting the various cable applications, including those filed by the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), The Movie Network and Cable Atlantic; the vast majority of these supporting interventions, however, were submitted by individuals.
|
|
Eleven interventions were received in opposition to the CANCOM application, while thirteen interventions (largely from representatives of the broadcasting industry) opposed the various cable applications.
|
|
The opposing interventions raised a number of matters, including concerns regarding limited cable channel capacity (raised in the context of the recent Commission decisions licensing new specialty and pay television services); the impact that the introduction of a FOX affiliate could have on local broadcasters; related simultaneous substitution and copyright concerns; the relevance of the current off-air availability of a FOX signal in some regions of Canada; the alleged lack of programming diversity provided by the FOX affiliates; concerns about alleged violence in programming; and the relationship between demand for the cable carriage of FOX affiliates and the presence of NFL football coverage in the FOX network schedule.
|
|
After conducting a detailed review of each of these matters, the Commission has determined that any concerns raised are outweighed by the following factors.
|
|
Firstly, the majority of Canadian cable households already receive the signal of a FOX network affilate, as they are currently available directly over the air to numerous cable systems located in the southern parts of British Columbia and Ontario. The Commission, in arriving at its decision, has taken into account the fact that the FOX network has already achieved wide distribution in Canada in accordance with existing policy and regulation and, therefore, considers it appropriate to permit the extension of this network service to other Canadian cable subscribers.
|
|
Secondly, the Commission notes that the discretionary distribution of the signal of a FOX network affiliate or of any one of the traditional networks will provide an attractive linkage partner for either a new Canadian specialty or pay television service approved for distribution on a discretionary tier, and can play a significant role in the successful introduction of these services.
|
|
Regarding the channel capacity issue raised by interveners, the Commission notes that its decision to limit the number of new specialty and pay television services was based not only on limited channel capacity, but also on concerns for subscriber affordability which, in the Commission's view, posed a significant constraint on the number of services the market could accommodate at this time. The Commission also notes that virtually all applicants have committed not to add a FOX affiliate unless they have sufficient capacity to carry all Canadian specialty and pay television services licensed in June 1994. Moreover, to ensure that an additional foreign service is not added at the expense of these new Canadian services, the Commission hereby requires all cable applicants to ensure that they will have the necessary channel capacity to distribute the recently-licensed pay and specialty services before they distribute the FOX service.
|
|
With regard to the concern raised by certain interveners about the channel capacity that would remain available to accommodate the services of the Canadian specialty and pay television undertakings that may be licensed for a January 1997 start date, the Commission notes the statement by Shaw Cablesystems Ltd. that major cable operators, including itself, will have completed system upgrades that will provide sufficient channel capacity for these new services.
The Commission encourages all systems that currently have a limited channel capacity to effect similar upgrades as expeditiously as possible. Further, as suggested by CanWest Global Communications Corporation in its intervention, the Commission hereby requires cable licensees, when determining their "available channel capacity" for the purpose of the CCTA's Access Commitment, to include as part of their available capacity, any channel used to distribute a FOX affiliate, whose distribution commenced after 16 May 1994, which is the date of Commission acceptance of the Access Commitment.
|
|
The Commission has also taken special note of the intervention by the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta concerning the possible displacement of the TVA service on cable in favour of other services, such as FOX, and their similar concern that the added carriage of such services might prevent them from receiving the recently-licensed national French-language news service known as RDI. The Commission strongly encourages licensees to provide packages of services that cater to subscriber demands in both official languages.
|
|
IV MATTERS SPECIFIC TO THE CANCOM APPLICATION
|
|
In the context of the Commission's approval of the application submitted by CANCOM for the addition of the FOX affiliate, WUHF-TV Rochester, to the lists of eligible satellite services, the Commission notes that the current "3+1" policy does not allow for the distribution of duplicate network services, except for those services received directly over the air at the cable licensee's local head end. However, the Commission notes that paragraph 10(1)(h) of the Cable Television Regulations, 1986, at the same time, permits Class 1 licensees and Class 2 licensees with between 2,000 and 6,000 subscribers, to distri- bute, without the Commission's prior approval, duplicate U.S. conventional commercial and non-commercial network signals if obtained from CANCOM by way of the Commission's lists of Eligible Satellite Services. The Commission hereby puts CANCOM on notice that it will wish to discuss with the licensee, at the time of its licence renewal scheduled for 3 October 1994, the appropriateness of revising this provision so as to preclude duplicate distribution on cable of all U.S. network signals currently distributed by CANCOM.
|
|
Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
|
|
|
|