ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Commission Letter addressed to David Spodek (Bell Media Inc.)

Ottawa, 20 August 2014

VIA EMAIL: david.spodek@bellmedia.ca

David Spodek
Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
Bell Media Inc. 
299 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON
M5V 2Z5

Re: Application 2014-0605-9 – Follow-up to Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2013-310, Astral broadcasting undertakings – change of effective control – Licence amendments for Canal D/Investigation – Approved

Mr. Spodek:

In Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2013-310, conditions of approval were set out by the Commission in Appendix 1. By virtue of condition of approval 2, Bell Media Inc. was to file applications with the Commission in order to add the conditions of licence 1 to 14 set out in Appendix 2 of that decision to Canal D/Investigation.

Consequently, the Commission approves the application by Bell Media Inc. to amend the broadcasting licence for Canal D/Investigation in order to add the following conditions of licence:

1. The licensee shall not:
   1. require an unreasonable rate (e.g., not based on fair market value);
   2. require a party that it is contracting to accept terms or conditions for the distribution of programming on a traditional or ancillary platform that are commercially unreasonable;
   3. require an excessive activation fee or minimum subscription guarantee; or
   4. impose, on an independent party, a most favoured nation clause or any other condition that imposes obligations on that independent party by virtue of a vertically integrated entity or an affiliate thereof entering into an agreement with any vertically integrated entity or any affiliate thereof, including its own.
2. When negotiating a wholesale rate for a programming service based on fair market value, the licensee shall take into consideration the following factors:
   1. historical rates;
   2. penetration levels and volume discounts;
   3. the packaging of the service;
   4. rates paid by unaffiliated broadcasting distribution undertakings for the programming service;
   5. rates paid for programming services of similar value to consumers;
   6. the number of subscribers that subscribe to a package in part or in whole due to the inclusion of the programming service in that package;
   7. the retail rate charged for the service on a stand-alone basis; and
   8. the retail rate for any packages in which the service is included.
3. The licensee shall file with the Commission all affiliation agreements to which it is a party with a television programming undertaking or broadcasting distribution undertaking within five days following the execution of the agreement by the parties.
4. If the licensee has not renewed an affiliation agreement to which it is a party with a licensed or exempt Canadian television programming undertaking or Canadian broadcasting distribution undertaking within the 120 days preceding the expiry date of the agreement, and if the other contracting party has confirmed its intention to renew the agreement, the licensee shall refer the matter to the Commission for dispute resolution under sections 12 to 15 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations.
5.  The licensee shall not:
   1. require minimum penetration or revenue levels that force distribution of a service on the basic tier or in a package that is inconsistent with the service’s theme or price point;
   2. refuse to make programming services available on a stand-alone basis (i.e., requiring the acquisition of a program or service in order to obtain another program or service); or
   3. impose terms that prevent an unrelated distributor from providing a differentiated offer to consumers.
6. The licensee shall not refuse to make available or condition the availability of or carriage terms for any of its licensed programming services to any broadcast distribution undertaking (BDU) on whether that BDU agrees to carry any other separately licensed programming service, provided that this condition does not prevent or limit the right or ability of the licensee to offer BDUs multiservice or other discounts, promotions, rebates or similar programs.
   
7. The licensee shall not include or enforce any provision in or in connection with an affiliation agreement that is designed to prevent, or is designed to create incentives that would effectively prevent, another programming undertaking or broadcasting distribution undertaking from launching or distributing another licensed programming service.
   
8. The licensee shall negotiate with broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) for non-linear multiplatform rights to the content broadcast on the licensee’s programming service at the same time as linear rights for its programming service and provide those rights to BDUs on a timely basis and on commercially reasonable terms. For certainty, nothing in this condition of licence shall prevent or otherwise restrict the licensee from requesting compensation in exchange for making such non-linear rights available to BDUs.
   
9. The licensee shall provide a minimum of 90 days written notice of the impending launch of a new programming service to all broadcasting distribution undertakings. Such notice will be accompanied by an offer which sets out the general terms of carriage of the programming service to be launched.
10. The licensee shall pay tangible benefits in respect of any shortfall in the tangible benefits for the television programming undertakings to be divested by BCE Inc. (BCE) in accordance with Astral broadcasting undertakings – Change of effective control, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2013-310, 27 June 2013, between the $72.69 million attributed to those undertakings and the aggregate value of the tangible benefits to be paid by purchasers of those undertakings as determined by the Commission in the decisions approving the transfer of those undertakings by BCE (“shortfall”).

    In the event of a shortfall, the licensee shall file with the Commission a proposal for the payment of the resulting tangible benefits within 30 days of the Commission’s decision approving the transfer of the last of those undertakings by BCE.

11. The licensee shall adhere to a terms of trade agreement with the Canadian Media Production Association for English-language services.
    
12. The licensee shall adhere to a terms of trade agreement with the Association québécoise de la production médiatique for French-language services.
    
13. The licensee shall adhere to a terms of trade agreement with the Association des producteurs francophones du Canada for French-language services.
    
14. The licensee shall, by 30 November of each year, provide for the previous broadcast year a report in a form acceptable to the Commission that contains information on the programs broadcast, specifying the program category, language, origin and region, as well as whether the program was produced in an official language minority community.

    All letters of approval issued by the Commission are made available upon request for public examination at the Commission's central and regional offices. The Commission also requires that this letter be appended to the broadcasting licences for the undertakings set out in Appendix A to this letter.

ARCHIVED -  

Date modified:

2014-08-20