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Decision CRTC 2001-687
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Ottawa, 9 November 2001
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Paolo Canciani (on behalf of a corporation to be incorporated)
Across Canada 2001-0572-7
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10 September 2001 Public Hearing
National Capital Region
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Inner Peace Television Network
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1. |
The Commission approves a Category 2 specialty television
service to be known as Inner Peace Television Network (IPTN). IPTN will
be owned (100%) by CANBO Broadcasting Inc.
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2. |
The Commission will only issue the licence, and it will only be
effective at such time as:
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· it receives documentation
establishing that an eligible Canadian corporation has been incorporated
in accordance with the application in all material respects and that this
corporation may be issued a licence; |
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· the Commission receives documentation
confirming that the licensee has entered into a distribution agreement
with at least one licensed distributor; and |
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· the licensee confirms in writing that it is
ready to begin operation. This must take place no later than 9 November
2004. Any request for an extension to that deadline requires Commission
approval and must be made in writing before that date. |
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Interventions
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3. |
Three interventions were submitted with respect to this application:
one in support and two in opposition.
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4. |
One intervention expressed the concern that a service offering a
single-faith point of view such as IPTN proposes will not provide
balanced programming, as defined in the Commission’s religious
broadcasting policy.
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5. |
The Commission notes that, while the service will not provide balance
in its programming, the terms of carriage accepted by the applicant are
consistent with those applicable to a single point-of-view religious
service, as set out in Public Notice CRTC 1993-78.
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6. |
Telelatino Network Inc. expressed the view that IPTN would compete
directly with its specialty service Telelatino, for Italian- and
Spanish-speaking audiences and for advertising revenues from clients
seeking to reach third-language audiences.
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7. |
In its response to the interventions, IPTN stated that it proposes a
primarily religious network from a single faith point of view, in seven
different languages, reaching a much smaller audience than does
Telelatino. It is of the opinion that its service will have limited
appeal to advertisers from the communities it proposes to serve.
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8. |
The Commission is satisfied that religious programming by its nature
is niche programming, and that the vast majority of the type of
programming to be offered by IPTN will not duplicate that offered by
Telelatino.
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Conditions of licence
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The licence, when issued, will expire 31 August 2008, and will be
subject to the following conditions as well as to the terms and
conditions set out in Public Notice CRTC 2000-171-1.
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Nature of service
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a) The licensee shall provide a
national ethnic Category 2 specialty television service devoted to
providing religious programming from the single point-of-view of the
Roman Catholic faith. The service will target Italian, Spanish,
Portuguese, Polish, Filipino, English and French-speaking audiences. In
addition to religious programming, the service will offer a limited
amount of programming dealing with social and humanitarian issues. |
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b) The programming must be drawn
exclusively from the following categories, as set out in Schedule I to
the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990: 2(a), 2(b), 4, 5(b),
7(a), 7(b), 7(c), 7(d), 7(e), 7(g), 8(a), 8(b), 11, 12, 13 and 14. |
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c) Not less than 80% of all
programming broadcast during each broadcast week shall be religious
programming. |
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d) Not more than 15% of the
programming broadcast during each broadcast week shall be from category
7(d). |
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e) The licensee is authorized for
distribution only at the specific request of the subscriber. Distributors
are not permitted to package Inner Peace Television Network in such a way
that subscribers are obligated to purchase it in order to purchase any
other programming service. As set out in Public Notice 2001-90,
IPTN may be offered on a "stand-alone" digital discretionary
basis. It may also be offered in a package with other Canadian single or
limited point of view religious services or with non-Canadian religious
satellite services. Distributors are not permitted to offer services such
as IPTN in packages with any other type of Canadian or non-Canadian
programming service. |
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Advertising
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With respect to the condition of licence relating to advertising, as
set out in Public Notice 2000-171-1,
the Commission approves the following:
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Condition 4d) with respect to
national paid advertising will not apply; and |
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condition 4a) will be replaced by: |
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4a) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraphs b), and c), the
licensee shall not distribute more than 12 minutes of advertising
material during each clock hour, no more than 6 minutes of which may
consist of local or regional advertising.
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In addition to the conditions set out above, the Commission expects
that, during each broadcast week, no less than 80% of all programming
broadcast shall be ethnic programming, and that no more than 20% shall be
in English and/or French.
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Definitions
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Broadcast day refers to the 24-hour period beginning at 6:00 a.m.
each day.
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Related CRTC documents
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• Public Notice 2000-171-1
– Introductory statement – Licensing of new digital pay and
specialty services – Corrected Appendix 2 |
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• Public Notice 2001-90
– Distribution and linkage requirement for Class 1 and Class 2
licensees. |
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• Public Notice 2001-98
– Ownership and launch requirements for Category 1 and Category 2
specialty services |
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• Public Notice 2000-6
– Licensing framework policy for new digital pay and specialty
services |
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• Public Notice 1993-78
– Religious Broadcasting Policy |
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Secretary General |
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This decision is to be appended to the licence. It is available in
alternative format upon request, and may also be examined at the
following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca |