ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2011-525

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Additional reference: 2011-525-1, 2011-525-2 and 2011-525-3

Ottawa, 24 August 2011

Notice of hearing

5 December 2011
Montréal, Quebec

Development of a regulatory framework for the French-language television market, licence renewals for Astral Media Inc., Quebecor Media Inc. and Serdy Media Inc., and review of certain conditions of licence for V Interactions Inc.

Deadline for submission of interventions/answers: 23 September 2011

[Submit an intervention/comment/answer or view related documents]

The Commission will hold a hearing commencing on 5 December 2011 at 9:00 a.m. at the Omni Mont-Royal Hotel, 1050 Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, Quebec to develop a regulatory framework for the French-language television market (CRTC Reference 2011-1162-4). This process will determine the most appropriate approach to take in regard to the French-language television market, to define the obligations to be imposed on French-language conventional television broadcasters and to establish the relevance of a group-based approach, in order to meet the objectives of the Broadcasting Act (the Act).

The Commission will also consider the following broadcasters’ licence renewal applications in this process:

Lastly, the Commission will re-examine certain conditions of licence imposed on V Interactions Inc. as they relate to the broadcast of local programming, including news programming, and of Canadian priority programming:

Although the hearing will be held in Montréal, parties may participate from the Commission’s regional offices, with the exception of the Montréal office, via videoconferencing. Parties interested in doing so are asked to indicate the regional office where they wish to appear at the time they file their comments. A list of the Commission’s regional offices is included in this notice.

The notice also sets out the procedures for filing comments. The Commission encourages parties to monitor the public examination file and the Commission’s website for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their comments.

Introduction – Regulatory framework

In A group-based approach to the licensing of private television services, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010-167, 22 March 2010 (Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2010-167), the Commission set out its determinations on issues relating to a group-based approach to the licensing of large English-language private television ownership groups.

The Commission noted that, as stated in section 3(1)(c) of the Act, English- and French-language broadcasters, while sharing common aspects, operate under different conditions and may have different requirements. Although the Commission considered, in the context of the proceeding, comments relating to both English- and French-language broadcasting in Canada, the group-based policies set out in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2010-167, with two exceptions, apply only to large, English-language private television ownership groups. The two exceptions relate to an amendment to the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 regarding Canadian content and a change to the Commission's policy regarding licence-fee top-ups.

The Commission consequentially intended to discuss, on a case-by-case basis, the most appropriate approach to take in regard to each French-language television broadcaster.

Issues pertaining to the French-language television market (CRTC Reference 2011-1162-4)

The Commission intends to address the following issues:

• Group-based approach: Applicability of a group-based approach to the television services in the French-language market, including sharing obligations between different services owned by the same ownership group.

• Programs of National Interest: Appropriateness of creating a category of programs considered to be of national interest to replace the category of priority programming, and the broadcast of those programs, including but not limited to, children’s programming, drama and long-form documentary.

• Independent production: Access of independent producers to the broadcasting system in the French-language television market.

• Reflection of Official Language Minority Communities: Provision of an appropriate on-screen reflection of Official Language Minority Communities.

• Regional reflection and “Montréalisation” of the airwaves: Provision of an appropriate on-screen reflection of all of Quebec’s regions in program categories such as news and current affairs, as well as other types of programming.

• Length of the next licence term: The appropriateness of a five year licence term.

• Terms of trade agreements: The status of negotiations to develop appropriate frameworks on which to base individual negotiations respecting the ownership and exploitation of digital rights with the television production sectors in the French-language market and, as well, any terms of trade agreements that have been finalized.

In the event that a terms of trade agreement is not reached for each of the television services prior to the licence renewal hearing, the Commission will require the applicant to file substantive proposals as part of the record of the hearing and will then establish appropriate provisions for terms of trade as part of its determinations set out in the renewal decisions.

• Any other question relevant to the renewal of these licensees.

Applicants presented their positions on the above issues in their respective applications.

The applications

1.     Astral Media Inc.
Application 2011-0483-5

Applications by Astral, on behalf of the licensees listed below, for the renewal, or the revocation or the issuance of broadcasting licences for the stations and services listed below.

Astral proposed the following amendments for all of its specialty services:

• To modify the reference period for the calculation of all broadcasting restrictions and minimum obligations to broadcast certain program categories to the broadcast month.

• To impose a Canadian Programming Expenditures (CPE) obligation of 30% for all services of the Astral Bilingual Designated Group. Astral further proposed that only actual cash outlays be taken into account in making the calculations regarding CPE.

• To amend the standard condition of licence proposed by the Commission for described video on services where 50% or more of the programming is drawn from categories 7, 2(b) and/or children’s programming.

• To add the standard condition of licence regarding balance and ethics in religious programming to services that are allowed to draw programming from category 4 (religious programming) and that do not already have that condition of licence.

• Except for Séries+, to replace all conditions of licence regarding the broadcast of feature films, category 7(d), with a standard limit of 10% of  each broadcast month.

Other key proposed amendments for conventional television stations and pay and specialty services are summarized in the tables below.

Category A specialty services

Category A pay services

Astral proposed the following amendments for all of its pay services:

• In making the calculations regarding CPE, only actual cash outlays shall be taken into account.

• Calculate the minimum Canadian content by broadcast year rather than broadcast semester.

Category B specialty service

Category B pay service

Conventional television stations

Additional information will be placed on the public examination file as it becomes available. The Commission encourages interested parties to monitor the Commission’s website for additional information that they may fine useful when preparing their comments.

Applicant’s address:

1800 McGill College Avenue
Office 2700
Montréal, Quebec
H3A 3J6
Fax: 514-939-1515
E-mail: ndorval@astral.com
Website to view application: http//:www.astral.com
E-mail to request electronic version of application: ndorval@astral.com

2.     Quebecor Media Inc., on behalf of TVA Group Inc.
Application 2011-0482-7

Applications by QMI, on behalf of the licensees listed below, for the renewal of broadcasting licences for the stations and services listed below.

Key proposed amendments for conventional television stations and specialty services are summarized in the tables below.

Category A specialty services

Category B specialty services

Category C services

Applicant’s address:

612 Saint-Jacques Street
Montréal, Quebec
H3C 4M8
Fax: 514-380-4664
E-Mail: reglementaires@quebecor.com
Website to view application: http://www.quebecor.com/fr/affaires-reglementaires
E-mail to request electronic version of application: reglementaires@quebecor.com

3.    Serdy Média Inc.
Application2011-0527-1

Applications by Serdy, on behalf of Canal Évasion Inc, for the renewal of the broadcasting licence for the service Canal Évasion.

Key proposed amendments to the specialty service are summarized in the table below.

Applicant’s address:

6 Desaulniers Boulevard
Office 500
Saint-Lambert, Quebec
J4P 1L3
Fax: 450-672-0055
E-Mail: direction@evasion.tv
Website to view application: www.groupeserdy.com/communiques/
E-mail to request electronic version of application: direction@evasion.tv

4.      Re-examination of certain conditions of licences for V
Application 2011-0484-3

In Change in the effective control of TQS inc. and licence renewals of the television programming undertakings CFJP-TV Montréal, CFJP-DT Montréal, CFAP-TV Québec, CFKM-TV Trois-Rivières, CFKS-TV Sherbrooke, CFRS-TV Saguenay and of the TQS network, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-129, 26 June 2008, the Commission approved an application to change the effective control of TQS inc. through the transfer of all of the issued and outstanding shares of 3947424 Canada Inc., the parent corporation of TQS, currently held by Cogeco Radio-Télévision inc. (60%) and CTV Television Inc. (40%), to Remstar Diffusion Inc.. The Commission further renewed the broadcasting licences for the above-mentioned stations from 1 September 2008 to 31 August 2015.

In light of the technical bankruptcy situation of TQS Inc., the Commission exceptionally adopted reduced conditions of licence regarding the broadcast of local programming, including local news, as well as Canadian priority programming. The Commission also announced that it intended to re-examine these conditions of licence in a future public hearing to be held in order to renew the licences of most French-language television services.

Therefore, the Commission will limit the discussions to questions regarding the obligations to broadcast local programming, including local news, as well as priority programming.

Key proposed amendments to the network and stations are summarized in the table below.

Applicant’s addresss:

85, Saint-Paul Street West
Montréal, Quebec
H2Y 3V4
Fax: 514-390-6317
E-Mail: MGsorella@vtele.ca
Website to view application: www.vtele.ca/document-crtc
E-mail to request electronic version of application: MGsorella@vtele.ca

In accordance with subsection 35(1)(b) of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Rules of Procedure (Rules of Procedure), the Commission directs each applicant to give notice of the notice of consultation through broadcast over the their respective facilities.  This notice must set out

(i) the nature of the matters to be considered,

(ii) the deadline for intervening in the proceeding, and

(iii) the date and time of the commencement of the hearing.

Procedure

Deadline for interventions or answers

23 September 2011

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure, SOR/2010-277 (the Rules of Procedure), set out, among other things, the rules for filing, content, format and service of interventions and answers of respondents, the procedure for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure, and the conduct of the public hearing. Accordingly, the procedure set out below must be read in conjunction with the Rules of Procedure and its accompanying documents, which can be found on the Commission’s website under “CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure.”

An intervention or an answer from a respondent must be filed with the Commission and served on the applicant on or before the above-mentioned date. An answer from a respondent must also be served on any other respondent. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, the applicant may file a reply within 10 days after the deadline for the filing of the answer or the deadline for intervening in the proceeding. The Commission cannot be held responsible for postal delays and will not notify a party whose submission is received after the deadline date. The submission will not be considered by the Commission and will not be part of the public file.

The intervention or answer must include one of the following statements in either the first or the last paragraph:

1. I request to appear at the public hearing.
2. I do not want to appear at the public hearing.

The applicant, respondents and interveners are permitted to coordinate, organize and file, in a single submission, interventions of other interested persons who share their position but do not wish to appear at the hearing as a “Joint Supporting Intervention.” More information on how to do so and a template for the covering letter to be filed by the parties can be found in Changes to certain practices for filing interventions – Expansion of filing practices to include the filing of joint supporting comments for broadcasting policy proceedings, Broadcasting Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-28-1, 10 December 2010.

Interventions and answers will be considered by the Commission and will form part of the public record of the proceeding without further notification to parties, provided the procedures set out in the Rules of Procedure and this notice have been followed. Parties will be contacted only if their submissions raise procedural questions.

Interventions or answers must be submitted to the Secretary General of the Commission in only one of the following formats:

by using the
[Submit an intervention/comment/answer or view related documents]

or

by mail to
CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2

or

by fax at
819-994-0218

A true copy of each intervention or answer from a respondent must be sent to the applicant and, in the case of a respondent to an application, to any other respondent.

The Commission advises those who file and serve by electronic mode to exercise caution when using e-mail for service of documents, as it may be difficult to establish that service has occurred.

Parties must ensure that, before initiating service through electronic mode, they will be able to satisfy the Commission, upon request, that service was completed. The sender must keep proof of the sending and the receipt of the document for 180 days after the day on which it is filed.

Submissions longer than five pages should include a summary.

Each paragraph of the submission should be numbered. In addition, where the intervention 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 altered during electronic transmission.

Interventions and answers must clearly identify the application referred to and indicate whether parties support or oppose the application, or, if they propose changes to it, include the facts and grounds for their proposal.

If parties wish to appear at the oral phase of the hearing, they must provide reasons why their written interventions or answers are not sufficient and why an appearance is necessary. Parties requiring communication support must state their request on the first page of their intervention. Only those parties whose requests to appear have been granted will be contacted by the Commission and invited to appear at the public hearing.

Persons requiring communications support such as assistance listening devices and sign language interpretation are requested to inform the Commission at least twenty (20) days before the commencement of the public hearing so that the necessary arrangements can be made.

Important notice

All information that parties provide as part of this public process, except information designated confidential, 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.

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.

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.

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.

The Commission encourages parties and interested persons to monitor the record of the proceeding, available on the Commission’s website, for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their submissions.

Examination of documents

An electronic version of the applications is available on the Commission’s website by selecting the application number within this notice. It is also available from the applicant either on its website or upon request by contacting the applicant its mail address, provided above.

A list of all interventions and answers will also be available on the Commission’s website. The list is accessible by selecting “View all proceedings open for comment” from the “Public Proceedings” section of the Commission’s website and clicking on the “Interventions/Answers” link associated with this notice.

Documents are also available during normal office hours at the Commission offices and documentation centres directly involved with this application or, upon request, within two (2) working days, at any other Commission offices and documentation centres.

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
360 Main Street
Suite 970
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3C 3Z3
Tel.: 204-983-6306
Fax.: 204-983-6317

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

403-100 4^th Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 3N2
Tel.: 403-292-6660
Fax.: 403-292-6686

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

Secretary General

Date modified:

2011-08-24