CRTC rejects Sun News bid for mandatory cable spot
Sun News Network has been denied a guaranteed spot on basic cable TV packages in a CRTC ruling released today.
The Quebecor-owned network did not successfully demonstrate to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission that it met the criteria for a mandatory distribution order, the CRTC said in its decision.
But the CRTC suggested in its ruling Thursday that it isn't happy with the state of cable packages when it comes to Canadian news providers.
"We are concerned that, under the existing rules, Canadian news services are not being given a pride of place in our broadcasting system,” CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in a release.
"Television news channels provide an important public service by ensuring that Canadians are exposed to different opinions and perspectives on matters that concern all citizens."
The regulator announced it will hold consultations on "a new approach regarding national news television services," and outlined the following proposed changes:
Distributors must-offer all Canadian national news services (not necessarily on basic service)
Distributors must place Canadian news services in close proximity in their channel lineup
National news services must be available in a package and on a stand-alone basis
National news services should be offered in the most appropriate packages according to their content.
The CRTC is asking Canadians to give their views on the proposal by Sept. 9.
Kory Teneycke, the vice-president of Sun News Network, told CBC News prior to the ruling "what is important is the outcome, not the mechanism the CRTC uses."
"Sun News is looking for a path to parity with incumbents and foreign news services in the market today."
However, Teneycke told CRTC in May that anything short of mandatory carriage would spell the end of the channel.
"Let us be very clear: a 'must-offer' licence would not have a meaningful impact on the current trajectory of Sun News and would inevitably lead to the closure of the station," Teneycke said at the time.
Mandatory carriage means cable companies must include the channel with basic service, whereas must-offer means subscribers can choose whether to take the channel with an added-cost package.
The commission also denied 11 other applications for mandatory carriage but gave the green light to three new television services.
AMI TV in French, a service that offers audiovisual content specifically adapted to the needs of people who are blind or partially sighted, was given mandatory carriage along with Nouveau TV5, a service offering programming devoted to diversity within the Canadian francophone community and official language minority communities.
The CRTC also gave mandatory carriage to a service operated by the Legislative Assemblies of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, which will be added to the basic service of satellite television subscribers in those two territories.
As a result, "Canadians living with a visual impairment, francophones and citizens of the North will be better served," the CRTC said.
The CRTC also renewed for another five years the mandatory distribution of AMI-TV in English, AMI Audio, Canal M, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), and the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC).
The regulator granted ARTV a "must-offer" designation to ensure that it is carried by all distributors while eaving Canadians the choice to subscribe to it or not. ARTV is a CBC/Radio-Canada channel that offers arts news in French.
Finally, the CRTC ruled that the mandatory carriage granted to Avis de recherche in French-language markets will expire in two years.
The CRTC reviewed 22 applications in all.
