News Release

February 21, 2001

CRTC WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU ON
CTV, GLOBAL LICENCE RENEWALS

OTTAWA-HULL — The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will examine applications for the renewals of the licences held by Canada’s two largest owners of conventional television stations – CTV Network Ltd. (CTV) and the Global Television Network Ltd. (Global).

This is the first time that the Commission is using the new comprehensive approach to examining licences as outlined in its June 1999 TV Policy (Public Notice CRTC 1999-97: Building on Success – A Policy Framework for Canadian Television). This public process also marks the first opportunity for the Commission to evaluate the plans of these two major English-language broadcasters against the requirements established in the new TV Policy.

The new approach will allow the Commission to consider these broadcasters’ corporate strategies and how individual stations will implement the strategies. It will also allow the Commission to take into account the contributions made by all aspects of a licensee’s operations, including specialty services and production companies, to the Canadian broadcasting system.

Given the size and scope of these licence renewals, the Commission is seeking input from the public regarding any concerns they might have relating to these licence renewals. Anyone interested in submitting comments may do so in writing (hard copy, diskette, fax, e-mail) to the CRTC on or before March 23^rd, 2001. This will allow the Commission to take this input into account during the public hearing portion of this process. The public hearing will be held in Hull, Quebec starting on April 17^th, 2001, and continuing the week of April 23^rd, 2001. Consult Notice of Public Hearing CRTC 2001-3 for further details on how to submit comments.

The Commission will also hold a teleconference to make it easier for people to provide their comments to the Commission. To participate in the teleconference, contact the CRTC before March 23^rd, 2001 by calling 1-877-249-2782 (249-CRTC).

To help it evaluate these licence renewals, the Commission will consider a number of issues including the following:

• Cross-Media Ownership: As both CTV and Global have holdings in different media, how should the need for autonomy and editorial independence be addressed? How can the information gathering functions be kept separate between the various newsrooms?
  
• Peak Time and Priority Programming: Do the programming strategies CTV and Global have proposed demonstrate an appropriate commitment to high quality Canadian programming?
  
• Regional Reflection: Are CTV and Global proposing to provide programming reflecting a broad cross-section of Canada’s regions?
  
• Local Reflection: How will CTV and Global meet the demands and reflect the particular concerns of their local audiences?
  
• Cultural diversity: Will the initiatives proposed reflect the cultural and racial diversity that exists in the local and national communities served by CTV and Global?
  
• Service to the visually impaired: How well are CTV and Global meeting the needs of the visually impaired?

In order to foster open and informed public discussion, as per Public Notice CRTC 2001-27, the Commission is also placing previously unreleased information on CTV and Global on the public file today. This will include the following information:

• a comparison of Canadian and foreign programming viewing levels by program category for the years 1997 to 1999;
  
• the total revenues for CTV and Global for each of these years;
  
• Canadian programming expenditure data for CTV and Global for each of these years; and
  
• current data regarding the actual and potential audience reach of Global and CTV.

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General Inquiries:
     Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
     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
Media Relations:
     Denis Carmel, Tel: (819) 997-9403, eMail: denis.carmel@crtc.gc.ca 

Copies of today’s documents are available through our Internet site (http://www.crtc.gc.ca) or by contacting the public examination room of any CRTC office. These documents are available in alternative format upon request.

Date Modified: 2001-02-21

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