2003 Annual Return Reporting Guide
Pay & Specialty Television Services
Introduction
All licensees of the CRTC are required to submit an annual financial and
operating report. These "Annual Returns" provide the Commission with a means of
monitoring, on an annual basis, the compliance of licensees with conditions of
licence, as well as providing a base for industry statistical information.
Reporting Year
Annual Returns report on the 12 months broadcast year ending August 31,
2003.
Financial Statements
The following are the requirements for the filing of financial statements with
Annual Returns for Pay and Specialty Services licensees, as set out in the
Commission's Circular No.
404 dated
August 23, 1994:
i) subject to (ii) below, all licensees of Pay and Specialty Service
undertakings must file audited financial statements at the licensee
level for the 12 month period ending August 31, 2003 (See also Notes 2 and 3 in
Appendix A of this Guide).
ii) other than licensees who are public companies, those Pay and Specialty
Service licensees who do not have a condition of licence related to financial
performance and who do not have total advertising and
subscription revenues of more than $10 million for all of their licensed
undertakings combined may, in lieu of audited financial statements, file
non-audited financial statements at the licensee level for the 12 month period
ending August 31, 2003 (See Note 1 in Appendix A of this Guide).
Further definition guidance for individual licensees is included in Appendix B
of this Guide. Please provide a reconciliation schedule for any variances between
your Financial Statements and the Annual Return.
Submission of Return
Two copies of your completed Annual Returns and Financial Statements are
to be submitted no later than November 30, 2003 to:
CRTC
Industry Statistics and Analysis Group (4th Floor)
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0N2
Questions concerning completion of the Annual Return should be directed to the
Industry Statistics and Analysis Group, telephone (819) 997-4538, fax
(819) 994-0218.
REPORTING GUIDE - General Instructions
This Annual Return consists of (i) pages 1 - 3 inclusive for the reporting of
information related to the licensee, and (ii) page 4 through to and including the
schedules of financial and other information related to the licensed
undertaking’s conditions of licence.
The two cover pages of the Return requests general information on the
licensee's corporate organisation.
Page 1 is for reporting the Balance Sheet of the licensee and it should
reconcile with the Balance Sheet in the Financial Statements. Any variances
between the assets, liabilities and/or shareholder's equity must be fully
explained on a reconciliation schedule.
Page 2 is for reporting the Statement of Changes in Financial Position of
the licensee. Any variances between cash provided by operations, investment
and/or financing activities as reported on this statement and what is reported in
the Financial Statements must be fully explained on a reconciliation schedule.
Page 3 requests general information on employment equity.
Page 4 is a Summary of the operating results of the individual licensed
undertaking. Any variances between revenues and/or expenses reported on this
Summary and what is reported in the Financial Statements must be fully explained
on a reconciliation schedule.
Page 5 provides for the breakdown of the licensed undertaking's major
operating expense categories into their detailed expense components.
Page 6 is a Schedule in the Return to provide a breakdown of fixed assets
and accumulated depreciation by three main categories plus a reconciliation from
the amounts at the beginning of the year.
Schedule A is a reconciliation of asset balances, expenditures, recoveries
and amortization for each category of program acquisitions and production (see
Appendix B of this Guide for the definitions of program acquisitions and
production). Any variances between total program expense and/or asset balances
reported on this Schedule and what is reported in the Financial Statements must
be fully explained on a reconciliation schedule.
Schedule B is a reconciliation of asset balances, expenditures, disposals,
losses and write-downs of program equity investments (see Appendix B of this
Guide for the definition of investment). Any variances between total investment
expenditures and/or asset balances reported on this Schedule and what is reported
in the Financial Statements must be fully explained on a reconciliation schedule.
Schedule C-1 please provide on this Schedule a complete accounting of the
licensed undertaking's actual Canadian programming expenditures during the year
as well as the expenditures otherwise required by condition(s) of licence, all
reconciled, as applicable, to Schedules A and B of this Annual Return. Any over
or under expenditures must be fully explained. If an expense item includes music
licence fees or a portion of the licence fee contributed by the Canadian
Television Fund (CTF), please identify each item separately. In the case that the
music licence fees were included, please provide evidence to demonstrate that
these fees were included in the Canadian programming expenditure projections
accepted by the Commission as the base year for the conditions of licence
formula. If a portion of a licence fee was contributed by CTF, please provide a
copy of the CTF certificates for each program.
Schedule C-2 please provide on this Schedule, if applicable, a
reconciliation of the actual Canadian programming expenditures as reported on
Schedule C-1 to those as reported on an accrual basis on Schedules A and B of
this Annual Return.
Schedule D-1 excluding conditions of licence related to Canadian program
expenditures (Schedule C-1), please address on this Schedule each of the licensed
undertaking's other conditions of licence and show how the licensee complied with
each condition.
Alcohol advertising requests general information on alcohol advertising.
Appendix A – Reporting Guide
Requirements for the Filing of Financial Statements
1. Non-audited Financial Statements: Although not subject to an audit by the
licensee's external auditors, they must nevertheless be prepared in accordance
with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (G.A.A.P)* and be signed and dated
by the licensee as follows:
"I, _______________________________, am authorized to certify on behalf of
(Name)
(Title)
______________________________________________
(Licensee)
that these financial statements have _______________
have not * __________
been prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
(G.A.A.P.) and are true and complete in all respects to the best of my knowledge
and belief."
___________________________________
___________________
(Signed)
(Date)
* Where the statements have not been prepared in accordance with G.A.A.P.,
please indicate the areas involved and how you treated them.
2. Licensees who are otherwise required to file audited financial statements
and whose fiscal year-end does not coincide with August 31 may, as an alternative
to filing audited financial statements as at August 31, file non-audited
financial statements at the licensee level for the 12 month period ending August
31, on which the licensee's auditor has performed a "Review Engagement" in
accordance with section 8200 of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountant's
Handbook (the C.I.C.A. Handbook). Licensees who elect to provide Review
Engagement financial statements must also file, with their annual returns, their
audited financial statements for the most recently completed fiscal year ending
immediately prior to the 31 August of the annual return being filed.
3. Licensees otherwise required to file audited financial statements and whose
statements are included in the audited consolidated statements of a Parent
company may, where audited statements at the licensee level are not prepared,
file financial statements as follows:
i) where the year-end of the Parent company is August 31, file non-audited
statements at licensee level and the audited consolidated statements of
the Parent company both for the 12 month period ending August 31.
ii) where the year-end of the Parent company is other than August 31, file
non-audited financial statements at the licensee level for the 12 month period
ending August 31 on which the licensee's auditor has performed a Review
Engagement and the audited consolidated financial statements for the
Parent company's most recently completed fiscal year ending immediately prior
to the 31 August of the annual return being filed.
4. Nothing in this Appendix is to be read as limiting the Commission from
requesting a licensee to provide audited financial statements at the licensee
level should circumstances so require.
Appendix B – Reporting Guide
Definitions
The following definitions will apply for the purpose of the
Annual Return:
"Acquisitions" means expenditures for the acquisition of exhibition
rights for the licensed territory, excluding overhead costs.
"Production" means expenditures for:
(a) script and concept development, means those expenditures, excluding
overhead costs, that are incurred prior to the commencement of pre-production and
before the financing of the project is in place. Spending on programs that are
assured of going to air at the time of the expenditure is not considered as
script and concept development expenditures;
(b) the production of filler programming (interstitials), means
programming, in no case longer than 30 minutes in duration, the purpose of which
is to fill in the time between the presentation of the major programs distributed
by the licensee, and includes material that promotes the programs or services
provided by the licensee, excluding indirect overhead costs;
(c) the production of programming (other than filler programming). The
following production costs are included:
- talent fees (on air and other)
- directly attributable salaries and benefits
- film and tape
- studio sets, props and other production materials
- use of remote and other production materials
- delivery of remote programs to the satellite uplink or main studio
- any other matter directly related to the production of a program.
"Investment" means expenditures for equity investment or advances on
account of an equity investment and does not include overhead or interim
financing by way of loan.
"Revenue" means revenue from residential, bulk and SMATV subscribers
and advertising revenue, and does not include revenue from DTH subscribers or any
return on an investment in programming.
"Direct to Home (DTH)" means if providing DTH services, then DTH
operations should be reported separately. If DTH operations are included in the
Financial Statements provided with the Annual Return, then DTH revenue, expense
and asset amounts included should be indicated in supporting notes.
"Officer" means the chairperson, president, vice-president, secretary,
treasurer, comptroller, general counsel, general manager, managing director or
any individual who performs functions for the licensee similar to those normally
performed by an individual occupying any such office, and each of the licensee's
five highest paid employees, including the above.
"Semester" means each 6-month period thereafter beginning 1 March and
1 September.
Date Modified: 2003-10-14 |
