Radio / Television News

CRTC orders CSI: New York off History Television, writers say



TORONTO – The CRTC has ordered History Television to stop airing CSI: New York because the show is not historical, says the Writers Guild of Canada, which filed a complaint with the commission seven months ago.

The WGC says the regulator has given History Television until Jan. 1, 2008 to pull CSI: New York from its schedule, where it currently airs at least twice a day.

The WGC says the CRTC initially agreed with the guild that the show does not meet the channel’s mandate to air programs of historical significance to Canadians, but it gave owners Alliance Atlantis a chance to appeal, which it did. Alliance Atlantis lawyers argued that the episodes, featuring a lead character whose wife died in the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001, counted as “history programs which embrace both current events and past history” and that the show provides “viewers a critically acclaimed look at forensic policing in post-9/11 New York City.”

The writers felt that references to historical events were fleeting and the series is not about 9/11.

According to the WGC, the regulator agreed, and has ordered the show to be removed because it does not meet the channel’s condition of licence.

“The CRTC has restored integrity to the Canadian broadcasting system by making the right decision and requiring (Alliance Atlantis Communications) to remove CSI: New York from its History Television schedule,” says Maureen Parker, the Writers Guild of Canada’s executive director, in a news release.

Alliance Atlantis is also the owner of the popular CSI franchise.

The WGC represents more than 1,800 professional screenwriters across Canada who work on television shows, among other things.