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Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2004-64
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Ottawa, 25 August 2004
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Call for comments on possible requirements for the provision of
notice to programming services by distributors of their plans to change
packages
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The Commission invites comment with
respect to the measures that may be required to ensure
that negotiations between distributors and programmers are conducted in
accordance with good commercial practices. Comments must be
submitted on or before 6 October 2004. |
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Introduction
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1. |
In two broadcasting decisions issued
on 4 June 20041,
the Commission stated that it continued to view commercial arrangements
between distributors and programmers as matters best determined by
negotiations between them, without its intervention. The Commission
expressed concern, however, based upon its review of the matters that
were under consideration in the two decisions and in other, similar
cases, that the negotiation process between parties had not consistently
been characterized by good commercial practices. |
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2. |
In the above-noted decisions, the
Commission expressed the further view that good commercial relations
were essential to the ability of parties to fulfil their respective
responsibilities under the Broadcasting Act (the Act).
Accordingly, the Commission announced that it would conduct a process to
examine the measures that may be required to ensure that negotiations
between distributors and programmers are conducted in accordance with
good commercial practices. |
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3. |
This public notice seeks comment on
measures aimed at ensuring that distributors and programmers conduct
their negotiations in accordance with good commercial practices. The
Commission’s objective in this proceeding is to ensure the presence of
an effective environment for negotiations, thereby reducing the
incidence of those disputes and complaints that the Commission is called
upon to arbitrate. |
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Context
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4. |
The Commission’s general position on disputes
involving channel placement and realignment was set out in Access
rules for broadcasting distribution undertakings, Public Notice
CRTC 1996-60,
26 April 1996 (Public Notice 1996-60).
In that notice, the Commission concluded that channel placement issues
should properly be the subject of negotiation between the parties
concerned and that, generally, it would not be prepared to apply its
dispute resolution powers in matters that were essentially commercial
in nature. |
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5. |
Existing methods for dispute resolution
include sections 12 to 15 of the Broadcasting Distribution
Regulations (the Regulations), which provide that, should a dispute
arise between the licensee of a broadcasting distribution undertaking (BDU)
and the licensee of a programming undertaking or the operator of an
exempt programming undertaking concerning the carriage or terms of
carriage of programming, including the wholesale rate, one or both of
the parties may refer the matter to the Commission for dispute
resolution. In addition, section 9 of the Regulations, section 6.1(1) of
the Pay Television Regulations and section 10.1 of the
Specialty Services Regulations, 1990 provide that no licensee shall
give an undue preference to any person, including itself, or subject any
person to an undue disadvantage. Other regulatory mechanisms available
to the Commission include the issuance of orders pursuant to section
9(1)(h) of the Act, and enforcement proceedings leading to the issuance
of mandatory orders pursuant to section 12(2) of the Act. |
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6. |
At present, Class 1 and Class 2 BDUs are
required, under section 26 of the Regulations, to notify a Canadian
programming service at least 60 days prior to the proposed date of a
change to the channel on which that service is distributed (notice of
channel realignment). |
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7. |
There currently are no regulatory
requirements for direct-to-home (DTH) satellite BDUs to provide prior
notification of changes to the packaging of a programming service
offered or the channel on which it is offered. |
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Call for comments
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8. |
The Commission invites detailed comments
with respect to the following proposed measures and issues: |
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Provision of notice measures
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- Should a mandatory notice period be introduced requiring all BDUs,
including DTH BDUs, to provide programming services with notice of
changes to terms of carriage (including packaging changes) before
changes may be made? If the Commission were to introduce such a
measure, should it be implemented as part of the Regulations or in
some other manner?
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- If the Commission were to introduce such a requirement, is 60 days
an appropriate and sufficient notification period, or would a longer
or shorter period be preferable?
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- What information should accompany any notice provided to
programmers? For example, in addition to providing timely notice,
should distributors be required to provide programmers with
comprehensive information concerning such matters as the proposed new
terms of carriage and the estimated financial impact on the affected
specialty service of any packaging changes, if any?
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Other possible measures
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- What measures, instead of or in addition to the provision of
detailed and timely notice, may be required to foster the conduct of
negotiations between distributors and programmers in accordance with
good commercial practices?
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Implication of any new requirements and the existing Commission
complaint and dispute resolution processes
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- The Commission’s policy is that negotiations should be left to the
parties themselves, with Commission involvement occurring only as a
last resort. In light of this policy, at what point, if any, should
any proposed measure nevertheless allow recourse to the Commission’s
existing mechanisms for dealing with disputes and complaints? Are
there certain types of disputes that the Commission should not involve
itself in? Please explain in detail for each type of dispute
identified.
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- If the Commission were to accept a dispute for expeditious
resolution concerning proposed packaging or other changes to terms of
carriage (pursuant to sections 12 to 15 of the Regulations), should
implementation of the proposed change be suspended pending such
resolution? If so, what would be the appropriate period of such a
suspension?
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- In view of the potential volume of disputes, should there be some
method developed for prioritizing disputes so that those of highest
priority are dealt with first? If so, what elements should be taken
into consideration for prioritizing the disputes?
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9. |
Comments should be filed on or before 6
October 2004. |
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10. |
The Commission will not formally
acknowledge comments. It will, however, fully consider all comments and
they will form part of the public record of the proceeding, provided
that the procedures for filing set out below have been followed. |
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Procedures for filing comments
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Interested parties can file their comments
to the Secretary General of the Commission by using ONE of the following
formats: |
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Intervention/Comments form
available from the Commission’s web site by indicating and
selecting the public notice number under the Decisions, Notices
and Orders section
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OR
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OR
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- by mail to
CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
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OR
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12. |
Submissions longer than five pages should
include a summary. |
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13. |
Please number each paragraph of your
submission. In addition, please enter the line ***End of document***
following the last paragraph. This will help the Commission verify that
the document has not been damaged during transmission. |
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14. |
The Commission will make comments filed in
electronic form available on its web site at
www.crtc.gc.ca but only in the
official language and format in which they are submitted. Such comments
may be accessed in the Public Proceedings section of the CRTC web
site. Copies of all comments, whether filed on paper or in electronic
form, will also be placed on the public examination file. |
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15. |
The Commission encourages interested
parties to monitor the public examination file and the Commission’s web
site for additional information that they may find useful when preparing
their comments. |
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Examination of public comments and related documents at the
following Commission offices during normal business hours
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Central Building
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
1 Promenade du Portage, Room G-5
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0N2
Tel: (819) 997-2429 - TDD: 994-0423
Fax: (819) 994-0218 |
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Metropolitan Place
99 Wyse Road
Suite 1410
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B3A 4S5
Tel: (902) 426-7997 - TDD: 426-6997
Fax: (902) 426-2721 |
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405 de Maisonneuve Blvd. East
2nd Floor, Suite B2300
Montréal, Quebec H2L 4J5
Tel: (514) 283-6607
Fax: (514) 283-3689 |
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55 St. Clair Avenue East
Suite 624
Toronto, Ontario M4T 1M2
Tel: (416) 952-9096
Fax: (416) 954-6343 |
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Kensington Building
275 Portage Avenue
Suite 1810
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2B3
Tel: (204) 983-6306 - TDD: 983-8274
Fax: (204) 983-6317 |
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Cornwall Professional Building
2125 - 11th Avenue
Room 103
Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 3X3
Tel: (306) 780-3422
Fax: (306) 780-3319 |
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10405 Jasper Avenue
Suite 520
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N4
Tel: (780) 495-3224
Fax: (780) 495-3214 |
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530-580 Hornby Street
Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3B6
Tel: (604) 666-2111 - TDD: 666-0778
Fax: (604) 666-8322 |
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Secretary General |
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This document is available in
alternative format upon request and may also be examined at the
following Internet site:
http://www.crtc.gc.ca |
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Footnote:
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