ARCHIVED - Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2002-65

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Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2002-65

Ottawa, 30 October 2002

Call for comments - Proposed amendments to the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations

Implementation of the licensing framework for specialty audio programming services

1.

The Commission proposes to amend the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations (the Regulations) in order to implement its policy set out in New licensing framework for specialty audio programming services, Public Notice CRTC 2002-53, 12 September 2002 (Public Notice 2002-53). A copy of the proposed Regulations Amending the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations is appended to this public notice.

2.

As noted in Public Notice 2002-53, specialty audio programming services are audio programming services that are radio undertakings, but are not licensed over-the-air services. They are delivered by broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) and are specialized with respect to their content and/or target audience. Specialty audio programming services will generally be distributed on the digital tiers of BDUs.

3.

The purpose of the amendments to the Regulations is to:

a) specify that the audio Canadian programming services that a licensed BDU is authorized to distribute must be licensed audio Canadian programming services;
b) add the programming service of an exempt programming undertaking to the list of audio programming services that a BDU licensee is authorized to distribute, in order to ensure that BDUs may continue to carry exempt services without prior authorization;
c) permit the digital distribution by Class 1 and Class 2 BDUs of an ethnic audio programming service that carries commercial messages, in a market where there is already an existing ethnic radio station, without prior Commission authorization; and
d) provide licensed specialty audio programming services with a greater opportunity to be distributed by BDUs by instituting a 5:1 rule as contemplated in Public Notice 2002-53. This rule would require a BDU to distribute five unaffiliated specialty audio programming services for every affiliated specialty audio programming service that it distributes.

Implementation

4.

As indicated in Public Notice 2002-53, the Commission proposes that the amendments to the Regulations come into force on 1 July 2003. This will allow interested parties sufficient time to submit, and for the Commission to deal with, applications for new licences and for BDU licence amendments before the changes to the Regulations come into force.

Call for comments on the proposed amendments

5.

Interested parties are invited to present their comments as to whether the proposed amendments accurately reflect the Commission's policy set out in Public Notice 2002-53. The Commission will consider comments received no later 16 December 2002.

6.

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.

Procedures for filing comments

7.

Interested parties can file their comments either electronically (i.e. by email) or on paper. Submissions longer than five pages should include a summary.

8.

Parties wishing to file their comments electronically can do so by sending them to procedure@crtc.gc.ca.

9.

Parties wishing to file their comments on paper should send them to the Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, K1A 0N2.

10.

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.

11.

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.

12.

The Commission encourages interested parties to monitor the public examination file (and/or the Commission's web site) for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their comments.

Examination of public comments and related documents at the following Commission offices during normal business hours

Central Building
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
1 Promenade du Portage, Room G-5
Hull, Quebec K1A 0N2
Tel: (819) 997-2429 - TDD: 994-0423
Fax: (819) 994-0218

Metropolitan Place,
99 Wyse Road, Suite 1410,
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, B3A 4S5.
Tel: (902 426-7997 - TDD: 426-6997
Fax: (902) 426-2721

405 de Maisonneuve Blvd. East
2nd Floor, Suite B2300
Montréal, Quebec H2L 4J5
Tel: (514) 283-6607 - TDD: 283-8316
Fax: (514) 283-3689

55 St. Clair Avenue East
Suite 624
Toronto, Ontario M4T 1M2
Tel: (416) 952-9096
Fax: (416) 954-6343

Kensington Building
275 Portage Avenue
Suite 1810
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2B3
Tel: (204) 983-6306 - TDD: 983-8274
Fax: (204) 983-6317

Cornwall Professional Building
2125 - 11th Avenue
Room 103
Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 3X3
Tel: (306) 780-3422
Fax: (306) 780-3319

10405 Jasper Avenue
Suite 520
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N4
Tel: (780) 495-3224
Fax: (780) 495-3214

530-580 Hornby Street
Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3B6
Tel: (604) 666-2111 - TDD: 666-0778
Fax: (604) 666-8322

Secretary General

This document is available in alternate format upon request and may also be examined at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca

 

(SOR/DORS)

 

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE BROADCASTING DISTRIBUTION REGULATIONS

 

amendments

 

1. (1) Paragraph 23(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations is replaced by the following:

 

(a) any licensed audio Canadian programming service;

 

(2) Subsection 23(1) of the Regulations is amended by striking out the word "and" at the end of paragraph (c), by adding the word "and" at the end of paragraph (d) and by adding the following after paragraph (d):

 

(e) the programming service of any exempt programming undertaking.

 

(3) The portion of paragraph 23(2)(b) of the Regulations before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

 

(b) any licensed audio Canadian programming service in a language other than French, English or a language spoken by an aboriginal people of Canada, that contains commercial messages unless

 

(4) Paragraph 23(2)(b) of the Regulations is amended by striking out the word "or" at the end of subparagraph (i), by adding the word "or" at the end of subparagraph (ii) and by adding the following after subparagraph (ii):

 

(iii) the licensee distributes the audio programming service solely on a digital basis.

 

(5) Section 23 of the Regulations is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

 

(3) In subsection (4), "related programming undertaking" has the same meaning as in subsection 18(12).

 

(4) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its license, a licensee shall, for each licensed audio Canadian programming service of a related programming undertaking that it distributes in a licensed area, distribute the lesser of

 

(a) five licensed audio Canadian programming services of any unrelated programming undertakings, and

 

(b) the number of audio Canadian programming services of any unrelated programming undertakings that are available for distribution in the licensed area.

 

2. Section 31 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

 

31. Except as otherwise provided under a licensee's condition of licence, this Part, subsections 18(12) to (14) and 23(4) apply to Class 3 licensees.

 

3. (1) Paragraph 34(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

 

(a) any licensed audio Canadian programming service;

 

(2) Section 34 of the Regulations is amended by striking out the word "or" at the end of paragraph (c), by adding the word "and" at the end of paragraph (d) and by adding the following after paragraph (d);

 

(e) the programming service of any exempt programming undertaking.

 

4. Section 36 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

 

36. This Part and, except as otherwise provided under a licensee's condition of licence, subsections 18(12) to (14) and 23(4) apply to licensees that hold a licence to operate a DTH distribution undertaking.

 

coming into force

 

5. These Regulations come into force on July 1, 2003.

Date Modified: 2002-10-30

Date modified: