OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Bell TV and Shaw Direct must carry more local television stations, the CRTC said Wednesday while announcing its updated its satellite distribution policy.
Beginning September 1st, Canada’s two satellite distributors must offer an affiliate of each national television network; five English- and five French-language CBC stations – or as many CBC stations as are distributed from a private broadcasting group in either official language; one television station per province from each major Canadian broadcasting ownership group; and two stations from each of the other Canadian broadcasting ownership groups.
“Canadians in all markets should have access to their local television stations, regardless of how they receive their programming,” said CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein, in a statement. “The carriage of additional local stations will put satellite distributors on the same footing as cable companies and provide their subscribers with more choice in local news and information.”
Given the pending conversion of its satellite service from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 technology, the new policy means that Bell TV will now have to carry at least 43 additional television services, including local and regional stations and independent community stations, by August 31, 2012.
Similarly, with Shaw launching a new satellite in late 2012, Shaw Direct will have to distribute the 80 stations that receive funding from the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) by January 1, 2013.
The Commission also determined that modifications to the existing simultaneous substitution requirements imposed on DTH satellite distribution undertakings were not warranted.
