ARCHIVED - Procedural letter

Ottawa, 8 May 2014

By E-mail

sylvie.courtemanche@corusent.com

Re: Application 2014-0320-4

Dear Ms. Courtemanche:

This is in reference to the application by Corus Entertainment Inc. to amend the condition of licence for Séries+ concerning expenditures related to the production of original programming.

Section 28(1)(a) of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure provides that the Commission may request parties to file information, particulars or documents where needed.

To allow the Commission to continue to process your application, please provide the following information:

1. Please explain why the proposed amount of $750,000 is appropriate given the current obligations of Séries+ with respect to Canadian programming expenditures and Corus’s place in the Canadian broadcasting system.
2. According to your application, the proposed additional investment of $750,000 toward original French-language production could be made by Corus and a partner in the context of a co-production. Please specify whether

1. In the context of a co-production, the proposed funding of $750,000 would come exclusively from Corus and would therefore increase as a result of the potential partner’s contribution. If not, then explain how the obligation could be considered to be fulfilled;
2. Corus has had discussions with potential partners for the purpose of investing in original production;
3. Corus has contacted the Canada Media Fund (CMF) in order to obtain financing for original productions or whether Corus intends to do so.

3. Please specify the number of original productions you intend to produce and, for each one, the number of hours of programming you intend to offer based on the proposed $750,000 amount. Please provide examples of original French-language programs whose budget is similar to that proposed.
4. According to your application, the $750,000 investment would be spent over the next three broadcast years (2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017) and the original programs would be broadcast during the last broadcast year. Corus requires this flexibility in light of the necessary production timeframes for original programs and its current commitments.

1. Please confirm this interpretation of your proposal or clarify as needed.
2. What would be the impact of requiring Corus to spend the proposed amount each year rather than to spread it out over three years?

5. How does Corus intend to report on its expenditures regarding original French-language production? Could information to that effect be included in the annual reports Corus submits to the Commission?
6. The new condition of licence set out in the application is noted. Please comment on the following structure for condition of licence 6 (its content would be subject to your answers to the above questions and the Commission’s decision).

1. The licensee shall devote to the funding of original French-language drama:
1. Not less than $1,500,000 per year of the Canadian program spending under condition of licence 4; and
2. Not less than $750,000 over the 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 broadcast years in addition to the expenditures set out in condition of licence 4 and section i) above.

For the purposes of section ii) above, the expenditures may be made by the licensee or by the licensee in partnership with another party as part of a co-production.

2. Of the Canadian program spending under condition of licence 4, the licensee shall devote $3.5 million during the licence term to pay for dubbing in French in Canada, Canadian and foreign series that are broadcast.

In addition, section 22 of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure provides that an applicant must serve its application on a respondent defined as a person who is “adverse in interest”. The guidelines on the Rules of procedure [1] include a chart of persons generally considered to be respondents (paragraph 61). The list is not exhaustive since parties that can be considered respondents depend on the specific facts of the application.

We note that you have not served your application on parties that could be “adverse in interest”. Staff is of the view that the following parties, who submitted interventions as part of the proceeding announced in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2013-448, could be “adverse in interest”: Association québécoise de la production médiatique, On Screen Manitoba, Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada, as well as Union des artistes, Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec and Société des auteurs de radio, television et cinema.

You are therefore required to provide the requested information and serve the application noted above on respondents by 15 May 2014.

The Commission requires that you submit your documents electronically using the secured service “My CRTC Account” (Partner Log In or GCKey) and fill in the “Broadcasting and Telecom Cover page” located on this web page. On this web page, you will also find a link to information on the submission of applications to the Commission “Submitting applications and other documents to the CRTC using My CRTC Account.”

Considering the above requests, the timetable for the proceeding is changed as follows:

A copy of this letter and all related correspondence will be added to the public record of the proceeding.

Yours sincerely,

Joelle Paré
Senior Policy Analyst
TV Policy and Applications

Date modified:

2014-05-08