ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2011-52

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Ottawa, 27 January 2011

Call for comments on proposed amendments to certain Regulations made under the Broadcasting Act to add a new program category

The Commission calls for written comments on proposed amendments to the list of program categories set out in Schedule I of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987, the Pay Television Regulations, 1990 and the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990. The deadline for comments is 1 March 2011.

Introduction

1.      The Commission proposes to amend Schedule I of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987, the Pay Television Regulations, 1990 and the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990. The proposed amendments are set out in the appendix to this document.

2.      In Definitions for television program categories, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010-808, 1 November 2010 (the Regulatory Policy), the Commission set out revised definitions for certain program categories to ensure that these definitions still accurately capture all of the types of programs offered by television broadcasters.

3.      In this regard, the Commission announced the creation of a new category, category 11(b), for programming categorized as “Reality television.” Accordingly, in the Regulatory Policy, the Commission announced that it would amend Schedule I of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987, the Pay Television Regulations, 1990 and the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990 to include this new category.

4.      The amendments will come into force on the day on which they are registered. As of that date, licensees will need to add this new category to their program logs where applicable. Licensees that are currently authorized by a condition of licence to broadcast programs from category 11 “General entertainment and human interest” will be considered to have authority to broadcast programs from both category 11(a) and 11(b) without the need for further amendment to their licences.

Call for comments

5.      The Commission invites comments on the wording of the proposed amendments appended to this Notice of Consultation. The Commission will accept comments that it receives on or before 1 March 2011. The Commission cannot be held responsible for postal delays and will not notify a party whose comment is received after the deadline date. The comment will not be considered by the Commission and will not be part of the public file.

6.      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.

Procedure for filing comments

7.      Interested parties can file their comments to the Secretary General of the Commission in only one of the following formats:

by using the
[Broadcasting interventions/comments form]

or

by mail to
CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2

or

by fax at
819-994-0218

8.      Submissions longer than give pages should include a summary.

9.      Each paragraph of the submission should be numbered. In addition, where the comment is filed by electronic means, the line ***End of document*** should be entered following the last paragraph of the document, as an indication that the document has not been damaged during electronic transmission.

Important notice

10.  All information that parties provide as part of this public process, except information granted confidentiality, whether sent by postal mail, facsimile, e-mail or through the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca, becomes part of a publicly accessible file and will be posted on the Commission’s website. This information includes personal information, such as full names, e-mail addresses, postal/street addresses, telephone and facsimile numbers, and any other personal information parties provide.

11.  The personal information that parties provide will be used and may be disclosed for the purpose for which the information was obtained or compiled by the Commission, or for a use consistent with that purpose.

12.  Documents received electronically or otherwise will be put on the Commission’s website in their entirety exactly as received, including any personal information contained therein, in the official language and format in which they are received. Documents not received electronically will be available in PDF format.

13.  The information that parties provide to the Commission as part of this public process is entered into an unsearchable database dedicated to this specific public process. This database is accessible only from the web page of this particular public process. As a result, a general search of the Commission’s website with the help of either its own search engine or a third-party search engine will not provide access to the information that was provided as part of this public process.

14.  The Commission encourages interested parties to monitor the public examination file and the Commission’s website for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their comments.

Examination of documents

15.  A list of all comments will also be available on the Commission’s website. An electronic version of all comments submitted will be accessible from this list. To access the list, select “Lists of interventions/comments” under “Public Proceedings” from the Commission’s website.

16.  The public may examine public comments and related documents at the following Commission offices during normal business hours.

Location of Commission offices

Toll-free telephone: 1-877-249-2782
Toll-free TDD: 1-877-909-2782

Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
Central Building
1 Promenade du Portage, Room 206
Gatineau, Quebec
J8X 4B1
Tel.: 819-997-2429
Fax: 819-994-0218

Regional offices

Metropolitan Place
99 Wyse Road
Suite 1410
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
B3A 4S5
Tel.: 902-426-7997
Fax: 902-426-2721

205 Viger Avenue West
Suite 504
Montréal, Quebec
H2Z 1G2
Tel.: 514-283-6607

55 St. Clair Avenue East
Suite 624
Toronto, Ontario
M4T 1M2
Tel.: 416-952-9096

Kensington Building
275 Portage Avenue
Suite 1810
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3B 2B3
Tel.: 204-983-6306
Fax: 204-983-6317

2220 – 12^th Avenue
Suite 620
Regina, Saskatchewan
S4P 0M8
Tel.: 306-780-3422

10405 Jasper Avenue
Suite 520
Edmonton, Alberta
T5J 3N4
Tel.: 780-495-3224

858 Beatty Street
Suite 290
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6B 1C1
Tel.: 604-666-2111
Fax: 604-666-8322

Secretary General

Appendix to Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2011-52

Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made under the Broadcasting Act

TELEVISION BROADCASTING REGULATIONS, 1987

1. Subitem 6 (11) of Schedule I to the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987¹ is replaced by the following:

PAY TELEVISION REGULATIONS, 1990

2. Subitem 6 (11) of Schedule I to the Pay Television Regulations, 1990² is replaced by the following:

SPECIALTY SERVICES REGULATIONS, 1990

3. Subitem 6 (11) of Schedule I to the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990³ is replaced by the following:

COMING INTO FORCE

4. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

___________________________________________________

¹  SOR/87-49

²  SOR/90-105

³  SOR/90-106

Date modified:

2011-01-27