OTTAWA – Bell ExpressVu should have to carry all of a broadcasters’ signal, not just cherry-pick their local content, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters told the CRTC this week.
In a submission to the Commission, the CAB said it opposes a recent Bell ExpressVu application which asks for permission to distribute the unique local programming of some Canadian conventional broadcast TV channels only on partial/omnibus channels.
For most broadcast affiliates, much of the schedule is exactly the same across the country, except for local news and a few hours of additional weekly programming, depending on the market. To the satellite companies, committing to show dozens of channels – all with the exact same shows (except for the supper hour and 11:30 p.m. newscasts) is a waste of bandwidth and a costly use of transponder space which could be put to better use.
So, ExpressVu has asked that the Commission allow them to get around uplinking any more full broadcast channel feeds by re-routing local original programming to omnibus compilation channels instead.
This Bell application is a direct result of the 2003 DTH license renewal hearings where the CAB asked for a “carry one, carry all” policy where if a satellite distributor offered one local broadcaster in a given market, it had to uplink them all. The Commission refused that request, citing transponder capacity concerns, but went further in its license decision, rendered in March of 2004, asking the DTH companies to consider using omnibus channels to at least distribute the local programming of conventional broadcast channels that they do not carry.
“From the consumer’s point of view, ExpressVu’s proposal to uplink only the locally originated programming of conventional stations is a half-measure,” says the CAB submission. “From the broadcaster’s point of view, it represents the selective distribution of only the local elements of a station’s programming in order to compete with cable for subscribers, but without cable’s obligation to carry the full program schedule, including the advertising that supports those expensive local programs.
“Section 7 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations prohibits the alteration or curtailment of broadcasters’ programming by broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), except in a very few narrowly defined circumstances,” it continues. “To allow BDUs to pick and choose among programs would destroy the integrity of both the program concept and the business plans… (that) are already severely impacted by DTH and the infringement on program rights resulting from the importation of distant signals into local markets.”
The CAB says that those broadcasters not carried by Bell ExpressVu or Star Choice are suffering financially because they can’t be seen in their own markets by those who subscribe to the DTH services. The association maintains that a carry one, carry all policy should still be enacted.
“With regard to the capacity concerns noted by the Commission and used by ExpressVu as justification for the omnibus channel approach, the CAB has not seen conclusive evidence to support the assumption that there is insufficient capacity now or in the future to increase the distribution of local stations,” continues the association’s submission.
“The CAB acknowledges that there will be new capacity demands in the future for the distribution of high definition services, and these demands will have to be addressed by means of additional satellite facilities and continuing technological advances in compression and modulation techniques… It is not at all evident, however, that the relatively limited amount of capacity that would need to be dedicated to the carriage of local stations not currently distributed would be a significant factor in the ability of ExpressVu to meet those future demands.”
“(T)he Commission should direct ExpressVu to make immediate plans to distribute in their entirety all local television stations serving markets where one or more other local stations are already distributed by ExpressVu,” says the CAB.
However, concludes the CAB’s letter, if the CRTC decides to approve the ExpressVu application, some conditions should apply. Namely, ExpressVu must obtain the prior written consent of a local television station before distributing its programming, because:
(i) the local TV broadcaster must have control over the use of its signal to address potential rights issues raised by the distribution of locally originated programming outside of its local market;
(ii) the local broadcaster must be able to negotiate the detailed terms or restrictions respecting the carriage of its locally originated programming; e.g. carriage of all or part of its local programming, carriage of local programming simultaneous with its over-the-air broadcast or on a delayed basis, DTH channel designation and identification, etc.; and
(iii) the local broadcaster must be able to negotiate appropriate considerations, including financial compensation, for the carriage of any part of its programming.
Also, the Commission should make it clear that the distribution of partial or omnibus channels as proposed by ExpressVu is an interim measure only, subject to review, depending on satellite capacity, and that the DTH company “be directed to prepare a plan for the distribution of all local television stations, commencing no later than August 12, 2006,” says the CAB.
Finally, the Commission should ensure that ExpressVu not construe any approval of omnibus channels as a rationale to reduce the carriage of local television stations already distributed, says the CAB, which also said that ExpressVu must be responsible for all costs related to the uplinking of locally originated programming to be distributed on the partial or omnibus channels.
– Greg O’Brien
