GATINEAU – The industry finally has a date (albeit a tentative one) for when the CRTC will hear a number of TV channel applications asking for must-carry status.
Several broadcasters have said they filed applications for licenses (for existing or new channels) years ago seeking 9(1)(h), or must-carry status, on licensed Canadian TV distributors. They have complained often, and loudly, about the many delays to get to this hearing. The CRTC announced this week that it has tentatively scheduled a hearing to begin April 23.
Among those will be Vision TV and others such as TV5 and from Stornoway Communications, which is rumoured to have a new youth channel application before the Commission. To gain (or retain) such status, applicants must “provide evidence as to how the programming of its service contributes, in an exceptional manner, to the overall objectives for the digital basic service… and how it specifically contributes to one or more objectives of the Act, such as Canadian identity and cultural sovereignty; ethno-cultural diversity, including the special place of Aboriginal peoples in Canadian society; service to and the reflection and portrayal of persons with disabilities; or linguistic duality, including improved service to official language minority communities.”
APTN and the Accessible Channel are others with must-carry status.
Since the individual applications now to be heard in April have not yet been made public (though some have been with the Commission since 2008), it’s not known at this time how many there will be, but expect it to be a contentious hearing as existing independent channels fight for their hold on a slot in BDU channel lineups and other new ones demand carriage.
