ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2004-47
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Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2004-47 |
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See also: 2004-47-1 Ottawa, 9 July 2004 |
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Proposal by the Canadian Cable Television Association to amend the policy regarding the use of local availabilities - Call for comments |
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| The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) proposed that the Commission amend its policy regarding the use of the local availabilities contained in the programming of U.S. satellite services. Under the CCTA's proposal, a Canadian cable broadcasting distribution undertaking, upon approval of an application, would be permitted to use these local availabilities to distribute commercial advertising messages, as well as messages promoting affiliated services offered by the cable undertaking. The Commission seeks comment on the CCTA's proposal and on the impact that approval of the proposed policy amendments could have on the Canadian broadcasting system. | |
Background |
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In August 1994, Rogers Cable TV Limited (Rogers), on behalf of the broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) it controlled, sought authority, by condition of licence, to alter the signals of U.S. satellite services for the insertion of promotional material in the local availabilities of such services. U.S. satellite services generally air 12 to 14 minutes of advertising each hour and reserve an additional 2 minutes of air time (approximately) per hour for use by U.S. cable companies for their own advertising or promotional material. These additional 2 minutes are referred to as "local availabilities." In Proposal to insert certain promotional material in the local availabilities of U.S. satellite services, Decision CRTC 95-12, 18 January 1995 (Decision 95-12), the Commission determined that the BDUs controlled by Rogers could: |
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by condition of licence, at [its] option, insert 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. |
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| The Commission added, however, that it was "not prepared to consider applications to use such availabilities for the broadcast of commercial advertising." | |
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In subsequent decisions, the Commission approved applications proposing the similar use of local availabilities by the licensees of other BDUs, including direct-to-home (DTH) licensees, and imposed a condition of licence consistent with that set out in Decision 95-12. |
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In New regulatory framework for broadcasting distribution undertakings, Public Notice CRTC 1997-25, 11 March 1997, consistent with the position it had taken in Decision 95-12, the Commission rejected a proposal by Rogers Communications Inc. that would have allowed cable licensees to sell their own local advertising for insertion in the local availabilities of U.S. satellite services. Later, in Application to insert certain promotional material in the local availabilities of U.S. satellite services, Decision CRTC 98-271, 10 August 1998 (Decision 98-271), the Commission concluded that BDUs should not be prohibited from charging a fee to recover the costs they incur in inserting promotional material of licensed programming services in the local availabilities of U.S. satellite services. |
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In Advertising Internet Services on community channels or during "local availabilities," Public Notice CRTC 1999-93, 27 May 1999, the Commission clarified that the conditions of licence it had granted BDUs concerning their use of commercial availabilities in U.S. satellite services did not authorize the BDUs to insert commercial advertisements for their own or any other retail Internet services. In Building on success - A policy framework for Canadian television, Public Notice CRTC 1999-97, 11 June 1999, the Commission confirmed that it would "continue to limit the opportunities for BDUs to use advertising availabilities on foreign satellite services for the insertion of promotional material" in local availabilities. The Commission further clarified "that BDUs may not charge Canadian programming services an amount in excess of their share of the direct costs associated with the insertion of promotional material in the local availabilities of foreign satellite services." |
Policy proposal by the Canadian Cable Television Association |
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On 28 October 2002, the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) requested that the Commission amend its policy regarding the use of local availabilities to allow a cable BDU, upon application, to make use of all of the local availabilities contained in the programming of U.S. satellite services to insert commercial advertising and messages promoting affiliated non-programming services offered by cable undertakings, including telephony and Internet services. |
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The CCTA argued that the current policy does not fully appreciate the economic value of the local availabilities to distributors. The CCTA suggested that permitting cable BDUs to insert commercials in the local availabilities would make these BDUs more competitive and would provide them with additional resources to respond to the impact of black market satellite use. It further stated that the pressures of legal and illegal competition, as well as the costs associated with meeting expanding regulatory obligations, make it imperative that the cable industry be able to charge commercial rates for the local availabilities. |
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On 21 May 2003, the CCTA amended its proposal, suggesting that the policy could stipulate that 25% of the additional revenues earned by cable BDUs from the proposed use of the local availabilities be directed to the Canadian Television Fund (CTF). According to the CCTA, even with this redirection of 25% of the incremental revenue to the CTF, cable BDUs stood to earn an additional $35 million to $40 million annually. |
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As a separate matter noted in Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2004-48, also issued today, the Commission has received an application by Vidéotron ltée (Vidéotron) that raises issues similar to those raised by the CCTA proposal. The Commission notes that it will consider Vidéotron's application in light of the comments received as a result of this call for comments on the CCTA's proposal. |
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Furthermore, in Channel placement of certain services whose national distribution has been required pursuant to section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act - Call for comments on tools to promote and improve the visibility of these services, Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2004-46 (Public Notice 2004-46), also issued today, the Commission has called for comments on what specific tools could be used to promote and improve the visibility of services whose national distribution has been required pursuant to section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act. The Commission advises parties that, in considering the CCTA proposal, it will also examine ways to improve the visibility of these services. Accordingly, the Commission requests that comments submitted in the proceeding announced in this public notice take into consideration the issues and questions raised in Public Notice 2004-46, where appropriate. |
Call for comments on the CCTA's policy proposal |
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The Commission seeks comment on the CCTA's proposal and on the impact that the proposed changes to the policy regarding the use of local availabilities could have on the Canadian broadcasting system. |
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Specifically, the Commission seeks comment on the following questions: |
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a) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the CCTA's proposal for the Canadian broadcasting system as a whole, and for the French- and English-language markets, individually? |
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b) What impact could the CCTA proposal have on the promotion of Canadian programming services in the French-language market and in the English-language market? |
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c) If the Commission were to modify its policy regarding the use of local availabilities, should the modified policy apply to DTH and other BDUs as well as cable BDUs? |
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d) What are the implications of allowing BDUs to advertise, within the local availabilities, affiliated services, such as telephony and Internet services? |
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e) What impact would the CCTA proposal have on Canadian advertising inventory and rates in the French-language market and in the English-language market? |
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| 12. | The Commission will accept comments that it receives on or before 7 October 2004. |
| 13. | Following the Commission's review of these comments, it may call for further submissions if it considers that additional information is necessary. The Commission will then determine if changes to its current policy are appropriate. |
| 14. | The Commission will not formally acknowledge comments. It will, however, fully consider all comments and they will form part of the public record of the proceeding, provided that the procedures for filing set out below have been followed. |
Procedures for filing comments |
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Interested parties can file their comments to the Secretary General of the Commission by using ONE of the following formats: |
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Submissions longer than five pages should include a summary. |
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Please number each paragraph of your submission. In addition, please enter the line ***End of document*** following the last paragraph. This will help the Commission verify that the document has not been damaged during transmission. |
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The Commission will make comments filed in electronic form available on its web site at www.crtc.gc.ca but only in the official language and format in which they are submitted. Such comments may be accessed in the Public Proceedings section of the CRTC web site. Copies of all comments, whether filed on paper or in electronic form, will also be placed on the public examination file. |
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The Commission encourages interested parties to monitor the public examination file and the Commission's web site for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their comments. |
Examination of public comments and related documents at the following Commission offices during normal business hours |
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Central Building Les Terrasses de la Chaudière 1 Promenade du Portage, Room G-5 Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0N2 Tel: (819) 997-2429 - TDD: 994-0423 Fax: (819) 994-0218 |
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Metropolitan Place 99 Wyse Road Suite 1410 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B3A 4S5 Tel: (902) 426-7997 - TDD: 426-6997 Fax: (902) 426-2721 |
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405 de Maisonneuve Blvd. East 2nd Floor, Suite B2300 Montréal, Quebec H2L 4J5 Tel: (514) 283-6607 Fax: (514) 283-3689 |
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55 St. Clair Avenue East Suite 624 Toronto, Ontario M4T 1M2 Tel: (416) 952-9096 Fax: (416) 954-6343 |
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Kensington Building 275 Portage Avenue Suite 1810 Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2B3 Tel: (204) 983-6306 - TDD: 983-8274 Fax: (204) 983-6317 |
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Cornwall Professional Building 2125 - 11th Avenue Room 103 Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 3X3 Tel: (306) 780-3422 Fax: (306) 780-3319 |
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10405 Jasper Avenue Suite 520 Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N4 Tel: (780) 495-3224 Fax: (780) 495-3214 |
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530-580 Hornby Street Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3B6 Tel: (604) 666-2111 - TDD: 666-0778 Fax: (604) 666-8322 |
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| Secretary General | |
| This document is available in alternative format upon request and may also be examined at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca |
Date Modified: 2004-07-09
- Date modified: