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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2012-347
Route reference: Part 1 application posted on 24 April 2012
Ottawa, 26 June 2012
Canadian Chinese Media Network
Across Canada
Application 2012-0472-6
Addition of CCTV English News to the List of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution
The Commission approves an application to add CCTV English News to the List of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution and amends the list accordingly. The revised list is available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca under “Broadcasting Sector”.
Introduction
1. The Commission received an application on 18 April 2012 from Canadian Chinese Media Network to add CCTV English News, a non-Canadian service originating in China, to the List of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution (the list). The Commission did not receive any interventions in connection with this application.
2. The applicant described CCTV English News as a 24-hour English-language news channel that targets the Chinese speaking community and provides news content from around the world.
3. The Commission’s general approach to the addition of non-Canadian English- and French-language services to the list is set out in Public Notice 2000-173. Under this approach, the Commission assesses such requests in the context of its general policy, which, among other things, precludes the addition of a non-Canadian service that can be considered either totally or partially competitive with Canadian specialty or pay television services.
4. Furthermore, as regards non-Canadian news services, the Commission considers a more open-entry approach to be consistent with the importance it places on a diversity of editorial points of view. Accordingly, in Broadcasting Public Notice 2008-100, the Commission announced that in the absence of clear evidence, as determined by the Commission, that a non-Canadian news service would violate Canadian regulations, such as those regarding abusive comment, it would be predisposed to authorize non-Canadian news services for distribution in Canada.
Commission’s analysis and decision
5. The Commission relies primarily on the interventions filed to identify the Canadian pay and specialty services with which the service proposed to be added to the list might be totally or partially competitive and which therefore should be included in the assessment of the competitiveness of the service.
6. In the absence of opposing interventions and any evidence that the service would violate Canadian regulations, the Commission approves the addition of CCTV English News to the List of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution and amends the list accordingly. The list is available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca under “Broadcasting Sector” and may be obtained in hard copy on request.
Secretary General
Related documents
- Regulatory frameworks for broadcasting distribution undertakings and discretionary programming services – Regulatory policy, Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2008-100, 30 October 2008
- Call for proposals to amend the lists of eligible satellite services through the inclusion of additional non-Canadian services eligible for distribution on a digital basis only, Public Notice CRTC 2000-173, 14 December 2000
