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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2006-130
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Ottawa, 5 April
2006 |
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TELUS Communications Inc.
Across Canada |
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Application 2005-1274-0
Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2006-2
12 January 2006 |
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TELUS video-on-demand – Licence amendments
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In this decision, the
Commission approves an application to amend the broadcasting
licence for the English-language national video-on-demand (VOD)
programming undertaking currently referred to as TELUS video-on-demand,
in order to authorize the licensee, by conditions of licence, to
distribute programming that contains commercial messages where those
messages are already included in a program previously aired by a
Canadian programming undertaking and that program is subsequently
offered on an on-demand basis at no charge to the subscriber. |
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The application
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1. |
The Commission received an
application by TELUS Communications Inc. (TELUS) to amend the
broadcasting licence for the national, English-language video-on-demand
(VOD) programming undertaking currently referred to as TELUS
video-on-demand, in order to add a condition of licence authorizing it
to distribute programming that contains commercial messages where those
messages are already included in a program previously aired by a
Canadian programming undertaking and that program is subsequently
offered on an on-demand basis at no charge to the subscriber. |
2. |
One of TELUS’ current
conditions of licence reads as follows: |
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The licensee shall adhere to the Pay Television Regulations,
1990, with the exception of section 4 (logs and records).
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3. |
TELUS requested that the
Commission amend this condition of licence to read as follows: |
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The licensee shall adhere to the Pay Television Regulations,
1990, with the exception of section 3(2)(d) (commercial
messages) and section 4 (logs and records).
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4. |
TELUS also proposed to add the
following condition of licence: |
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The licensee shall not include as part of its video-on-demand
offering any program including a commercial message except where:
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a) the message was already included in a program previously
broadcast by a Canadian programming service;
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b) the program’s inclusion as part of the video-on-demand
offering is in accordance with the terms of a written agreement
entered into with the operator of the Canadian programming service
that broadcast the program; and
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c) the program is offered to subscribers on an on-demand basis
at no charge.
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5. |
TELUS stated that it wishes to
obtain the same flexibility as that recently granted to Groupe
Archambault inc. and to Rogers Cable Communications Inc., two licensees
of VOD programming undertakings. |
6. |
The Commission received one
intervention in support of this application. |
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Commission’s analysis and determination
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7. |
In Illico sur demande –
Licence amendments, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2005-498,
18 October 2005 and in Rogers on Demand – Licence amendments, Broadcasting
Decision CRTC 2005-497, 18 October
2005, the Commission approved applications for amendments to the broadcasting
licences for these VOD programming undertakings to permit them to
offer programming that includes commercial messages. The commercial
messages are restricted to those contained in programs previously
broadcast by other Canadian programming undertakings. The programs
must be obtained by these licensees under the terms of written agreements
with the licensees of those Canadian programming undertakings, and
be offered on an on-demand basis at no charge to subscribers. In
these decisions, the Commission indicated that the approval of these
applications "would not represent a significant departure from
the Commission’s framework for the licensing of VOD undertakings." |
8. |
In light of the above, the
Commission approves the application by TELUS Communications Inc.
to amend the broadcasting licence for the national, English-language
video-on-demand programming undertaking currently referred to as TELUS
video-on-demand, in order to add a condition of licence authorizing it
to distribute programming that contains commercial messages where those
messages are already included in a program previously aired by a
Canadian programming undertaking and that program is subsequently
offered on an on-demand basis at no charge to the subscriber. |
9. |
The licence will continue to
be subject to the conditions set out in National video-on-demand
service, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2003-453,
9 September 2003, with the exception of condition of licence no. 1,
which is replaced by the following condition: |
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The licensee shall adhere to the Pay Television Regulations,
1990, with the exception of section 3(2)(d) (commercial
messages) and section 4 (logs and records).
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10. |
The Commission also adds the
following condition of licence: |
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The licensee shall not include as part of its video-on-demand
offering any program containing a commercial message except where:
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a) the message was already included in a program previously
broadcast by a Canadian programming service;
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b) the program’s inclusion as part of the video-on-demand
offering is in accordance with the terms of a written agreement
entered into with the operator of the Canadian programming service
that broadcast the program; and
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c) the program is offered to subscribers on an on-demand basis
at no charge.
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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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