GATINEAU — The CRTC today announced it has approved a broadcasting licence for Toon-A-Vision, the kids channel owned and operated by Dartmouth, N.S.-based Atlantic Digital Networks.
Toon-A-Vision currently operates as an exempt programming service, but with today’s CRTC decision it is now licensed as a national, English-language discretionary service. The animation channel launched in 2018 and is widely distributed on Eastlink and Bell. Earlier this year, Toon-A-Vision announced it was launching on Cogeco. Exempt specialty services have to apply for a licence once they reach 200,000 subscribers.
Toon-A-Vision has been granted a five-year licence which will expire August 31, 2025. As part of its conditions of licence, Toon-a-Vision must devote at least 10% of its previous year’s gross revenues to acquiring or investing in Canadian programming, which is the minimum CPE requirement for discretionary services.
Halifax-based kids content maker and broadcaster WildBrain (which owns Family, CHRGD, Family Jr and Telemagino) submitted an intervention to Toon-A-Vision’s licence application, arguing the Commission should impose a 20% CPE requirement on Toon-A-Vision since funding for children’s programming services has been declining and the 10% CPE requirement is lower than other similar types of services offering similar programming. (For example, WildBrain’s Family Channel group-based licence has a 20% CPE requirement.)
However, in the end, the Commission determined a 10% CPE requirement would be appropriate for Toon-A-Vision.
The Commission’s full licence approval for Toon-A-Vision can be found here.
