ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2002-267

Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2002-267

Ottawa, 4 September 2002

Vincent Géracitano, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated
Across Canada

Application 2001-0773-1
Public Hearing in the National Capital Region
14 January 2002

Avis de Recherche - Category 2 specialty service

In this decision, the Commission approves the application to operate a new Category 2 specialty television service.

1.

The Commission received an application by Vincent Géracitano, on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated (OBCI), for a broadcasting licence to operate a French-language Category 2¹ specialty television service to be known as Avis de Recherche.

2.

The applicant proposed a programming service primarily intended as a media tool for the provision of information to law enforcement agencies across Canada.

3.

The Commission did not receive any intervention in connection with this application.

4.

Based on its examination of this application, the Commission is satisfied that it is in conformity with all applicable terms and conditions announced in Introductory statement - Licensing of new digital pay and specialty services - Corrected Appendix 2, Public Notice CRTC 2000-171-1, 6 March 2001 (Public Notice 2000-171-1). Accordingly, the Commission approves the application by Vincent Géracitano, OBCI, for a licence to operate the Avis de Recherche programming service.

Closed captioning

5.

The applicant indicated that most of the programming offered by the service would be alphanumeric information accompanied by a voice-over reading of the text and would, therefore, not need to be closed-captioned. The Commission expects the applicant to caption at least 90% of the remaining programming.

Advertising

6.

The Commission's policy is to allow broadcasters to solicit local advertising only if they provide local programming. The applicant requested an exemption from this policy. It proposed to broadcast six minutes of national advertising and six minutes of local or regional advertising in each clock hour. According to the applicant, it should be allowed to broadcast local advertising because it would be offering a service that is dedicated to fighting crime at the community level.

7.

The Commission notes, however, that the applicant plans to provide a national service with a national feed and does not intend to target any particular local market directly. Accordingly, the Commission denies the applicant's request to broadcast local advertising.

Conditions of licence

8.

The licence will expire 31 August 2009, and will be subject to the conditions set out in Public Notice 2000-171-1 as well as to the following conditions:

For the purposes of the conditions of this licence, broadcast day refers to the 24-hour period beginning 6 a.m. each day.

Issuance of the licence

9.

A licence will be issued once the licensee has satisfied the Commission, with supporting documentation, that the following requirements have been met:

• an eligible Canadian corporation has been incorporated in accordance with the application in all material respects;

• the licensee has entered into a distribution agreement with at least one licensed distributor; and

•  the licensee has informed the Commission in writing that it is prepared to commence operations. The undertaking must be operational at the earliest possible date and in any event no later than 36 months from the date of this decision, unless a request for an extension of time is approved by the Commission before 4 September 2005. In order to ensure that such a request is processed in a timely manner, it should be submitted at least 60 days before this date.

Secretary General