OTTAWA – The CRTC has given Bell Media the green light to add a pair of new transmitters to its CTV Two station in Barrie, a move that was opposed by two of its own commissioners in addition to a host of competing broadcasters.
Bell Media asked to add two new digital transmitters to CKVR-DT Barrie to serve the areas of Burlington, Fonthill, Fort Erie, Hamilton, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Oakville and Welland, Ontario. Opposing interveners, which included Channel Zero, Rogers Broadcasting, CBC, and Shaw Communications, argued that approval of the applications would have a negative impact on other Canadian television stations currently operating in the Toronto extended market and would give Bell Media significant market dominance with respect to the sale of advertising and the acquisition of programs, as Cartt.ca reported here.
But the Commission sided with Bell Media, noting in its decision that the broadcaster committed to maintain a level of 9 hours and 55 minutes of local programming for the Barrie market each broadcast week (slightly higher than its current requirement of 7 hours of local programming); to keep the station in operation for the duration of its licence term through 2017; and not to solicit local advertising in the markets served by the new transmitters.
However, Commissioners Rita Cugini and Peter Menzies disagreed, calling the decision “inconsistent with and a threat to” the CRTC’s common ownership policy, (which prohibits more than one conventional television station in one language in a given market by a single entity), and, that it fails to take into consideration “the significant impact” it will have on competition in the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe.
“We submit that Bell Media’s application fails to meet either of the two criteria for which an exception (to the common ownership policy) is warranted”, reads their dissenting opinion. “Most significantly, this decision may be well intended but is naïve in its failure to recognize the increased opportunity that Bell Media now has to purchase even more top-rated U.S. programming to fill its two prime-time schedules through both CTV and CTV Two.”
In a statement sent to Cartt.ca, Rogers Media president Keith Pelley said his company was “extremely surprised and disappointed” with the decision.
“This is a radical change to the CRTC’s Common Ownership Policy and upsets the competitive balance in the Toronto market”, he wrote.
– Cartt.ca staff
