ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 97-447

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Decision

Ottawa, 15 August 1997
Decision CRTC 97-447
Vidéotron ltée
Québec, Quebec - 199610481
Licence renewal
1.  Following Public Notice CRTC 1997-38 dated 16 April 1997, the Commission renews the Class 1 licence held by Vidéotron ltée, for the cable distribution undertaking serving Québec, from 1 September 1997 to 31 August 2004.
2.  The operation of this undertaking is regulated pursuant to Parts I, II and IV of the Cable Television Regulations, 1986 (the regulations) and the licence will be subject to the conditions in effect under the current licence, as well as to those conditions specified in this decision and in the licence to be issued.
3.  The Commission approves, by condition of licence, the application for authority to distribute the distant signal CFTU-TV (IND) Montréal, received via satellite from CANCOM, as part of the basic service. The Commission is satisfied that the distribution of CFTU-TV is in line with the guidelines on the cable distribution of distant Canadian television signals first set out in Public Notice CRTC 1985-61 and reiterated in Public Notice CRTC 1993-74.
4.  In addition to the services required or authorized to be distributed pursuant to the applicable sections of the regulations, the licensee is authorized, by condition of licence, to continue to distribute, at its option, the special programming services "Événement", "Télémag", and "Télé-Enseignement"; these services, by definition, must contain no advertising messages, except "Télé-Enseignement", which may contain prestige sponsorship messages.
5.  The licensee is also authorized to continue to distribute, at its option, WVNY (ABC) and WCAX-TV (CBS) Burlington, Vermont, WPTZ (NBC) and WCFE-TV (PBS) Plattsburgh, New York, received via telecommunications, as part of the basic service. Further, consistent with Decision CRTC 96-53, the licensee is authorized to continue to distribute WUTV (FOX) Buffalo, New York, received by optical fibre, on a discretionary tier of its undertaking.
6.  Consistent with Decision CRTC 95-591, the licensee is authorized to originate a video games service as a special programming service, offered on a discretionary basis, subject to the conditions listed in that decision.
7.  Consistent with Decision CRTC 95-500, the licensee is authorized, by condition of licence, at its option, to insert certain promotional material as a substitute for the "local availabilities" (i.e. non-Canadian advertising material) of non-Canadian satellite services. At least 75% of these local availabilities must be made available for use by licensed Canadian programming services for the promotion of their respective services, for the promotion of the community channel and for unpaid Canadian public service announcements. A maximum of 25% of the commercial availabilities may be made available for the promotion of discretionary programming services and packages, customer service information, channel realignments, cable FM service and additional cable outlets.
8.  Consistent with Decision CRTC 91-329, the licensee is relieved, by condition of licence, from the requirement under subsection 16(2) of the regulations to distribute the audio programming service of the local radio station CIGB-FM Trois-Rivières.
9.  At the time of the last licence renewal, the Commission directed the licensee, by condition of licence, to devote to the community channel, funding equal to at least 3.5% of its revenues from the base portion of basic monthly fees. As part of the present licence renewal application, the Commission reviewed the funds allocated by the licensee in this regard during the current licence term. According to the data provided by the licensee, its expenditures on community programming in 1996 were $48,121 less than the required percentage of 3.5%. The Commission notes the licensee's commitment to allocate $48,121 to community programming over the new licence term, in addition to the projected amounts provided in its licence renewal application.
10.  The Commission requires the licensee to put in place the necessary safeguards to ensure full compliance, at all times, with its commitments in this regard.
11.  It is a condition of licence that, for community programming and any other programming of a service that it originates, the licensee adhere to the guidelines on the depiction of violence in television programming set out in the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Voluntary Code Regarding Violence in Television Programming, as amended from time to time and approved by the Commission.
12.  The Commission notes that this licensee is subject to the Employment Equity Act that came into effect on 24 October 1996 (1996 EEA), and therefore files reports concerning employment equity with Human Resources Development Canada. As a result of a consequential amendment to the Broadcasting Act, the Commission no longer has the authority to apply its employment equity policy to any undertaking that is subject to the 1996 EEA.
13.  The Commission acknowledges the intervention submitted regarding this application and the licensee's reply thereto.
This decision is to be appended to the licence.
Laura M. Talbot-Allan
Secretary General
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