ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Commission Letter addressed to Susan Wheeler (Rogers Sportsnet Inc.)

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Ottawa, 19 December 2014

VIA EMAIL: susan.wheeler@rci.rogers.com

Mrs. Susan Wheeler
Vice-President, Regulatory Media
Rogers Sportsnet Inc.
333 Bloor Street
Toronto, Ontario  M4W 1G9

Re: Application by Rogers Sportsnet Inc. for a temporary television network licence pursuant to Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2014-399 – Approved

Ms. Wheeler:

The Commission approves the application by Rogers Sportsnet Inc. (Rogers) for a temporary network licence pursuant to the Commission’s decision Rogers Media Inc. – Group-based licence renewals, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2014-399 (Decision 2014-399), dated 31 July 2014.

In that decision, the Commission directed Rogers to submit applications for a temporary and a “permanent” network licence in order to authorize its agreement with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) with respect to the broadcast of the CBC’s program “Hockey Night in Canada”. As explained in the above decision, the agreement between Rogers and the CBC, wherein the CBC obtains exhibition rights to certain National Hockey League (NHL) games while delegating editorial and advertising control to Rogers, requires granting a television network licence to the licensee that will be responsible for the broadcast of the program “Hockey Night in Canada”. In this instance, the party responsible for the programming during “Hockey Night in Canada” is Rogers Sportsnet Inc.

The Commission notes that it has also received an application by Rogers Sportsnet Inc. for a “permanent” television network licence (application 2014-0793-2). This application will be assessed on its own merits in the context of a public hearing to be held on 13 January 2015 as announced in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2014-451, 2014-451-1 and 2014-451-2.

The Commission’s determinations regarding the terms and conditions of the “permanent” television network licence as well as the applicability of the licence fees related to the “permanent” and the temporary television network licences will be announced in a broadcasting decision following the conclusion of the public hearing mentioned above.

Once issued, the temporary television network licence will remain valid for a period not exceeding sixty days. The Commission notes that Rogers will have to apply for a temporary television network licence until such time as the Commission issues its decision following the conclusion of the public hearing scheduled for 13 January 2015 where it will examine the application for the “permanent” television network licence.

The Commission’s files will be updated and will reflect the information stipulated in this letter of approval.

All letters of approval issued by the Commission are made available upon request for public examination at the Commission's central and regional offices.

Sincerely,

Original signed by

John Traversy
Secretary General

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