OTTAWA – The CRTC said in a letter Friday that it is giving Bell and Videotron until the end of the month to report back on progress in negotiations involving Bell French-language channels that Videotron wants to axe from its rotation — while also moving up dates for intervenors to file comments in the matter.
Bell initially filed a Part 1 application on August 11 asking for the regulator to make a decision on allegations that Videotron is giving itself an undue preference by allowing its own competing channels to stay on while proposing to remove Bell’s Vrak.tv and Z. Videotron, which asked the CRTC to allow it to remove the services, denied the claim the next day, saying Bell’s channels are not performing well and that Bell is forcing it to pay royalties for the channels.
Because the regulator hasn’t made a decision on the matter, Videotron must continue to provide the Bell channels, which is known as the standstill rule.
While the CRTC did not make a decision on the matter in the Friday letter, it said it is expediting the matter and encouraging the two parties to continue negotiating a compromise and report back by September 30.
As such, interventions and Videotron’s answer to Bell’s application are now due September 12 and Bell’s reply due on the 19th.
“In staff’s view, the course of action that would best serve the public interest and make most efficient use of Commission resources would be for both parties to return to bilateral dialogue to fruitfully resolve all pending matters as regards the Services,” the letter said.
“Commission staff is concerned that there may have been insufficient constructive engagement between the parties, particularly in relation to these services, as suggested by the lack of evidence of recent meaningful negotiations and the sudden announcement of the dropping of services without prior warning,” the letter added.
