OTTAWA – The CRTC says that it would be “inappropriate” and “disrespectful” to consider Bell Media’s request to return Canadian ads to its 2019 Super Bowl broadcast – at least at this time.
BCE filed a Part 1 application asking the Commission to temporarily suspend Broadcasting Order 2016-335 until after its February 3, 2019 broadcast of Super Bowl LIII, a move that would allow it to carry out simultaneous substitution of the originating U.S. commercials with Canadian commercials in its biggest show of the year. The broadcaster cited the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on trade in its argument, which, as Cartt.ca reported, stipulated that the order be rescinded.
But in a November 8 letter addressed to Bell Media regulatory affairs, content and distribution VP Kevin Goldstein, the Commission pointed out that the USMCA has not yet been formally ratified by the federal government or implemented as law.
“More importantly, the Commission also notes that Broadcasting Order CRTC 2016-335 has been appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada (the Court) and is set to be heard on 4 December 2018”, continues the letter. “The Commission is of the view that entertaining an application in respect of the very matter which is before the Court, prior to it having been heard or decided by the Court, would be inappropriate and would be disrespectful of the process by which Commission decisions may be reviewed and appealed.”
The Commission added that it was returning BCE’s Part I application.
