ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 95-658

Decision

Ottawa, 30 August 1995

Decision CRTC 95-658

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Calgary, Banff, Bellevue, Burmis, Cardston, Coleman, Coutts/Milk River, Cowley, Drumheller, Exshaw, Harvie Heights, Lethbridge, Pincher Creek, Rosemary and Waterton Park, Alberta- 940939200

Licence renewal for CBRT and its transmitters

Following a Public Hearing in Winnipeg beginning on 5 June 1995, the Commission renews the broadcasting licence for the television programming undertaking consisting of CBRT Calgary and its transmitters, as listed in Appendix A, 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 Appendix B 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.

CBRT Calgary is owned and operated by the CBC and broadcasts programming from the CBC's English-language television network as well as programs produced locally by CBRT Calgary and CBXT Edmonton.

Local considerations

In Decision CRTC 91-423 dated 28 June 1991, the Commission approved, among other amendments, a change in program source for CBRT to programs received from CBXT Edmonton.

The Commission reiterates its statement made in Decision CRTC 91-423 that the licensee shall solicit only sales of national and regional (and not local) advertising, as defined in that decision.

The Commission expects the licensee to adhere to its Promise of Performance commitment to broadcast an average of 7 hours and 30 minutes per week of original local news programming during the new licence term. The Commission notes that these programs are co-produced by CBRT and CBXT.

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

Violence in television programming

In Decision CRTC 94-437 which last renewed the CBC English-language and French-language television network licences, 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 89-125 which renewed the licence for CBRT, 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 89-125.

The Commission has therefore decided to impose the commitments made by the CBC as a condition of licence. Accordingly, by majority vote, 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 CBRT's last 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 has noted the comments expressed in an intervention submitted in support of this application as well as the licensee's reply thereto.

Allan J. Darling
Secretary General

APPENDIX A / ANNEXE A

List of CBRT transmitters / Liste des émetteurs de CBRT

CBRT-1 Banff
CBRT-10 Bellevue
CBRT-8 Burmis
CBRT-12 Cardston
CBRT-11 Coleman
CBRT-16 Coutts/Milk River
CBRT-15 Cowley
CBRT-2 Drumheller
CBRT-14 Drumheller
CBRT-3 Exshaw
CBRT-17 Exshaw
CBRT-13 Harvie Heights
CBRT-6 Lethbridge
CBRT-9 Pincher Creek
CBRT-5 Rosemary
CBRT-7 Waterton Park

APPENDIX B / ANNEXE B

Conditions of licence for CBRT Calgary and its transmitters

Conditions of licence No. 1 to 4 will apply when the licensee is originating local programming.

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.