ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 96-436

Decision

Ottawa, 21 August 1996

Decision CRTC 96-436

CanWest Television Inc.

Saskatoon; Regina and Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan - 951656800- 951657600

Licence renewal for CFSK-TV Saskatoon and CFRE-TV Regina and its transmitter, CFRE-TV-2 Fort Qu'Appelle

Following a Public Hearing held in Vancouver beginning on 27 February 1996, the Commission renews the broadcasting licences for the television programming undertakings CFSK-TV Saskatoon as well as CFRE-TV Regina and its transmitter CFRE-TV-2 Fort Qu'Appelle, from 1 September 1996 to 31 August 2002, subject to the conditions in effect under the current licences as well as to those conditions specified in the appendix to this decision and in the licences to be issued.

The licence term granted herein, while less than the maximum of seven years permitted by the Broadcasting Act, will enable the Commission to consider the next licence renewal of these undertakings in accordance with the Commission's regional plan and to better distribute the workload within the Commission. This term is not reflective of any Commission concern regarding the licensee's performance.

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 licensed to serve.

In this regard, the Commission expects the licensee to adhere to the commitments in its renewal applications to broadcast, at a minimum, an average of 9 hours 15 minutes of first play, local news each week during the new licence term on CFSK-TV and CFRE-TV respectively.

In addition to its local news programming, the licensee will continue to broadcast on CFSK-TV, programs that reflect the Saskatoon community, and on CFRE-TV, programs that reflect the Regina community.

The Commission notes the licensee's commitment to broadcast, on each station annually, an average of 20 hours each week of programming directed to children (ages 2 to 11 years) as well as 30 minutes of programming each week directed to youth (ages 12 to 17 years).

Investment in 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 (Option A), 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 (Option B). Licensees earning $10 million or less in annual advertising revenues and network payments, and whose expenditures on Canadian programming had been the subject of Commission expectations during the previous licence term, were not permitted to choose between the two options. Instead, the Commission stated that the existing formula approach for Canadian programming expenditures would continue to apply as an expectation during the new licence term.

In its licence renewal applications, the licensee requested that the Commission allow CFSK-TV and CFRE-TV to follow Option B during the new licence term, even though each station earns less than $10 million annually. The licensee also asked that the Commission apply Option B as an expectation rather than impose it as a condition of licence.

In support of its request, the licensee argued that, together, CFSK-TV and CFRE-TV earn more than $10 million in advertising revenues annually. Moreover, the licensee stated that extending Option B to CFSK-TV and CFRE-TV would make these stations consistent with other CanWest Television Inc. stations, such as CKVU-TV Vancouver and CKND-TV Winnipeg, which both chose to follow Option B at the time of their licence renewal.

In its evaluation of the licensee's request, the Commission has taken into consideration the fact that the respective annual returns of CFSK-TV and CFRE-TV indicate that each station allocated 73% of its expenditures on Canadian programming to news, public affairs and sports. Based on the licensee's commitment to local news, public affairs and sports programming during the current licence term, the Commission considers that approval of the licensee's proposal that CFSK-TV and CFRE-TV follow Option B during the new licence term would encourage the licensee to add programming in under-represented categories in the evening broadcast period without affecting the quality of other categories of programming. The Commission, therefore, approves the licensee's request.

Consistent with the licensee's commitment, the Commission expects the licensee to broadcast, on each station, 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:

1996-1997 6:00 hours
1997-1998 6:00 hours
1998-1999 6:00 hours
1999-2000 6:30 hours
2000-2001 6:30 hours
2001-2002 7:00 hours

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

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 the licensee's commitment that each station will contribute $10,000 yearly to program development, increasing to $11,000 in the last year of the licence term.

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 expects the licensee, by the end of the licence term, to caption all local news programming broadcast on each station, including live segments, using either real-time captioning or another method capable of captioning live programming.

The Commission also expects the licensee to close caption at least 90% of all programming aired on each station 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 "Imple-mentation 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.

Interventions

The Commission acknowledges the numerous interventions submitted in support of the licence renewal applications for CFSK-TV and CFRE-TV. The Commission also acknowledges one intervention filed in opposition to CFRE-TV's licence renewal and the licensee's response thereto.

This decision is to be appended to each licence.

Allan J. Darling
Secretary General

APPENDIX / ANNEXE

Conditions of licence for CFSK-TV Saskatoon and CFRE-TV Regina and its transmitter, CFRE-TV-2 Fort Qu'Appelle

1.  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).

2.  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.

3.  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.