ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 95-640

Decision

Ottawa, 29 August 1995

Decision CRTC 95-640

Electrohome Limited

Edmonton and Lougheed, Alberta - 940950900

Licence renewal for CFRN-TV and its transmitter CFRN-TV-7

Following a Public Hearing held in Winnipeg beginning on 5 June 1995, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence for the television programming undertaking consisting of CFRN-TV Edmonton and CFRN-TV-7 Lougheed, from 1 September 1995 to 31 August 2002, subject to the conditions in effect under the current licence as well as to those conditions specified in the appendix to this decision and in the licence to be issued.

The licensee also applied to change the status of a number of CFRN-TV's transmitters to that of programming undertakings in order to comply with the Broadcasting Act, and to reassign most of the remaining transmitters to those new undertakings. In Decision CRTC 95-639 also being published today, the Commission has approved that application and consequently, the Commission approves the licensee's request to amend the broadcasting licence for CFRN-TV Edmonton by deleting the transmitters at Ashmont, Red Deer and Whitecourt as well as those at Athabasca, Grande Prairie, Grouard Mission, Jasper, Lac La Biche, Peace River, Rocky Mountain House and Slave Lake. The amendment will take effect upon the expiry of the current licence on 1 September 1995.

Local reflection

On 24 March 1995, the Commission issued Public Notice CRTC 1995-48 in conjunction with the release of decisions renewing the licences of privately-owned, English-language television stations in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. In that public notice, 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 licenced to serve.

In this regard, the Commission expects the licensee to adhere to its commitment to broadcast a minimum of 17 hours and 5 minutes of original local news per week, during the new licence term. The Commission notes that in addition to the regular newscasts, distinct regional newscasts originating from Edmonton will be broadcast daily in Ashmont, Red Deer and Whitecourt.

With regard to other local programming, the Commission notes that the licensee's plans to continue to broadcast "Alberta Business" and children's programs "Paul Hann and Friends" and "Video Stew", as well as its live daily magazine program "Day by Day".

Expenditures on Canadian programming

As announced in Public Notice CRTC 1995-48, the Commission has adopted a policy, according to which the licensees of most private English-language television 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.

In this regard, the licensee has advised the Commission that it has chosen to adhere to the condition of licence on Canadian programming expenditures. The relevant condition of licence is set out in the appendix to this decision. In its application, CFRN-TV indicated that its master control expenses have historically been included in Canadian programming expenditures for financial reporting purposes and that the projections for the new licence term were prepared on the same basis. In the upcoming licence term, the Commission expects CFRN-TV to exclude the costs of its master control operation from its programming expenses. Accordingly, as outlined in the appendix to this decision, CFRN-TV's required expenditures in the first year of the new licence term under the expenditure formula have been reduced by the amount of $1,089,000 projected for master control expenses in the first year.

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. In this regard, the Commission notes that beginning 1 September 1995, CFRN-TV's "Sunwapta Program Fund" will contribute a minimum of $1 million dollars per year to the Canadian independent production community. In addition, an annual $20,000 will be contributed to the "Sunwapta Screenwriting Awards" designed to encourage the development of original Canadian writing for television.

Service to the deaf and hard of hearing

Consistent with its policy approach for closed captioning announced in Public Notice CRTC 1995-48, the Commission requires the licensee, from 1 September 1998 to the end of the term of this licence, to caption all local news programming, including live segments, using either real-time captioning or another method capable of captioning live programming.

The Commission also requires the licensee to close caption not less than 90% of all 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. In this regard, the Commission encourages the licensee to consider employment equity issues in its hiring practices and in all other aspects of its management of human resources.

The Commission acknowledges the views expressed in the numerous interventions submitted regarding this application.

Allan J. Darling
Secretary General

APPENDIX / ANNEXE

Conditions of licence for CFRN-TV Edmonton

1. The licensee shall operate this broadcasting undertaking as part of the network operated by CTV Television Network Ltd.

2. 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 three 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 three 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 overexpenditure 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.

3. 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).

4. 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.

5. 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.