ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2014-63
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Route reference: Part 1 application posted on 30 October 2013
Ottawa, 17 February 2014
Bragg Communications Incorporated
Across Canada
Application 2013-1410-4
Addition of Sky News International to the List of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution
The Commission approves an application to addSky News Internationalto the List of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution (the list) and amends the list accordingly. The revised list is available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca under “Broadcasting Sector.”
Introduction
1. The Commission received an application from Bragg Communications Incorporated (Bragg) to add Sky News International, a non-Canadian English-language service, to the List of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution (the list). The Commission did not receive any interventions in connection with this application.
2. Bragg described Sky News International as a 24-hour English-language news channel based in the United Kingdom (UK) and reporting on both domestic and international news from a UK point of view. The service’s target audience would comprise Canadians of British descent, viewers with friends and family in the UK and viewers with work or business interests in the UK.
3. The Commission’s general approach to the addition of non-Canadian English- and French-language services to the list is set out in Public Notice 2000-173 and Broadcasting Public Notice 2008-100. Under this approach, the Commission assesses such requests in the context of its general policy, which among other things, precludes the addition of a non-Canadian service that can be considered either totally or partially competitive with Canadian specialty or pay television services.
4. However, with respect to non-Canadian news services, the Commission considers a more open-entry approach to be consistent with the importance it places on a diversity of editorial points of view. Consequently, in Broadcasting Public Notice 2008-100, the Commission stated that absent clear evidence, as determined by the Commission, that a non-Canadian news service will violate Canadian regulations, such as those regarding abusive comment, the Commission will be predisposed to authorize non-Canadian news services for distribution in Canada.
Commission’s analysis and decision
5. In the absence of opposing interventions and any evidence that the service would violate Canadian regulations, the Commission approves the application by Bragg Communications Incorporated to add Sky News International to the List of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution and amends the list accordingly. The list is available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca under “Broadcasting Sector” and may be obtained in hard copy on request.
Secretary General
Related documents
- Regulatory frameworks for broadcasting distribution undertakings and discretionary programming services – Regulatory policy, Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2008-100, 30 October 2008
- Call for proposals to amend the lists of eligible satellite services through the inclusion of additional non-Canadian services eligible for distribution on a digital basis only, Public Notice CRTC 2000-173, 14 December 2000
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