Broadcasting Commission Letter addressed to Karen Gifford (Corus Entertainment)
Ottawa, 3 November 2020
BY EMAIL
Mrs. Karen Gifford
Senior Director, Government Relations and Compliance
Corus Entertainment
25 Dockside Drive
TORONTO ON M5A 0B5
Karen.Gifford@corusent.com
Re: Reallocation of outstanding payments as part of the Cooking Channel and Sundance Channel’s tangible benefits package
Mrs. Karen Gifford:
In 2009, the Commission approved an application by Corus to acquire, from CTV Limited, the English-language specialty services then known as SexTV: The Channel (now Cooking Channel) and Drive-In Classics (renamed the Sundance Channel) in SexTV: The Channel and Drive-In Classics Channel – Acquisition of assets,Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2009-706, 19 November 2009 (the Decision).
In the Decision, the Commission approved a tangible benefits package valued at $4 million, of which the funds were to be distributed to various initiatives over seven years, with the final payment to be made in the 2015/2016 broadcast year. Corus had agreed to file annual reports on its payments made each year.
Following a query from the Commission and further to its own internal analysis, Corus discovered a payment shortfall of $525,355.35, which represents 13% of the total benefits package required by the Decision. This amount was to have been dedicated to research and development under the banner of the “Communitech Rights Project, Early & Associates – Research and Development” (Communitech) ($500,000) and Canadian programming ($25,355.35), which had been approved initiatives in the Decision.
Corus proposed to reallocate the amount of the shortfall to the Canada Media Fund (CMF), as the Communitech Rights Project is no longer active and it is not possible to expend the shortfall in the manner that was prescribed in the Decision.
Commission’s decision and analysis
In light of the above, the Commission approves Corus’ request to reallocate the contributions and requires Corus to redirect the full amount of $525,355.35 to the CMF by no later than 30 November 2020.
In order to ensure transparency regarding the redirection of the funds, and consistent with the requirement that Corus provide reports relating to the expenditure of these tangible benefits, the Commission requires that Corus be required to file a report by no later than 30 November 2020 demonstrating that the payment to the CMF has been made.
The Commission’s files will be updated and will reflect the information stipulated in this letter. All letters issued by the Commission are available, upon request by the public.
The Commission requires that this letter be appended to the licence and notes that it will re-examine Corus’ compliance with this decision in the context of Corus’ next licence renewal.
Sincerely,
Claude Doucet
Secretary General
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