ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 98-369

Decision

Ottawa, 27 August 1998

Decision CRTC 98-369

Télécâble Provincial inc.

Val-des-Monts, Quebec - 199705422

Licence renewal

1. Following Public Notice CRTC 1998-39 dated 22 April 1998, the Commission renews the Class 3 licence held by Télécâble Provincial inc., for the cable distribution undertaking serving the above-noted locality, from 1 September 1998 to 31 August 2005.

2. The operation of this undertaking is regulated pursuant to Parts 1 and 3 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations (the regulations). The licence will be subject to the conditions in effect under the current licence as well as to those conditions specified in this decision and in the licence to be issued.

3. Consistent with Decision CRTC 96-30 dated 30 January 1996, the licensee is authorized to distribute WOKR (ABC), WROC-TV (CBS), WHEC-TV (NBC) Rochester, and WNPE-TV (PBS) Watertown, New York. The Commission notes that these signals are received via optical fibre.

4. Further, the Commission approves the licensee's application for authority to substitute, at its option and as part of the basic service, WKBW-TV (ABC), WIVB-TV (CBS), WGRZ-TV (NBC) and WNED-TV (PBS) Buffalo, New York, for the programming services of WOKR (ABC), WROC-TV (CBS), WHEC-TV (NBC) Rochester, and WNPE-TV (PBS) Watertown, New York. The Commission notes that this substitution of signals will only take place when all of the following three criteria are met:

· the Rochester or Watertown signals are of poor quality;

· the program carried on both the Buffalo and Rochester/Watertown stations is the same (episode for episode); and

· the program distributed by the licensee is not subject to a program substitution request by a local or regional Canadian broadcaster.

5. The licensee may receive any authorized signals over the air, or from any licensed or exempted Canadian broadcasting distribution undertaking authorized to provide signals to other broadcasting distribution undertakings.

6. Consistent with Decision CRTC 96-30, the licensee is relieved, by condition of licence, from the requirement of section 32(2) of the regulations to distribute the priority signals of CICA-TV-24 (TVO) and CFMT-TV-2 (IND) Ottawa on the basic band. The licensee will distribute these signals as part of the basic service, on channels 18 and 14, respectively.

7. The Commission approves, by condition of licence, the licensee's application for authority, to insert, at its option, certain promotional material as a substitute for the "local availabilities" (i.e. non-Canadian advertising material) of non-Canadian satellite services. At least 75% of these local availabilities must be made available for use by licensed Canadian programming services for the promotion of their respective services, for the promotion of the community channel and for unpaid Canadian public service announcements. A maximum of 25% of the local availabilities may be made available for the promotion of discretionary programming services and packages, customer service information, channel realignments, cable FM service and additional cable outlets.

8. The Commission also approves the licensee's application for authority to originate a video games service as a special programming service, offered on a discretionary basis.

9. The Commission stresses that all programming for the proposed interactive video games service is the responsibility of the authorized cable licensee. The Commission notes that the video games will be provided by Sega Canada Inc. (Sega, the video games supplier).

10. Based upon indicators of control outlined in Public Notice CRTC 1995-5 dated 13 January 1995 entitled Policy Governing the Distribution of Video Games Programming Services and on information provided by the applicant, the Commission is satisfied that the licensee will be, in fact, the operator of the service, and that approval of a licence amendment is appropriate. Accordingly, the following conditions of licence will apply:

a) The video games service (the service) shall not include programming that is religious or political in nature.

b) The service shall consist only of:

· software and related information which will enable a person to select and play video games using broadcasting receiving apparatus located at the subscriber's premises; and

· ancillary programming consisting of promotional information concerning only the programming service and video games offered by the video games supplier, except for such games that are rated or found to be unsuitable for the cable service, provided such programming is broadcast in conjunction with programming set out in a) above and not on a separate channel.

c) The service shall make the greatest practicable use of Canadian creative and other resources in the creation and presentation of programming.

d) At least 10% of the total number of video games offered on the monthly menu shall be Canadian. Where fewer than 10% of the video games on the monthly menu are Canadian, the service shall be distributed on a channel that would otherwise be available, under the current linkage rules, for the distribution of a non-Canadian eligible satellite service as part of a discretionary tier.

e) The service shall be in compliance with the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) Sex-Role Portrayal Code for Television and Radio Programming, Voluntary Code Regarding Violence in Television Programming and Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.

f) The video games offered shall be categorized, and information shall be provided to subscribers indicating, at a minimum, the suitability of individual games for use by children and adolescents.

g) The licensee shall provide to the Commission, upon request, the monthly menu of the games offered during any month within the previous twelve months of the date of the request and indicate which games are Canadian.

11. In Public Notice CRTC 1995-5, the Commission had noted Sega's commitment to establish an Interactive Entertainment Development Fund to provide financial assistance to Canadians developing and producing new Canadian multimedia products. More specifically, Sega committed to contribute to such Fund on a monthly basis, depending upon the total number of paying subscribers obtained in Canada, an amount ranging from 3% to 5% of the gross revenues in the previous month attributable to the video games service.

12. It is a condition of licence that, for community programming and any other programming of a service that it originates, the licensee 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 approved by the Commission.

13. 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.

14. The Department of Industry has advised the Commission that it is prepared to renew the Broadcasting Certificate for a period of two years only, expiring 31 August 2000. With respect to the operation of this undertaking beyond this period, the Commission draws the licensee's attention to subsection 22(1) of the Broadcasting Act pertaining to the technical certification of broadcasting undertakings and to subsection 22(4) which provides that any broadcasting licence issued, amended or renewed in contravention of section 22 is of no force or effect.

This decision is to be appended to the licence.

Laura M. Talbot-Allan
Secretary General

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