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Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2005-52
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Ottawa, 19 May 2005
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Call for comments - Proposed amendments to the Exemption order respecting closed circuit video programming undertakings
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The Commission calls for comments on proposed amendments to the Exemption order respecting closed circuit video programming undertakings. The purpose of these undertakings is to provide a programming service to the temporary residents of hotels, motels and hospitals or to the inmates of prisons. In most cases, the programming service is provided in conjunction with the services distributed by a licensed, cable-based broadcasting distribution undertaking (BDU) or by an exempt master antenna television system (MATV) BDU. In those cases, the exemption order, as currently drafted, requires that a closed circuit video programming undertaking be operated in a manner that does not prevent those served by the undertaking from receiving certain specified programming services when those services are provided by the BDU.
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The amendments would: a) broaden the application of this requirement so as to include circumstances where the service of the exempt programming undertaking is provided in conjunction with the services distributed by other types of BDUs, such as a licensed direct-to-home satellite BDU or an exempt BDU; and b) expand the BDU-delivered services specified within the requirement to include those of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, the French-language television network TVA, and the Cable Public Affairs Channel, and the programming of at least one licensed, national, English-language all-news television service and of at least one such service operating in French when these services are offered by the BDU as part of the basic service.
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Introduction
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1.
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Section 9(4) of the Broadcasting Act (the Act) specifies that the Commission shall exempt persons who carry on broadcasting undertakings of any class from any or all requirements of the Act or of a regulation made thereunder where it is satisfied that compliance with those requirements will not contribute in a material way to the implementation of the broadcasting policy for Canada set out in the Act.
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2.
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In Policy Regarding The Use Of Exemption Orders, Public Notice CRTC 1996-59, 26 April 1996, the Commission stated that it would conduct a periodic review of exemption orders at intervals of between five and seven years. The Exemption order respecting closed circuit video programming undertakings (the Exemption Order) was last reviewed in a process initiated in 1998 and essentially completed in 2000.1 The purpose of a closed circuit video programming undertaking, as prescribed by the Exemption Order, is to provide a programming service, whether for a separate fee or not, to temporary residents of hotels, motels and hospitals or the inmates of prisons only, and not to residents of permanent dwelling places. The programming consists only of feature motion pictures intended for theatrical release, video games programming services, or information about the city or about the premises served by the undertaking, and does not contain any commercial messages.
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3.
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The Commission considers that it may now be appropriate to amend the Exemption Order in order to clarify and broaden certain elements within its Description section, to take into account various changes that have occurred within the broadcasting system. Accordingly, the Commission calls for comments on the proposed amendments set out below.
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Proposed amendments
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4.
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Paragraph 5 of the Description section of the Exemption Order currently reads as follows:
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5. The undertaking does not operate in a manner that prevents a hotel or motel guest, hospital patient or prison inmate from receiving any programming service listed in section 17 or section 32 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations when that service is provided to the owner or operator of a hotel, motel, hospital or prison as part of the basic service of a licensed cable distribution undertaking, or from receiving any signal of a local television station when that signal if provided by a master antenna television system operating in accordance with the Exemption Order respecting master antenna television systems.
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5.
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This means that an undertaking operating in accordance with the Exemption Order may not displace the signals described in section 17 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations (the Regulations) when distributed by a Class 1 or a Class 2 BDU, or in section 32 of the Regulations when distributed by a Class 3 BDU. However, the text of paragraph 5 does not contemplate situations where a hotel, motel, hospital or prison receives its service from a licensed direct-to-home (DTH) satellite BDU, whose service priorities are identified in section 37 of the Regulations. Nor does it expressly deal with circumstances where services are received from an exempt BDU, other than an exempt master antenna television (MATV) system.
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6.
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Moreover, the current wording of paragraph 5 does not prohibit the operator of a closed circuit video programming undertaking from removing (stripping out) other important programming services, such as those that are distributed by BDUs pursuant to orders of the Commission issued pursuant to section 9(1)(h) of the Act.2 In the Commission's view, the Exemption Order should ensure that hotel or motel guests, hospital patients and prison inmates are able to receive certain additional services, in particular, those of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, the French-language television network TVA, and the Cable Public Affairs Channel, when they are provided to the facility as part of the basic service, in accordance with a Commission order, by a licensed or exempt BDU, or when provided by an exempt MATV system.
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7.
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As a further matter, the Commission notes that certain hotels that operate closed circuit video programming undertakings provide guests with access to only one Canadian television news service, and strip out other such BDU-delivered services, generally those operating in the minority official language. The Commission considers it reasonable that hotel and motel guests, hospital patients and prison inmates in Canada who are served by a closed circuit video programming undertaking and by a BDU should have access to Canadian all-news television services in both official languages when these are delivered by the BDU.
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8.
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In light of the above, the Commission proposes to amend paragraph 5 of the Exemption Order to read as follows:
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5. The undertaking does not operate in a manner that prevents a hotel or motel guest, hospital patient or prison inmate from receiving:
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a) any programming service listed in sections 17, 32, or 37 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations when that service is provided to the owner or operator of a hotel, motel, hospital or prison as part of the basic service of a licensed or exempt broadcasting distribution undertaking that is subject to one or another of those sections, or from receiving any signal of a local television station when that signal is provided by a master antenna television system operating in accordance with the Exemption Order respecting master antenna television systems;
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b) the programming service of any of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, the French-language television network TVA or the Cable Public Affairs Channel when these services are provided to the owner or operator of a hotel, motel, hospital or prison as part of the basic service of a licensed or an exempt broadcasting distribution undertaking, or by a master antenna television system operating in accordance with the Exemption Order respecting master antenna television systems; and
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c) the programming of at least one licensed, national, English-language all-news television service and of at least one such service operating in French when such services are provided to the owner or operator of a hotel, motel, hospital or prison as part of the basic service of a licensed or an exempt broadcasting distribution undertaking, or by a master antenna television system operating in accordance with the Exemption Order respecting master antenna television systems.
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9.
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To assist readers, the entire text of the Exemption Order, as revised to reflect the Commission's proposed amendment to paragraph 5 of the Description section, is appended to this notice.
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Call for comments
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10.
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To ensure that all interested parties, including those carrying on undertakings affected by the Exemption Order, have an adequate opportunity to comment, the Commission will hold a two-stage written comment process. During the first stage, interested parties are requested to submit their views, together with supporting arguments, as to whether or not the Exemption Order should be amended as described above.
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11.
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The deadline for the submission of written comments in the first stage is 19 August 2005.The Commission will accept comments that it receives on or before that date.
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12.
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Interested parties, including those who may not have participated in the first written stage, will then have an opportunity to submit written comments in the second stage regarding any issue raised in the first round of comments. The deadline for written comments submitted as part of this second stage is 19 October 2005.
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13.
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In the second stage of the written process, comments should be limited to issues raised in the submissions received during the first stage of the process. Any interested party who submits comments during the second stage of the written process must identify, on the first page of his or her submission, the parties whose first-stage submissions are being addressed.
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14.
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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.
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Procedures for filing comments
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Interested parties can file their comments to the Secretary General of the Commission:
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by usingthe
Broadcasting Intervention/Comments Form
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OR
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by mail to
CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
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OR
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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.
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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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205 Viger Avenue West
Suite 504
Montréal, Quebec H2Z 1G2
Tel: (514) 283-6607
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55 St. Clair Avenue East
Suite 624
Toronto, Ontario M4T 1M2
Tel: (416) 952-9096
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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
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10405 Jasper Avenue
Suite 520
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N4
Tel: (780) 495-3224
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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
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This document is available in alternative format upon request, and may also be examined in PDF format or in HTML at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca
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Appendix to Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2005-52
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Exemption order respecting closed circuit videoprogramming undertakings
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The Commission, pursuant to subsection 9(4) of the Broadcasting Act, by this order, exempts from the requirements of Part II of the Act and any regulations, those persons carrying on broadcasting undertakings of the class defined by the following criteria:
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Purpose
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The purpose of these television programming undertakings is to provide a programming service, whether for a separate fee or not, to temporary residents of hotels, motels and hospitals or the inmates of prisons only, and not to residents of permanent dwelling places. The programming consists only of feature motion pictures intended for theatrical release, video games programming services, or information about the city or about the premises served by the undertaking, and does not contain any commercial messages.
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Description
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1. The Commission would not be prohibited from licensing the undertaking by virtue of any direction to the Commission by the Governor in Council.
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2. The undertaking meets all technical requirements of the Department of Industry and has acquired all authorizations or certificates prescribed by the Department.
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3. The undertaking does not broadcast programming that is religious or political in nature, excepting feature motion picture films intended for theatrical release.
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4. The undertaking provides a programming service consisting only of feature motion picture films intended for theatrical release or promotions for such films, video games programming services, and information about the city and the facilities for the guests of hotels or motels, the patients of hospitals and the inmates of prisons.
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5. The undertaking does not operate in a manner that prevents a hotel or motel guest, hospital patient or prison inmate from receiving:
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a) any programming service listed in sections 17, 32, or 37 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations when that service is provided to the owner or operator of a hotel, motel, hospital or prison as part of the basic service of a licensed or exempt broadcasting distribution undertaking that is subject to one or another of those sections, or from receiving any signal of a local television station when that signal is provided by a master antenna television system operating in accordance with the Exemption Order respecting master antenna television systems;
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b) the programming service of any of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, the French-language television network TVA or the Cable Public Affairs Channel when these services are provided to the owner or operator of a hotel, motel, hospital or prison as part of the basic service of a licensed or an exempt broadcasting distribution undertaking, or by a master antenna television system operating in accordance with the Exemption Order respecting master antenna television systems; and
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c) the programming of at least one licensed, national, English-language all-news television service and of at least one such service operating in French when such services are provided to the owner or operator of a hotel, motel, hospital or prison as part of the basic service of a licensed or exempt broadcasting distribution undertaking, or by a master antenna television system operating in accordance with the Exemption Order respecting master antenna television systems.
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Footnotes:
[] See Review of certain exemption orders, Public Notice CRTC 1998-40, 23 April 1998, Final revisions to certain exemption orders, Public Notice CRTC 2000-10, 24 January 2000 and Correction to Public Notice CRTC 2000-10; Final revisions to certain exemption orders, Public Notice CRTC 2000-10-1, 27 March 2001.
[] Section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act stipulates that the Commission may "require any licensee who is authorized to carry on a distribution undertaking to carry, on such terms and conditions as the Commission deems appropriate, programming services specified by the Commission."
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Date Modified: 2005-05-19
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