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Ottawa, 1 March 2013
Our reference: Files # 589861, 590414, 590427 and 601237
Jay Mehr
Senior Vice President,
Operations
Shaw Communications Inc.
630 – 3rd Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta T2P 4L4
Jay.mehr@srjb.ca
Re: 4 Complaints regarding the loudness of TV commercial messages;
And the Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2012-273
Mr. Mehr:
This letter is regarding your company’s regulatory obligations relative to the loudness of commercial messages.
As you are aware, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission received a number of complaints regarding inconsistent audio between programming and commercial messages, as detailed in the Appendix herein.
Prior to the Commission receiving these complaints, Shaw Cable, pursuant to Broadcasting Information Bulletin CRTC 2012-471, filed a report with the Commission demonstrating its compliance with Shaw Cable’s regulatory obligations regarding the loudness of commercials. However, despite assurance in its report that Shaw Cable controls the loudness of commercial messages for local availabilities on non-Canadian services, the Commission has, nevertheless, received a number of complaints related to local availabilities distributed by Shaw Cable.
In response to customer complaints Shaw Cable acknowledged that the cause of non-compliance on its non-Canadian channels Fox News Network, A&E, and AMC are ads inserted by Shaw Cable into these signals (i.e. local availabilities) that are not compliant with the ATSC Recommended Practice A/85.
Consequently, the above noted files were transferred to the Compliance and Enforcement Sector on February 8th, 2013. After review of these files, the Compliance and Enforcement Sector considers that your company’s report and responses to complainants are unsatisfactory. Also, the Compliance and Enforcement Sector requests that Shaw Cable provide the Commission with a description of the steps taken by your company to ensure that broadcast of local availabilities on their non-Canadian signals are compliant with Canadian regulations, as described in the ATSC Recommended Practice A/85, as well as the results of the audit of equipment settings, as referenced in response to cases #589861 and 590427. The description must include details on the equipment used that automatically adjusts audio levels before being broadcast, or any other kinds of technology or contractual measures put it in place to ensure compliance.
I look forward to your response by 12:00pm, Monday, March 18, 2013.
Address all communication, including any questions you may have with respect to the above, to Lynne M. Perrault by e-mail at lynne.m.perrault@crtc.gc.ca.
Sincerely,
Andrea Rosen
Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer
Appendix- Details of the complaints involving Shaw Cable
regarding the loudness of TV commercial messages
The complaints discussed in the letter above are the following:
1) Complaint submitted to the CRTC September 7, 2012 (CRTC case ID # 589861)
Loudness of TV commercial messages during the program “The First 48”, broadcast on September 7, 2012 (from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM) on A&E;
2) Complaint submitted to the CRTC September 11, 2012 (CRTC case ID # 590414)
Loudness of TV commercial messages broadcast on September 11, 2012 (6:53PM PST) on Fox News Network;
3) Complaint submitted to the CRTC September 11, 2012 (CRTC case ID # 590427)
Loudness of TV commercial messages during the program “Storage Wars”, broadcast on September 11, 2012 (9:15 PM MST) on A&E;
4) Complaint submitted to the CRTC November 24, 2012 (CRTC case ID # 601237)
Loudness of TV commercial messages on AMC’s “Appaloosa” broadcast on November 24, 2012 on AMC.
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