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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2006-374
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Ottawa, 15 August 2006 |
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Ethnic Channels Group Limited
Across Canada |
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Application 2004-1309-7
Public Hearing at Québec, Quebec
20 March 2006 |
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Caribbean TV – Category 2 specialty service
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In this decision, the Commission
approves an application for a broadcasting licence to operate a new
Category 2 specialty programming undertaking. |
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The application
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1. |
The Commission received an application by
Ethnic Channels Group Limited (ECGL), for a broadcasting licence to
operate a national, ethnic Category 21
specialty programming undertaking to be known as Caribbean TV.
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2. |
The applicant proposed to offer a service
that would be devoted to the Caribbean community, with programming that
would be acquired primarily from existing services that operate in the
Caribbean. The applicant proposed that between 30% and 40% of all
programming broadcast during the broadcast week would be in each of the
Spanish and Creole languages. Further, the applicant proposed that not
more than 30% of all programming broadcast during the broadcast week
would be in each of the languages of English and French. |
3. |
All of the programming would be drawn from
the following categories, as set out in Schedule 1 to the Specialty
Services Regulations, 1990: 1 News; 2(a) Analysis and
interpretation; 2(b) Long-form documentary; 3 Reporting and actualities;
4 Religion; 5(b) Informal education/Recreation and leisure; 6(a)
Professional sports; 6(b) Amateur sports; 7(a) Ongoing drama series;
7(b) Ongoing comedy series (sitcoms); 7(c) Specials, mini-series or
made-for-TV feature films; 7(d) Theatrical feature films aired on TV;
7(e) Animated television programs and films; 7(f) Programs of comedy
sketches, improvisations, unscripted works, stand-up comedy; 7(g) Other
drama; 8(a) Music and dance other than music video programs or clips;
8(b) Music video clips; 8(c) Music video programs; 9 Variety; 10 Game
shows; 11 General entertainment and human interest; 12 Interstitials; 13
Public service announcements; and 14 Infomercials, promotional and
corporate videos. |
4. |
The applicant also requested that it be
authorized, by condition of licence, to broadcast up to six minutes of
local and regional advertising. |
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Interventions
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5. |
The Commission received one intervention in
support of this application, interventions offering comments, and one
intervention in opposition. Comments were submitted by Multivan
Broadcast Limited Partnership2
(Multivan), the licensee of ethnic television programming
undertaking CHNM-TV Vancouver, and by NMTV inc. (NMTV), the licensee of
the national ethnic Category 2 specialty programming undertaking known
as NuevoMundo Television. The opposing intervention was submitted by
CanWest MediaWorks Inc. (CanWest). CanWest, as a partner in general
partnerships, is licensee of the national English-language specialty
television service Prime TV3
(now known as TVTropolis4),
and is part owner of the national English-language Category 1 specialty
television services, Mystery5
and Men TV6. |
6. |
While Multivan did not oppose the licensing
of the proposed service, it did oppose the applicant’s request for
authority to broadcast local and regional advertising. Multivan
contended that the Commission’s policy to generally permit new ethnic
Category 2 services to broadcast up to six minutes per hour of local
advertising would generate additional competition that would impede CHNM-TV’s
ability to fulfill its regulatory obligations and prevent it from
becoming profitable. |
7. |
NMTV commented on the high volume of
applications filed with the Commission for new third-language ethnic
services and the process involved in the granting of these types of
broadcasting licences. |
8. |
CanWest expressed the view that the applicant
had failed to demonstrate that the proposed service would not be directly
competitive with existing pay, specialty or Category 1 services. CanWest
stated that, under the Commission’s revised approach for the consideration
of applications for new third-language ethnic Category 2 pay and specialty
services as set out in Revised approach for the consideration of
broadcasting licence applications proposing new third-language ethnic
Category 2 pay and specialty services, Broadcasting Public Notice
CRTC 2005-104,
23 November 2005 (Public Notice 2005-104),
a third-language ethnic Category 2 service must commit to devote at
least 90% of the program schedule of the service to programming in
languages other than English or French. The intervener submitted that
the proposed service is therefore not a third-language ethnic service,
and that competitiveness must therefore be determined on a non-ethnic
basis. |
9. |
CanWest further contended that the
definition of the nature of service proposed by the applicant contained
very few restrictions on programming subcategories and was therefore too
vague. CanWest argued that Caribbean TV could become a general interest
service, or a powerful niche service and that in either case, the
proposed service could be directly competitive with a number of existing
analog pay and specialty services or Category 1 services, including
CanWest’s specialty services Mystery TV, Men TV, or TVTropolis. |
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Applicant’s replies
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10. |
In response to Multivan, the applicant
maintained that the intervener had not made a compelling case for the
Commission to change its practice of generally permitting ethnic
Category 2 services to broadcast up to six minutes per hour of local
advertising. The applicant further contended that Multivan had not
provided any evidence that approval of this application would have any
impact on the intervener. |
11. |
The applicant did not respond to NMTV’s
comment. |
12. |
In response to CanWest’s intervention, ECGL
stated that there is no basis for CanWest’s claim that this service
would be directly competitive with Mystery TV, Men TV, or TVTropolis, as
Caribbean TV would be focused on serving a particular ethno-cultural
community and would obtain programming from services operating in the
Caribbean. |
13. |
ECGL further claimed that services with a
substantial portion of third-language programming are already, by their
nature, targeted to a specific minority audience, whereas CanWest’s
services draw upon the entire English-speaking audience and focus that
audience through demographic-directed programming or genre-specific
programming. |
14. |
ECGL indicated that its service would have
as a starting point a target ethnic group, which is already a minority
group within the entire available audience and that the Commission
generally permits such a service to offer a broader range of programming
genres than would be the case for a service providing only English- or
French-language programming. ECGL noted that none of CanWest’s services
offer third-language programming or programming specifically targeted to
the relevant ethnic group. |
15. |
The applicant also contended that ethnic
services face different realities of distribution compared to CanWest’s
mainstream specialty services. These realities include no guarantee of
carriage rights, a higher subscriber fee for ethnic services and a
fairly small audience pool to draw upon. |
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Commission’s analysis and determinations
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16. |
In Licensing framework policy for new
digital pay and specialty services, Public Notice CRTC 2000-6,
13 January 2000, the Commission implemented a competitive, open-entry
approach to licensing Category 2 services. While the Commission does
not consider the impact that a new Category 2 service might have on
an existing Category 2 service, it does seek to ensure that newly
licensed Category 2 services do not compete directly with any existing
pay or specialty television service, including any Category 1 service. |
17. |
In Introductory statement - Licensing
of new digital pay and specialty services, Public Notice CRTC
2000-171, 14
December 2000, the Commission adopted a case-by-case approach in determining
whether a proposed Category 2 service should be considered directly
competitive with an analog pay, specialty or existing Category 1 service.
The Commission examines each application in detail, taking into consideration
the proposed nature of service and the unique circumstances of the
genre in question. |
18. |
The Commission notes that the applicant has
made a commitment that the programming will be dedicated to members of
the Caribbean community, and that the programming would be acquired
primarily from existing services that operate in the Caribbean. In
addition, not less than 70% of all programming broadcast during the
broadcast week will be in either the Spanish or the Creole language. The
Commission is imposing these commitments as conditions of licence,
as set out in the appendix to this decision. Should the applicant decide
to make any changes in the languages of broadcast, it would have to file
another application with the Commission for an amendment to its
condition of licence. |
19. |
Considering that 70% of the service’s
programming will be in Spanish or Creole, the Commission is satisfied
that the service will not directly compete with any analog pay or
specialty or existing Category 1 service, including the services offered
by CanWest and identified in its intervention. |
20. |
The Commission is satisfied that the application
is in conformity with all applicable terms and conditions announced
in Introductory statement – Licensing of new digital pay and
specialty services – Corrected Appendix 2, Public Notice CRTC
2000-171-1,
6 March 2001 (Public Notice 2000-171-1).
Accordingly, the Commission approves the application by Ethnic
Channels Group Limited for a broadcasting licence to operate the national,
ethnic Category 2 specialty programming undertaking, Caribbean
TV. |
21. |
With respect to the applicant’s request for
regional and local advertising, the Commission notes that the service
will be dedicated to members of the Caribbean community, and that not
less than 70% of all programming broadcast during the broadcast week
will be in either the Spanish or the Creole language. As a result, the
Commission is of the view that the service would not compete directly
with existing analog or Category 1 services and that the addition of
local or regional advertising on the proposed service would have limited
impact on them. The Commission further notes that Multivan did not
provide any evidence that a negative financial impact would result from
permitting the proposed service to broadcast local and regional
advertising. |
22. |
The Commission therefore approves
the applicant’s request for authority to broadcast up to six minutes per
hour of local and regional advertising. A condition of licence to
that effect is set out in the appendix to this decision. |
23. |
The licence will expire 31 August 2012, and
will be subject to the conditions set out in Public Notice
2000-171-1,
as well as to the conditions set out in the appendix to this
decision. |
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Issuance of the licence
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24. |
A licence will be issued once the applicant
has satisfied the Commission, with supporting documentation, that the
following requirements have been met: |
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- the applicant has entered into a distribution agreement with at
least one licensed distributor; and
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- the applicant has informed the Commission in writing that it is
prepared to commence operations. The undertaking must be operational
at the earliest possible date and in any event no later than 36 months
from the date of this decision, unless a request for an extension of
time is approved by the Commission before 15 August 2009. In order to
ensure that such a request is processed in a timely manner, it should
be submitted at least 60 days before that date.
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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 in PDF
format or in HTML at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca
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Appendix to Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2006-374
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Conditions of licence
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1. The licence will be subject to the conditions set out
in Introductory statement – Licensing of new digital pay
and specialty services – Corrected Appendix 2, Public Notice
CRTC 2000-171-1,
6 March 2001 except for condition 4d) which will not apply, and
condition 4a) which is replaced by the following:
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Except as otherwise provided in subparagraphs b) and c), the
licensee shall not broadcast more than twelve (12) minutes of
advertising material during each clock hour, no more than six (6)
minutes of which may consist of local or regional advertising.
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2. The licensee shall provide a national, ethnic Category 2
specialty programming service devoted to the Caribbean community.
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3. The programming shall be drawn exclusively from the following
categories, as set out in Schedule I to the Specialty Services
Regulations, 1990, as amended from time to time:
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1 News
2 (a) Analysis and interpretation
(b) Long-form documentary
3 Reporting and actualities
4 Religion
5 (b) Informal education/Recreation and leisure
6 (a) Professional sports
(b) Amateur sports
7 Drama and comedy
(a) Ongoing drama series
(b) Ongoing comedy series (sitcoms)
(c) Specials, mini-series or made-for-TV feature films
(d) Theatrical feature films aired on TV
(e) Animated television programs and films
(f) Programs of comedy sketches, improvisations, unscripted works,
stand-up comedy
(g) Other drama
8 (a) Music and dance other than music video programs or clips
(b) Music video clips
(c) Music video programs
9 Variety
10 Game shows
11 General entertainment and human interest
12 Interstitials
13 Public service announcements
14 Infomercials, promotional and corporate videos
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4. Not less than 30% and not more than 40% of all programming
broadcast during the broadcast week shall be in the Spanish language
and not less than 30% of all programming broadcast during the
broadcast week shall be in the Creole language.
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5. Not more than 30% of all programming broadcast during the
broadcast week shall be in the English language or in the French
language.
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6. Where the licensee broadcasts religious programming as defined
in the Religious Broadcasting Policy, Public Notice CRTC
1993-78, 3 June
1993, the licensee shall adhere to the guidelines set out in sections
III.B.2.a) and IV of that public notice with respect to balance
and ethics in religious programming, as amended from time to time.
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For the purposes of the conditions of this
licence, including condition of licence no. 1, broadcast day
means the period of up to 18 consecutive hours, beginning each day not
earlier than six o’clock in the morning and ending not later than one
o’clock in the morning of the following day, as selected by the
licensee, or any other period approved by the Commission. |
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Footnotes:
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Date Modified: 2006-08-15 |