ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 95-106

Decision

Ottawa, 24 March 1995

Decision CRTC 95-106

Canwest Television Inc.

Vancouver and Courtenay, British Columbia - 940715600

Licence Renewal for CKVU-TV Vancouver and CKVU-TV-1 Courtenay

Following a Public Hearing held in Vancouver beginning on 1 November 1994, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence for CKVU-TV Vancouver and its transmitter CKVU-TV-1 Courtenay. By majority vote, the licence term shall be for a five-year period only, from 1 September 1995 to 31 August 2000; the licence shall be subject to the conditions in effect under the current licence, as well as to those specified in the appendix to this decision and in the licence to be issued.

This term will enable the Commission to monitor, and to review at an early date, the licensee's performance in implementing all of its commitments, particularly those with regard to local news.

The licensee, CanWest Television Inc., is wholly owned by CanWest Broadcasting Ltd. For its part, CanWest Broadcasting Ltd. is controlled by CanWest Global Communications Corp. which, in turn, is ultimately controlled by Mr. I.H. Asper.

Local Reflection

In Public Notice CRTC 1995-48 introducing this and other television renewal decisions issued today, the Commission reiterated the importance of the principle of local reflection and reminded television licensees that they have a special responsibility to serve the public within the particular geographic areas they are licensed to serve. At the hearing, the Commission discussed with the licensee its failure during two years of the current licence term to fulfil the commitment it made at the time of CKVU-TV's last licence renewal, approved in Decision CRTC 89-103 dated 6 April 1989, to broadcast a minimum average of 11 hours 10 minutes of local original news programming each week. According to the station's logs, CKVU-TV broadcast a weekly average of 10 hours 24 minutes of local original news in the 1992-1993 broadcast year, and a weekly average of only 7 hours 42 minutes in the 1991-1992 broadcast year.

When asked at the hearing to explain the shortfall occurring in these two years, the licensee stated that it had failed to fulfil this commitment due to changes made in the schedule of CKVU-TV's newscasts. The licensee indicated that it had implemented corrective measures and has operated in compliance since September 1993. CKVU-TV's logs confirm that the station broadcast a weekly average of 11 hours 39 minutes of original local news during the 1993-1994 broadcast year.

The licensee also stated that, during the current licence term, it increased its "investment in news and the prime time hours devoted to news" and that it "put in place disciplines and procedures to ensure total compliance."

The Commission reminds the licensee that, while in Public Notice CRTC 1991-22 dated 15 February 1991 and entitled "Policy for Local Television Programming", the Commission relieved most individual licensees of quantitative commitments to local programming in most categories, it nevertheless maintained the requirement that licensees fulfil their commitments to local news programming. The public notice states specifically that the "Commission requires licensees to meet their minimum quantitative commitments in respect of the average weekly hours of original Category 1 (news) programming".

The Commission attaches great importance to the commitments made by licensees of private television stations to local news. The licensee's failure to meet its commitments to local news during the current licence term is the reason that the Commission has, by majority vote, granted CKVU-TV a short-term licence renewal.

For the future, the Commission expects the licensee to adhere to the commitment made in its licence renewal application to broadcast a minimum weekly average of 10 hours 57 minutes of local original news on CKVU-TV during the new licence term.

Requirement for Either Expenditures on or Exhibition of Canadian Programming - at the Licensee's Option

As also announced in Public Notice CRTC 1995-48, the Commission has adopted a policy, according to which the licensees of most private English-language stations earning over $10 million in total annual advertising revenues and network payments are being offered the option of either adhering to a condition of licence on Canadian programming expenditures similar to the existing condition, or adhering to a condition of licence requiring the licensee to exhibit a specific number of hours of Canadian drama (category 7), music (category 8) and variety programming (category 9) during the evening broadcast period for each year of the new licence term. The options and the Commission's policy rationale are described more fully in that public notice.

The licensee must advise the Commission which option it has chosen before the new licence term begins on 1 September 1995. Once the licensee has advised the Commission which option it wishes to follow, that option becomes the condition of licence in effect throughout of the new licence term.

Program Development

The Commission reminds the licensee of the Commission's expectations set out in Public Notice CRTC 1989-27 dated 6 April 1989 and entitled "Overview: Local Television for the 1990s" regarding the important role that local television stations play in program development. The Commission notes that for the proposed seven-year licence term, the licensee made a commitment to contribute $60,000 to program development in the first year of the term, rising gradually to $67,531 in the fifth year.

Children's Programming

The Commission expects the licensee to adhere to its commitment to broadcast an average of 24 hours 30 minutes each week of programs directed to children and to youth.

Service to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

At the hearing, the Commission discussed with the licensee its performance with respect to providing service to deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. For the new licence term, the licensee proposed to spend $47,000 annually on closed captioning, and to offer 3,628 hours of captioned programs annually.

Consistent with its policy approach for closed captioning announced in Public Notice CRTC 1995-48, the Commission requires the licensee to caption all local news programming, including live segments, using either real-time captioning or another method capable of captioning live programming by the end of the third year of the new licence term. In addition, the Commission requires the licensee to close caption 70% of its programming during the broadcast day by the end of the licence term.

Employment Equity

In Public Notice CRTC 1992-59 dated 1 September 1992 and entitled "Implementation of an Employment Equity Policy", the Commission announced that the employment equity practices of broadcasters would be subject to examination by the Commission. Based on the public record, including the reports provided to the Commission by the Department of Human Resources Development, the Commission is pleased to commend the present management of CKVU-TV on the station's general approach to achieving employment equity.

The Commission acknowledges and has considered the many interventions submitted regarding the application for the renewal of CKVU-TV's licence. In developing the policy on closed captioning set out in Public Notice CRTC 1995-48, the Commission has paid particular attention to the concerns raised in the interventions by the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre on behalf of the Canadian Disability Rights Council, the Greater Vancouver Association of the Deaf and the British Columbia Chapter of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, as well as the intervention presented by the Canadian Association of Captioning Consumers.

Allan J. Darling
Secretary General

APPENDIX / ANNEXE

Conditions of Licence for CKVU-TV Vancouver and its transmitter CKVU-TV-1 Courtenay

1. The licensee shall adhere to either condition of licence A or condition of licence B set out below, as chosen by the licensee and communicated to the Commission before 1 September 1995. The licensee shall adhere to its selection throughout the entire licence term.

Condition of Licence A

The licensee shall expend on Canadian programming, at a minimum,

(i) In the year ending 31 August 1996, the minimum required level of expenditures in the year ending 31 August 1995 (before consideration of any overexpenditures or underexpenditures from prior years), increased (or decreased) by the year-over-year percentage change in the total of the station's annual advertising revenues and network payments, as reported in the relevant Annual Return for the years ending 31 August, averaged over the two previous years;

(ii) In each subsequent year of the licence term an amount calculated in accordance with the following formula: the amount of the previous year's expenditures (before consideration of any overexpenditures or underexpenditures from prior years), increased (or decreased) by the year-over-year percentage change in the total of the station's annual advertising revenues and network payments, as reported in the relevant Annual Return for the years ending 31 August, averaged over the two previous years;

(iii) In any year of the licence term, excluding the final year, the licensee may expend an amount on Canadian programming that is up to five percent (5%) less than the minimum required expenditure for that year as set out or calculated in accordance with paragraphs (i) and/or (ii) above; in such case, the licensee shall expend in the next year of the licence term, in addition to the minimum required expenditure for that year, the full amount of the previous year's underexpenditure;

(iv) In any year of the licence term, excluding the final year, where the licensee expends an amount on Canadian programming that is greater than the minimum required expenditure for that year, as set out or calculated in accordance with paragraphs (i) and/or (ii) above, the licensee may deduct:

 a) from the minimum required expenditure for the next year of the licence term an amount not exceeding the amount of the previous year's overexpenditures; and

 b) from the minimum required expenditure for any subsequent year of the licence term, an amount not exceeding the difference between the overexpendi- ture and any amount deducted under a) above;

(v) Notwithstanding paragraphs (iii) and (iv) above, during the licence term, the licensee shall expend on Canadian programming at a minimum the total of the minimum required expenditures as set out in or calculated in accordance with paragraphs (i) and/or (ii) above.

For the purpose of the above condition, "expend on Canadian programming" shall have the same meaning as that set out in Public Notices CRTC 1993-93 and 1993-174 dated 22 June and 10 December 1993, respectively.

For the purpose of the above condition, the licensee is not permitted to credit any overexpenditure made in the previous licence term towards Canadian programming expenditures in any year or years of this licence term.

Condition of Licence B

The licensee shall broadcast in the evening broadcast period (between 6:00 p.m. and midnight) the following average number of hours per week of Canadian drama, music or variety programming in each year of the licence term:

1995-1996 5:30 hours
1996-1997 6:00 hours
1997-1998 6:00 hours
1998-1999 6:00 hours
1999-2000 6:30 hours

For the purpose of the above condition, the categories drama, music and variety are defined as set out in Schedule I of the Television Regulations, 1987.

2. The licensee shall adhere to the guidelines on gender portrayal set out in the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) "Sex-Role Portrayal Code for Television and Radio Programming", as amended from time to time and accepted by the Commission. The application of the foregoing condition of licence will be suspended as long as the licensee remains a member in good standing of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC).

3. The licensee shall adhere to the guidelines on the depiction of violence in television programming set out in the CAB's "Voluntary Code Regarding Violence in Television Programming", as amended from time to time and accepted by the Commission. The application of the foregoing condition of licence will be suspended as long as the licensee remains a member in good standing of the CBSC.

4. The licensee shall adhere to the provisions of the CAB's "Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children", as amended from time to time and accepted by the Commission.