ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 95-644

Decision

Ottawa, 29 August 1995

Decision CRTC 95-644

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Montréal, Alma, Baie-Comeau, Blanc- Sablon, Chandler, Chibougamau, Chicoutimi, Chisasibi, Escuminac, Gaspé, Harrington Harbour, Îles-de-la-Madeleine, La Tabatière, La Tuque, Malartic, Maniwaki, Mistassini, Murdochville, New Carlisle, New Richmond, Old Fort Bay, Percé, Port-Daniel, Rivière-Saint-Paul, Saint-Augustin-Saguenay, Schefferville, Sept-Îles, Sherbrooke, Thetford Mines, Trois-Rivières, Wakeham, Waskaganish, Waswanipi and Wemindji, Quebec; Armstrong, Ontario; Brochet, Poplar River and Shamattawa, Manitoba - 940680200

Licence renewal for CBMT and its transmitters

Following a Public Hearing in Montréal beginning on 11 October 1994, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence for the television programming undertaking consisting of CBMT Montréal, CBJET-1 Alma, CBMIT Baie-Comeau, CBMST Blanc-Sablon, CBVB-TV Chandler, CBMCT Chibougamau, CBJET Chicoutimi, CBMGT Chisasibi, CBVA-TV Escuminac, CBVG-TV Gaspé, CBMUT Harrington Harbour, CBMYT Îles-de-la-Madeleine, CBMLT La Tabatière, CBMET La Tuque, CBVD-TV Malartic, CBVU-TV Maniwaki, CBMDT Mistassini, CBMMT Murdochville, CBVN-TV New Carlisle, CBVR-TV New Richmond, CBMVT Old Fort Bay, CBVP-TV Percé, CBVF-TV Port-Daniel, CBMPT Rivière-Saint-Paul, CBMXT Saint-Augustin-Saguenay, CBSET-1 Schefferville, CBSET Sept-Îles, CBMT-3 Sherbrooke, CBMT-4 Thetford Mines, CBMT-1 Trois-Rivières, CBVH-TV Wakeham, CBMHT Waskaganish, CBVW-TV Waswanipi and CBMNT Wemindji in Quebec as well as CBLIT Armstrong, Ontario and CBDE-TV Brochet, CBDI-TV Poplar River and CBDG-TV Shamattawa in Manitoba, from 1 September 1995 to 31 August 2000, 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.

This term will enable the Commission to consider the renewal of this licence following its consideration of the renewal of the CBC English- and French-language television network licences, which will expire 31 August 1999.

The Commission notes that after the publication of the application for renewal of CBMT and its transmitters, the CBC advised that CBMK-TV Kuujjuarapik would continue to broadcast the programs of the CBC Northern Television Service rather than the programs of CBMT. Consequently, it has not been included in the list of CBMT transmitters. The Commission also notes that the Notice of Public Hearing should have included the transmitter CBLIT Armstrong which changed its program source from the CBC Northern Television Service to CBMT (Decision CRTC 91-792 dated 7 October 1991).

CBMT Montréal is owned and operated by the CBC and broadcasts the programming of the CBC English-language television network as well as locally-produced programs.

Local production

The Commission notes that for the current licence term, the station had committed to broadcasting 11 hours per week of local news. CBMT was unable to meet this commitment in both the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons. The licensee explained that the shortfall in local news production was due to significant budget reductions implemented by the CBC in 1991 which resulted in reduced regional air time availability. As stated in Decision CRTC 94-437 which renewed the CBC television network licences, the Commission recognizes that reduced resources have caused some expectations not to be met both at the network and at the regional/local level. However, given the network priorities and expectations noted in Decision CRTC 94-437, the Commission is confident that CBMT's commitment to produce 10 hours and 10 minutes of local news weekly plus 2 minutes and 30 seconds of news headlines is attainable for the new licence term.

The Commission, therefore, expects the licensee to adhere to its Promise of Performance commitment to broadcast a minimum average of 10 hours and 10 minutes per week of original local news programming plus 2 minutes and 30 seconds of news headlines during the new licence term.

The Commission also encourages the licensee to continue to produce local programs providing a reflection of the area served by CBMT to be aired in the regional time periods which are made available.

Violence in television programming

In Decision CRTC 94-437, the Commission set out its expectation that the CBC fulfil its commitment to submit a proposed code respecting violence to the Commission, within three months of that decision. The Corporation has now met this expectation and its revised self-regulatory guidelines on violence have been submitted to the Commission for review and approval.

The licensee shall adhere, by condition of licence, once Commission approval has been obtained, to its revised self-regulatory guidelines on violence in television programming, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.

Until such time as the Commission has approved the revised guidelines, it is a condition of licence that the licensee adhere to its current self-regulatory guidelines on violence in television programming and, as a minimum, to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) "Voluntary Code Regarding Violence in Television Programming", as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.

In the case of most private broadcasters, the application of codes respecting violence is overseen by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC). Since the CBC is not a member of the CBSC, the Commission will oversee the application of any code respecting violence governing the CBC.

Service to the deaf and hard of hearing

In Decision CRTC 89-142 which last renewed the licence for CBMT, the Commission expected the CBC to acquire, as soon as possible, the equipment necessary to caption at a minimum, headlines and appropriate scripted portions of the early-evening newscasts during the licence term. In July 1994, the CBC confirmed that this expectation, which applied to most CBC owned and operated stations, had not been met and that implementation would only begin in the fall of 1994. Captioning was expected to be introduced first at CBFT Montréal, the only station with a fully computerized newsroom, which the CBC said was necessary for the implementation of closed captioning.

In the course of consultation held pursuant to section 23 of the Broadcasting Act, the CBC committed to caption all local and regional news programming, including the unscripted portions, using real-time captioning, while requesting that the Commission not impose those commitments as a condition of licence. While not unmindful of the budgetary restraints placed upon the Corporation, the Commission is, however, concerned that such a lengthy period of time has passed without implementation of the expectations related to closed captioning set out in Decision CRTC 89-142.

The Commission has therefore decided to impose the commitments made by the CBC as a condition of licence.

Accordingly, it is a condition of licence that the licensee caption all local/regional news programming, including live segments, using either real-time captioning or another method capable of captioning live programming, by the end of the licence term.

At the time of CBMT's licence renewal, the Commission also stated that it expected the licensee to ensure access to the station by means of a telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD). The Commission notes that a TDD has been acquired and installed.

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 the case of the CBC, the Commission has reviewed these matters in detail at the public hearing held in connection with the renewal of the CBC's television network licences, and it is satisfied with the CBC's commitments in this area.

Interventions

The Commission acknowledges the numerous interventions received in support of this application.

Allan J. Darling
Secretary General

APPENDIX / ANNEXE

Conditions of licence for CBMT Montréal and its transmitters

1. The licensee shall adhere, once Commission approval has been obtained, to its revised self-regulatory guidelines on violence in television programming, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.

 Until such time as the Commission has approved the revised guidelines, the licensee shall adhere to its current self-regulatory guidelines on violence in television programming and, as a minimum, to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) "Voluntary Code Regarding Violence in Television Programming", as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.

2. The licensee shall caption all local/regional news programming, including live segments, using either real-time captioning or another method capable of captioning live programming by the end of the licence term.

3. The licensee shall adhere to its "Revised CBC Guidelines on Sex-Role Portrayal" dated 12 August 1991 as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission and, as a minimum, to the CAB's "Sex-Role Portrayal Code for Television and Radio Programming", as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.

4. The licensee shall adhere to the standards for children's advertising set out in the Corporation's Advertising Standards Policy C-5 dated 9 May 1990 and entitled "Advertising Directed to Children Under 12 Years of Age", as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission, provided that the policy meets, as a minimum, the standards set out in the CAB's "Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children", as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.

 In addition, the licensee shall not broadcast any commercial message during any child-directed programming nor any child-directed commercial message between programs directed to children of pre-school age. For the purpose of this condition, programs directed to children and scheduled before 12:00 noon during school-day morning hours will be deemed to be programs directed to children of pre-school age.