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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2017-415

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Reference: Part 1 application posted on 18 August 2017

Ottawa, 27 November 2017

Rogers Media Inc.
Across Canada

Public record for this application: 2017-0685-5

OMNI Regional – Licence amendment

The Commission denies an application by Rogers Media Inc. (Rogers) to amend the broadcasting licence for the national, multilingual multi-ethnic discretionary service OMNI Regional. Rogers had requested that the condition of licence requiring the Quebec feed of the service to include 14 hours of original, local independently produced programming each week be amended to 14 hours of original, local ethnic programming each month.

Maintaining the requirement will ensure that Canadians in Quebec have access to more original, local programming.

Application

  1. Rogers Media Inc. (Rogers) filed an application to amend the broadcasting licence for the national, multilingual multi-ethnic discretionary service OMNI Regional. Rogers requested that the condition of licence requiring the Quebec feed of the service to include 14 hours of original, local independently produced programming each week be amended to 14 hours of original, local ethnic programming each month.
  2. Rogers stated that the proposal to provide 14 hours of original, local independently produced programming each week on the Quebec feed was an inadvertent error in its original OMNI Regional application and that it was not discovered until after the Commission decision was issued.
  3. Rogers submitted that the proposed change would align the programming requirements of the Quebec feed of OMNI Regional with those of the ethnic television station CFHD-DT Montréal, Quebec, from which it acquires programming.

Background

  1. In Broadcasting Decision 2017-152, the Commission approved an application by Rogers to operate OMNI Regional for a licence term of three years, beginning 1 September 2017. The Commission also granted the service mandatory distribution across Canada on an exceptional basis, further to section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act (the Act), for the same period.
  2. OMNI Regional offers its service in four separate regional feeds. As was proposed by Rogers in its application, the service is subject to a condition of licence requiring the licensee to ensure that the Quebec feed includes 14 hours of original, local independently produced programming each week.
  3. To acquire original, local independently produced programming for the Quebec feed, Rogers entered into an agreement with 4517466 Canada Inc., licensee of CFHD-DT Montréal.

Interventions and reply

  1. The Commission received five interventions in opposition to the application, to which the applicant replied. The Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC), Amber Broadcasting Inc. (Amber), Quebecor Media Inc. on behalf of Videotron G.P. (Quebecor), Cogeco Communications (Cogeco) and the joint intervention by Asian Television Network and Telelatino Network Inc. (ATN/TLN) argued that the Commission reached its decision and chose to grant the service mandatory distribution based on the application provided by Rogers, which had committed to 14 hours of original, local indepedently produced programming each week in Quebec.
  2. Quebecor and Cogeco referred to the French-language version of CFHD-DT’s condition of licence, set out in Broadcasting Decision 2012-696, in which the licensee is required to broadcast 14 hours of original, local ethnic programming each broadcast week. Cogeco identified an inconsistency between the English- and French-language versions of that decision, i.e., the English-language version of the condition of licence refers to 14 hours of programming over the course of the broadcast month, while the French-language version refers to the same amount of programming over the broadcast week. Cogeco argued that the body of the decision—specifically paragraph 9—clearly indicated the Commission’s intention to impose a weekly obligation.
  3. CMAC, Quebecor and ATN/TLN argued that, based on the projected revenues from OMNI Regional’s mandatory distribution, the additional programming expenses should not be considered an undue burden for Rogers.
  4. ATN/TLN and CMAC stated that there are programming solutions available to meet this condition of licence as many production companies have the capacity to provide this type of programming if it is not available from CFHD-DT.
  5. In reply, Rogers reiterated that the commitment to include 14 hours of original local programming per week was made in error and that the intention was to align with the CFHD-DT condition of licence 7 as set out in the English-language version of Broadcasting Decision 2012-696. Rogers argued that the proposed amendment would represent only a modest change to the OMNI Regional licence and that there would be no change to the level of independent production currently offered by the Quebec feed. Rogers estimated the incremental annual cost of producing additional original local programming on a weekly basis at $1.7 million, which it argued would be prohibitive.

Commission’s analysis and decision

  1. In Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2010-629, the Commission established criteria for assessing applications for mandatory distribution on the digital basic service. One criterion stipulates that applicants must provide evidence that the service is making exceptional commitments to original, first-run Canadian programming through exhibition and expenditures. Specifically, the applicant must demonstrate that the commitments it intends to make to original, first-run Canadian programming through exhibition and expenditures justify its exceptional status under a 9(1)(h) order.
  2. In the case of OMNI Regional, the Commission approved the application for a new national service and for the service’s mandatory distribution based on the commitment that the Quebec feed would provide 14 hours of original, local independently produced programming each week. The change requested by Rogers would be comparable to an average of only 3.2 hours of original, local programming each week. The Commission considers this amount to be inadequate for a service with mandatory distribution.
  3. Maintaining the current requirement would encourage the production of more original, local programming for Canadians and would help ensure that OMNI Regional, as a service with mandatory distribution, continues to contribute in meaningful ways to fulfilling the policy objectives of the Act.
  4. With respect to the discrepancy raised regarding the text of the licensing decision for CFHD-DT, the Commission acknowledges that the English- and French-language versions of condition of licence 7 set out in Broadcasting Decision 2012-696 are contradictory. After examining the record for the application that led to CFHD-DT’s licensing decision and the wording of the decision, both in English and French, it is clear that the intention of the Commission was to impose a weekly obligation as opposed to a monthly one. However, the CFHD-DT condition of licence is not before the Commission in this proceeding. In the present decision, it is only relevant in that Rogers was seeking to align the requirements of its service with those of CFHD-DT in light of its agreement regarding the provision of programming.
  5. With respect to the financial impact on the service, the Commission is of the view that maintaining the requirement of 14 hours per week of original, local independently produced programming would not have a significant impact on the financial position of OMNI Regional.

Conclusion

  1. In light of all of the above, the Commission denies the application by Rogers Media Inc. to amend the broadcasting licence for the national, multilingual multi-ethnic discretionary service OMNI Regional.

Secretary General

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