ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 95-590

Decision

Ottawa, 24 August 1995

Decision CRTC 95-590

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Saskatoon, Beauval, Buffalo Narrows, Ile-à-la Crosse, La Loche, La Ronge, Leoville, Meadow Lake, Montreal Lake, Palmbere Lake, Patuanak, Pinehouse Lake, Southend, Stanley Mission and Stranraer, Saskatchewan - 940937600

Renewal of licence for CBKST Saskatoon 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 CBKST Saskatoon, CBKBT Beauval, CBKDT Buffalo Narrows, CBKCT Ile-à-la-Crosse, CBKDT-2 La Loche, CBKST-2 La Ronge, CBKST-3 Leoville, CBCS-TV-1 Meadow Lake, CBKST-5 Montreal Lake, CBKDT-1 Palmbere Lake, CBKPT Patuanak, CBKST-6 Pinehouse Lake, CBKST-8 Southend, CBKST-4 Stanley Mission and CBKST-1 Stranraer, 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.

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.

In Decision CRTC 91-423 dated 28 June 1991, the Commission approved the CBC's application to change the program source of CBKST to originate from the studios of CBKT Regina. While CBKST no longer produces any locally-originated programming, the CBC continues to operate CBKST as a contributing bureau and maintains master control facilities in Saskatoon which allow the undertaking to continue to broadcast station identification (including call sign channel designation and location) as required by the Department of Industry, as well as public service announcements, occasional specials and commercial messages.

The Commission's long-standing policy prohibits access to a local television advertising market unless the broadcaster provides a local program service to that market. Accordingly, in Decision CRTC 91-423, the Commission required the CBC to "solicit only sales" of national and regional (and not local) advertising". In that decision, the Commission defined "sales of national and regional advertising" as being sales of advertising to persons who provide goods or services in more than one market and/or province".

SaskWest Television Inc. (STV), licensee of CFSK Saskatoon, submitted an intervention opposing the application for CBKST's licence renewal on the grounds that the station continues to solicit local advertising in the Saskatoon market in contravention of the restriction set out in Decision CRTC 91-423. STV requested that the Commission impose a condition of licence on the CBC prohibiting CBKST from either soliciting or accepting local advertising in the Saskatoon market. In support of its argument, STV cited advertisers, whom it considers to be "local" in nature, and who have purchased airtime on CBKST.

In response, the CBC stated, among other things, that some of the advertisers identified by STV in its intervention sold into more than one market and were, therefore, "national" in nature. The CBC submitted signed statements by advertisers, considered to be local, indicating that they had not been solicited by the Corporation.

The CBC further stated that, while it does not solicit local advertising, it does accept local sales from advertisers requesting CBKST's services.

When asked at the hearing whether the CBC could accept unsolicited advertising and remain within the restriction imposed on CBKST in Decision CRTC 91-423, STV replied:

 ... based on the language contained in 91-423, that is correct. ... [There] is nothing precluding them from accepting unsolicited advertising.

The Commission notes that, while STV claimed that the CBC's alleged soliciting of local advertising has had a negative impact on CFSK's "ability to generate much-needed local revenues", the intervener did not provide an estimate of the revenue loss incurred by CFSK as a result of the CBC's supposed non-compliance with the requirement set out in Decision CRTC 91-423.

Having considered the evidence on the record of this application, the Commission is not convinced that the CBC has been soliciting local advertising in the Saskatoon market. The Commission has decided to maintain the same requirement as set out in Decision CRTC 91-423. Accordingly, the Commission requires the CBC to restrict itself to the solicitation of sales for national and regional advertising only and not local advertising. The Commission will continue to define "sales of national and regional advertising" as being sales of advertising to persons who provide goods or services in more than one market and/or province.

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.

The Commission acknowledges the three interventions submitted in support of this application.

Allan J. Darling
Secretary General

APPENDIX / ANNEXE

Conditions of licence for CBKST Saskatoon 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.