By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – In 2013, the CRTC licenced the Seasonal Channel, a category B television channel owned by Stingray that would “feature still pictures and moving video of nature scenes with appropriate music that will change based upon the season to create a soothing video environment.”
In its 2019 licence renewal, questions were raised as to whether the channel, called Ambiance at that point, should be exempted under the Still Image Exemption Order. As Stingray said, in a letter to the Commission, on February 7th 2019: “It is also important to note that Stingray Ambiance is currently the only licenced service offering ambient or ‘slow’ television in Canada, which is why Stingray’s main concern is ensuring that we would continue benefiting from the protections provided by our regulatory framework for Canadian independent services even if the service was considered as being an exempt service.”
Then, in September 2020, the CRTC issued a call for comments on low-motion programming. The fundamental questions were: should low-motion programming be considered as still image programming and therefore subject to the “Still Image Order,” but mostly should they be carried on a 1:1 basis along with BDUs’ own low-motion channels.
Presently, the services currently operating under the exemption order relating to still image programming services include “The Fireplace Channel” and “Aquarium”, and require no licence.
“While still image programming services benefit from an exemption order, some services offering low-motion programming, consisting of extended coverage of an ordinary event or scene with no or limited video editing or camera movement, are licenced and are operated as independent discretionary services. Accordingly, they benefit from certain regulatory protections, such as the 1:1 ratio,” the call for comments states.
But the Commission continues by stating that these services provide a limited contribution to the broadcasting system and asks if the current exemption order should be amended and suggested a new wording: “A program that features extended coverage of an ordinary event or scene with no or limited video editing or camera movement.”
And, finally, the Regulator asked whether low-motion programming services should benefit from regulatory protections that are similarly offered to independent discretionary services.
Four parties contributed to the file: Bell, Rogers, Shaw and Stingray.
The three BDUs argued that the definition would be adequate, although Rogers and Shaw propose new wording.
Stingray, an independent broadcaster, for its part, argued that its service, now called Naturescape, employs Canadians to create, edit and package both the audio and the video contents: “We would not want to minimize the significance of this type of service within the wide context of the Canadian broadcasting system.”
The company also feared that, if exempted from licencing, it would cease to benefit from distribution rules created to protect the independent broadcasters faced with the competition of vertically integrated entities.
Naturescape is presently distributed in Canada as well as the U.S. and through XUMO, in the following countries: UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Mexico and Brazil and also through MX Player, in India.
