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Speech
Opening remarks
by Charles Dalfen
Chairman, Canadian Radio-television
and Telecommunications Commission
at the public hearing in Gatineau, Quebec
Gatineau, Quebec
November 1st, 2004
(CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY)
Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this public hearing.
My name is Charles Dalfen and I am the Chairman of the CRTC. I will be
chairing this hearing with my colleagues Andrée Wylie, Vice-Chairperson,
Broadcasting, Ronald Williams, Commissioner for Alberta and the Northwest
Territories, and Commissioners Joan Pennefather and Stuart Langford.
The Commission team assisting us includes Hearing Managers Lyne Renaud,
Acquisitions and Ownership Manager, and Peter Foster, English Language Radio
and Television Manager, Legal Counsel James Wilson and James Murdock, and
Hearing Secretary Pierre LeBel. Please see Mr. LeBel if you have any
questions about hearing procedures.
We will begin this hearing by studying the application by TVA Group and Sun
Media Corporation to acquire effective control of CKXT-TV, known as Toronto
1, its Hamilton transmitter and its transitional digital television station.
We will then move on to the applications from Canadian Satellite Radio,
SIRIUS Canada Inc. and the joint application by CHUM and Astral Media Radio
for broadcasting licences to carry on national multi-channel subscription
radio services. A second panel will hear the application by Newcap Inc. to
acquire the assets of radio station CJUK-FM Thunder Bay.
TVA Group and Sun Media Corporation
TVA Group and Sun Media Corporation are requesting an amendment to
Toronto 1’s conditions of licence to add a safeguard addressing editorial
independence. The proposed condition would be similar to that imposed on the
conventional television stations of the CTV and Global networks.
Multi-channel subscription radio
The first two satellite radio applications would be delivered by a
combination of satellite and terrestrial transmitters. In both cases, the
satellite used would be American. The CHUM/Astral application is based upon
terrestrial delivery only.
Neither type of subscription radio undertaking is currently licensed in
Canada, and the Commission will accordingly wish to discuss how the approval
of each application would further the objectives of the Broadcasting Act.
It has been the policy of the government since 1995 that broadcasting
undertakings should use Canadian satellites to carry Canadian services and
that under no circumstances should an undertaking make use exclusively of
foreign satellites for distributing its services to Canadians. When the
applications for satellite-based subscription radio were received, the
Commission wrote to the Deputy Ministers of Industry Canada and Canadian
Heritage to seek clarification of their satellite policy. The Commission was
recently informed that the two departments wished to initiate a public
process on this question, and a Notice has now been published to that effect
in the Canada Gazette. In that Notice, entitled Proposed Clarification to
the Government Satellite-Use Policy for the Delivery of Broadcasting
Services, the Departments propose to amend the policy in order to permit the
use of foreign satellite facilities to distribute Canadian programming
services in exceptional circumstances, where no Canadian satellite
facilities are available. Comments are to be filed by November 29.
We will hear first the application presented by Canadian Satellite Radio, a
corporation which is wholly owned by John Bitove. The proposed service would
offer 101 channels, four of which would be produced in Canada by the
applicant. The proposed basic monthly fee would be $12.99.
Next, we will hear the application from SIRIUS Canada Inc. in which 40% of
the voting shares are owned by each of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
and Standard Radio Inc. and 20% by Sirius Satellite Radio. The service would
offer 78 channels, of which five would be produced in Canada, and the
proposed basic monthly fee would be $12.95.
The third application will be presented by CHUM and Astral Media Radio. The
proposed service would offer 50 channels, all of which are to be produced in
Canada by the applicant. The proposed basic monthly fee would be $9.95.
Newcap Inc.
Following the conclusion of the above items, a second panel will hear the
application presented by Newcap, which is seeking to acquire the assets of
the low-power radio programming undertaking CJUK-FM Thunder Bay.
Procedural
The hearing should last about one week. We will begin each day at 9:30
a.m. and finish around 6:00 p.m. You will be informed of any changes in the
schedule that may arise.
While you are in the hearing room, we would ask you to please turn off your
cell phones and beepers as they tend to be disruptive for both participants
and panel members. We are counting on your cooperation in this regard
throughout the hearing.
I will now invite the Hearing Secretary, Mr. Pierre LeBel, to explain the
hearing procedures that we will be following. Mr. LeBel …
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Media Relations:
MediaRelations@crtc.gc.ca, Tel: (819) 997-9403, Fax: (819) 997-4245
General Inquiries:
Tel: (819) 997-0313, TDD: (819) 994-0423, Fax: (819) 994-0218
Toll-free # 1-877-249-CRTC (2782), eMail:
info@crtc.gc.ca
TDD - Toll-free # 1-877-909-2782
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