French TV License Renewal: Intervenors “message well received”

By Steve Faguy

LAVAL – CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais stressed the idea of “citizenship obligations” as he concluded a hearing Thursday into licence renewals for major French-language private television broadcasters.Questioning Corus Entertainment, Bell Media, Groupe V Média and Quebecor Media as they presented replies to interveners, he asked each of them about how they could better serve indigenous and minority-language producers and viewers, and their commitments to closed captioning. The latter led to an awkward moment as Blais admonished V’s representatives.“I was preoccupied Tuesday when I asked questions about subtitles to TVA and I heard laughs from your group in the audience,” Blais...