Broadcasting - Staff Letter addressed to Megan Bruce (Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.)

Gatineau, 9 October 2025

BY EMAIL

Megan Bruce
Vice-President
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
megan_bruce@spe.sony.com

Subject: Deregistration request by Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.

Dear Mrs. Bruce,

Commission staff acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 20 December 2024. In this letter, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (Sony) requested to deregister with the Commission certain online undertakings (FAST Channels^{Footnote 1}), based on its understanding that Sony’s FAST Channels do not fall within the definition of an online undertaking under the Broadcasting Act. Sony also requested that the Base Contribution Order issued on 29 August 2024 to its operating companies (Game Show Network, LLC and Culver Max Entertainment Private Limited) with respect to these FAST Channels be revoked.

Sony explained that its FAST Channels are not transmitted or retransmitted by Sony over the Internet for reception by the public, and are not offered as direct-to-consumer (DTC) service. Rather, the channels are licensed to third-party platforms—such as Roku—through program supply agreements. These platforms are responsible for housing and retransmitting the content to the public as part of their own broadcasting services, and Sony is not involved in the transmission or retransmission of the content (i.e., the programs it has supplied) to the public.

As you know, the Commission must obtain information about a broad scope of online broadcasting undertaking operating in Canada to ensure that it can fulfil its mandate to regulate online broadcasting undertakings. On 29 September 2023, the Commission issued Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2023-329 and Broadcasting Order CRTC 2023-330. As mentioned in CRTC 2023-329, the Registration Regulations aim to create an up-to-date registry of certain online undertakings and apply to all operators of online undertakings subject to the Broadcasting Act, except those that have been exempted from such Regulations.

In Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2024-121, the Commission required online streaming services that make $25 million or more in annual Broadcasting revenues and that are not affiliated with a Canadian broadcaster to contribute 5% of those revenues to certain funds to support Canadian and Indigenous content.

These two policies set the foundation for meaningful participation by online streaming services in the Canadian broadcasting system and were issued following robust public processes in which hundreds of parties representing a broad range of stakeholders participated.

After reviewing the request, Commission staff conclude that the information provided is not sufficient to demonstrate that the mentioned FAST Channels are not online undertakings and, accordingly, does not justify deregistration.

Accordingly, the FAST channels will not be deregistered, and the base contributions associated with these services will not be revoked. Should Sony wish to do so, it may file a Part 1 application regarding this matter, as set out in the Rules of Procedure.^{Footnote 2}

Should you need further information concerning this communication, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours truly,

Julien Bernier
Director, Ownership and Acquisitions
Consumer, Analytics and Strategy

Date modified:

2025-10-09