The telco wants other satellite TV undertakings exempt
By Ahmad Hathout
Bell has filed a Part 1 application requesting that the CRTC exempt its ExpressVu satellite TV service from its obligation to contribute 5 per cent of its gross annual revenues toward Canadian content.
The telco said the reasons for this request are because of the “significant challenges” facing the traditional broadcasting industry in general and the satellite TV service undertakings in particular; that ExpressVu doesn’t make a “meaningful contribution” to the objectives of the Broadcasting Act; and that the condition applied to such satellite services is unfair when small BDUs and terrestrial relay distribution undertakings (TRDUs) are exempt from that contribution.
Bell says that its satellite relay distribution undertaking (SRDU) contributions to the creation of Canadian programming has declined significantly since 2016. It added that the contributions “now fall well below the revenue exemption threshold as established for other distribution undertakings.
“Relieving us of the obligation to contribute to Canadian programming for our small and declining SRDU business will represent a step towards establishing regulatory parity with small BDUs, TRDUs, and digital media broadcasting undertakings (DMBUs),” Bell said in the application.
“Indeed, the Government’s 2023 Policy Direction providing direction to the Commission on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act is consistent with our current request,” it said, pointing specifically to the provision that the regulator work to “minimize the regulatory burden on the Canadian broadcasting system.”
The telco noted that the CRTC previously declined to exempt the SRDUs because their annual contribution to Canadian programming was material to the Broadcasting Act’s objectives and that there was insufficient competition from TRDUs in the areas served by these satellite services.
But that has changed, Bell said.
Bell pointed to the general emergences of digital streaming options that have shifted Canadians’ focus away from traditional BDU services to online options.
That has contributed to a 43 per cent decline in subscribers and 36 per cent decline in revenues for direct-to-home satellite-delivered TV between 2015 and 2022, Bell said.
But while Bell filed the application for ExpressVu in particular, it said the same should be applied to all SRDUs, with the other licensed SDRU being Shaw Broadcast Services.
“We therefore request that the Commission initiate a policy review on this subject,” Bell said in the application. “We believe that current licensing requirements for small SRDU wholesale businesses runs contrary to the Government’s 2023 Policy Direction to the Commission to minimize the regulatory burden on traditional broadcasting services.”
The CRTC is currently in the midst of considering and applying rules from the Online Streaming Act, which will require online platforms to contribute to Canadian content. That is expected to relieve the traditional broadcasters of mandatory contributions that they have, for several months, asked the regulator to amend for their financial wellbeing.
Last week, the regulator said broadcasters will start paying lower regulatory fees beginning April 1 as a result of a change in the fee structure following the passing of the Online Streaming Act.
