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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2016-133

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Reference: Part 1 application posted on 16 October 2015

Ottawa, 14 April 2016

Rogers Media Inc.
Province of Saskatchewan

Application 2015-1168-4

City Saskatchewan – Licence amendment

The Commission approves, with modifications, an application by Rogers Media Inc. to amend the broadcasting licence for the educational television service City Saskatchewan. The licence amendment will allow programming accredited by an educational institution in Saskatchewan or by Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education to be used to satisfy the service’s educational programming requirements.

Application

  1. Rogers Media Inc. (Rogers) filed an application to amend the broadcasting licence for the educational television service City Saskatchewan to allow programming that is accredited by an educational institution or Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education to be used to satisfy the service’s educational programming requirements. The Commission received interventions in support of the application.
  2. Specifically, the applicant proposed that the following condition of licence:

    The licensee shall devote no less than 60% of the broadcast month to the broadcast of programming drawn from categories 2(a) Analysis and interpretation, 2(b) Long-form documentary, 5(a) Formal education and pre-school and 5(b) Informal education/Recreation and leisure. A minimum of 40% of this programming must be drawn from categories 5(a) and 5(b) and must be devoted to educational programming directed to pre-school children or to educational programming with clear learning objectives and comprising part of a formal learning system that leads to formal assessment and accreditation by an educational institution.

    be replaced with :

    The licensee shall devote no less than 60% of the broadcast month to the broadcast of programming drawn from categories 2(a) Analysis and interpretation, 2(b) Long-form documentary, 5(a) Formal education and pre-school, and 5(b) Informal education/Recreation and leisure and other programming which has been accredited as a learning resource by an educational institution or the Ministry of Education of Saskatchewan. A minimum of 40% of this programming must be drawn from categories 5(a), and 5(b), or other programming which has been accredited as a learning resource by an educational institution or the Ministry of Education of Saskatchewan, and must be devoted to educational programming directed to pre-school children or to educational programming with clear learning objectives and comprising part of a formal learning system that leads to formal assessment and accreditation by an educational institution.

  3. The applicant is requesting this change to be able to count programs that have been certified in program categories other than those specified above but that are accredited as a learning resource by a learning institution or the Ministry of Education towards the fulfilment of the requirements set out in condition of licence 3.

Commission’s analysis and decision

  1. Rogers cited Broadcasting Decision 2013-125 as a precedent for its request. In that decision, the Commission imposed conditions of licence on Corus Entertainment for the discretionary service OWN which allowed programs that have been accredited by an educational institution to be counted towards the fulfilment of its formal educational programming obligation.
  2. The Commission’s approach to OWN was based on the specific facts of that situation. The determinations set out in that decision were not meant to establish policy that would apply to all services.
  3. According to the Broadcasting Act, educational programming is an integral part of the Canadian broadcasting system. As the provincially designated educational service for Saskatchewan, City Saskatchewan provides a valuable public service to Canadians and fulfil important policy objectives. When Rogers acquired the service in 2012, it committed to uphold the service’s educational mandate provided that it remains a designated provincial educational service.
  4. Being a designated provincial educational service has benefits, such as the requirement that broadcasting distribution undertakings include a provincial educational service in its entry-level service offering as announced in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2015-96.  
  5. In regard to the current application, the Commission considers it appropriate to allow Rogers to count programming that has been accredited as a learning resource by Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education or by an educational institution located in the province of Saskatchewan towards its educational programming obligations. This will provide the licensee with more flexibility to broadcast programming that is used for educational purposes but may not have been certified as educational programming in the Commission’s certification process.
  6. With respect to programming accredited by an educational institution, the Commission is of the view that appropriate institutions for this purpose would be those that are located in Saskatchewan to ensure that the programming is representative of the needs of Saskatchewanians. This is therefore reflected in the condition of licence approved below.

Conclusion

  1. In light of the above, the Commission approves, with modifications, the application by Rogers Media Inc. to amend the broadcasting licence for the educational television service City Saskatchewan. Condition of licence 3 shall now read as follows:

    3. a) The licensee shall devote no less than 60% of the broadcast month to the broadcast of:

    i. programming drawn from categories 2(a) Analysis and interpretation, 2(b) Long-form documentary, 5(a) Formal education and pre-school and 5(b) Informal education/Recreation and leisure; and
    ii. other programming which has been accredited as a learning resource by an educational institution in Saskatchewan or the Ministry of Education of Saskatchewan.

    b) A minimum of 40% of that programming must:

    i. be drawn from categories 5(a) and 5(b); or
    ii. be accredited as a learning resource by an educational institution in Saskatchewan or the Ministry of Education of Saskatchewan and be devoted to educational programming directed to preschool children or to educational programming with clear learning objectives and comprising part of a formal learning system that leads to formal assessment and accreditation by an educational institution of Saskatchewan.

Secretary General

Related documents

*This decision is to be appended to the licence.

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