ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Procedural Letter Addressed to Catherine Edwards (Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS))

Ottawa, 4 november, 2015

VIA E-MAIL

Catherine Edwards
Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS)
cedwards@timescape.ca

Re: Procedural request regarding the broadcast of notices and the publication additional data in relation to Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2015-421

The Commission is in receipt of a letter dated 29 October 2015 from the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) requesting that the Commission ask broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) and other licensees that operate community channels to broadcast notices informing viewers of the Commission’s review of the policy framework for local and community television programming launched by Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2015-421 (BNC 2015-421) and instructing them how they can submit comments.

CACTUS also requests that additional information be made available as part of the public record of the process outlined in BNC 2015-421. In particular, CACTUS asked the Commission to publish:

1. the most recent licensed area boundaries in the Commission’s possession for licensed as well as exempt BDUs, and for other non-BDU community licence holders;
2. a breakdown of information about community channels by licensed area including hours of local and access content produced, as well as training offered to the public;
3. program logs for a period of one week for all BDU licensed areas; and
4. Viewing ratings showing the weekly reach of community channels (BDU-operated or independent).

Regarding the request to broadcast notices, the Commission is of the view that ample notice has been given to the public in respect of this proceeding. In particular, in addition to the habitual publication of the public notice and required gazetting, the Commission has regularly publicized the process on its social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook).

At this time, more than 1000 interventions from all regions of Canada have already been submitted, demonstrating that interested members of the general public are indeed aware of the process.

Regarding the request to publish licensed area boundaries for each licensed area, the Commission notes that it stopped collecting licensed area maps in 2011. The maps the Commission has in its possession might therefore not be reflective of the current situation and could create confusion in the general public. However, the Commission notes that it encourages existing and new entrant BDUs to post their service area maps on their respective websites.

Regarding the requests for the Commission to publish program logs and viewing data for each community service, the Commission is not convinced by CACTUS’ arguments that the publication of this information is necessary to ensure that individual members of the public have an opportunity to comment on the policy questions raised by BNC 2015-421. The Commission notes specifically that the objective of the process is to review the policy framework for local and community television programming rather than establish each BDU’s compliance with the existing policy.

Finally, regarding the request to publish a breakdown of information about community channels by licensed area including hours of local and access content produced, as well as training offered to the public, the Commission notes that it has already placed data of this nature on the public record, aggregated by market size and language. The Commission also publishes aggregated annual financial returns from many of the largest BDUs on its website. The Commission is therefore of the view that the information already published is sufficient to ensure the meaningful participation of Canadian in its process.

For the reasons set out above, the Commission denies all requests.

Sincerely,

John Traversy
Secretary General

Date modified:

2015-11-04