GATINEAU – With no emergency broadcast system in place in Canada (and none on the horizon yet), Pelmorex Media (owners of the Weather Network and MétéoMédia) asked the CRTC earlier this year for both approval of its new emergency alert service – and for mandatory carriage on all cable and satellite operators in Canada.
A decision is coming on Thursday morning, Cartt.ca has learned.
As Cartt.ca reported in April, the company spent a couple of days in front of the Commission explaining the system – and why that should be tied to 9(1)(h) (i.e. mandatory) carriage. Pelmorex’s plan is to pass through alerts generated by emergency planning, weather agencies and other organizations dealing with disasters (not just weather-related ones) for display on TV screens in the region where the emergency was forecast to occur or had happened.
It would be a voluntary system for broadcasters.
(Ed Note: The Commission has asked the broadcast industry repeatedly – most recently in early 2007 – to do something on the emergency alert file and warned it would act on its own if there was no movement on the file but so far, there has been little action by broadcasters or distributors, except for Pelmorex. Right now, providing any alerts, weather or otherwise, is up to the individual broadcaster, unlike in the U.S., where the Emergency Broadcast Service has been part of its industry for decades. The federal and provincial ministers responsible for emergency management also announced the creation of a national public alert system in January 2008. It has not yet put out its request for proposals (RFP) for such a system.)
The 9(1)(h) portion of the regs stipulate that if a TV service is deemed to be of “exceptional importance,” it would qualify for the preferred carriage status. Being mandatory on digital basic will ensure The Weather Network’s current monthly wholesale rate of 23 cents and appropriate funding for the alerts.
The Commission removed that protection from most services in 2007. The stipulation remains for a few, such as APTN and The Accessible Channel.
Watch Cartt.ca for more on this at about 11 Thursday morning.
