ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2010-87

Ottawa, 15 February 2010

Various licensees
Various locations across Canada

Revocation of broadcasting licences for exempted terrestrial broadcasting distribution undertakings

Deletion and exemption of licensed service areas under a broadcasting licence

1. In Broadcasting Public Notice 2008-100, the Commission decided to expand the scope of its two previous exemption orders for small terrestrial broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) to include terrestrial BDUs serving fewer than 20,000 subscribers under a single order. The Commission further decided that BDUs operating in both small and large markets under a single regional licence would be permitted to determine whether there would be greater benefits to continuing to operate in all markets as a single undertaking under a single licence, or to conduct their operations in smaller markets in such a way that those operations would constitute a "discrete operation" that would be eligible for exemption. To this end, the Commission permitted BDUs operating under regional licences to apply to remove ("carve out") certain service areas from their licences, provided they met certain conditions.
    
2. The Commission's new order was issued in Broadcasting Order 2009-544. In that order, the Commission stated that parties seeking to qualify for exemption from licensing requirements should file applications for revocation of licence with the Commission.
    
3. With respect to BDUs operating under regional licences, the Commission set out criteria to assess whether or not a BDU's operations in a specific area constituted a discrete operation so as to be eligible for exemption under Broadcasting Order 2009-544. Specifically, the Commission stated that it would consider applications to carve out a service area from a regional licence if, in that area, the licensee:

4. The Commission included a requirement that, in order to qualify under (c) above, BDUs that do not operate a community channel specific to the particular service area¹ must demonstrate that 5% of gross broadcasting revenues derived from the area has been spent on community programming specific to that area in the past broadcasting year.
    
5. The licensees of stand-alone BDUs listed in Appendix 1 to this decision have confirmed their eligibility for exemption in accordance with Broadcasting Order 2009-544 and have requested that their licences be revoked to permit them to operate under that order. Given the licensees' requests, the Commission revokes, pursuant to sections 9(1)(e) and 24(1) of the Broadcasting Act, the broadcasting licences for the undertakings serving the locations listed in Appendix 1 to this decision.
    
6. The licensee noted in Appendix 2 to this decision has applied to carve-out various licensed service areas under its licence on the grounds that these areas meet the discrete operation test with respect to community programming expenditures. Given that the licensee has filed documentation demonstrating that it spends 5% or more of the broadcasting revenues derived from each of the licensed service areas on community programming specific to those areas, the Commission approves the deletion of the licensed service areas listed in Appendix 2 to this decision.
    
7. The Commission reminds the operators of the undertakings listed in both appendices that they must, at all times, comply with the criteria set out in the appendix to Broadcasting Order 2009-544.

Secretary General

Related documents

• Exemption order for terrestrial broadcasting distribution undertakings serving fewer than 20,000 subscribers, Broadcasting Order CRTC 2009-544, 31 August 2009
   
• Regulatory frameworks for broadcasting distribution undertakings and discretionary programming services, Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2008-100, 30 October 2008

This decision is to be appended to the licence for Saskatchewan Telecommunications. 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.

Appendix 1 to Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2010-87

Appendix 2 to Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2010-87

Footnotes:

¹ BDUs that operate, for example, video-on-demand based community “channels” or that have adopted a “zone-based” approach to the provision of community programming.

²  The Commission notes that Regina (which includes Pilot Butte and White City) and Saskatoon remain licensed areas under Saskatchewan Telecommunications' licence.

Date modified:

2010-02-15