GATINEAU — U.S.-based cable TV shopping channel QVC will be added to the list of programming services and stations authorized for distribution in Canada, due to a stipulation in the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) on trade, the CRTC announced Monday.
Four years ago, the Commission ruled against an application by VMedia to add QVC to the list. VMedia then appealed the decision, and in September 2017 the Federal Court of Appeal referred the matter back to the Commission for reconsideration. In February 2018, the Commission issued a notice of consultation and asked for comments on VMedia’s request. Rogers Media opposed the addition of QVC to the list, arguing it would have a material adverse impact on its own exempt Canadian teleshopping service, Today’s Shopping Choice (TSC, formerly The Shopping Channel).
Until Monday, the Commission had not said anything further about the matter. In an announcement (Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2020-191), the Commission confirmed its previous decision to deny VMedia’s application to add QVC to the list of TV services authorized to be distributed in Canada.
At the same time however — and it’s a big however — the Commission said the Governor-in-Council has issued a direction to the CRTC regarding the implementation of CUSMA, which now requires the Commission to add QVC to the list of authorized TV services in Canada.
With the signing of CUSMA, which comes into force on July 1, 2020, a section of the agreement (paragraph 4 of Annex 15-D to Chapter 15) set out the following: “Canada shall ensure that U.S. programming services specializing in home shopping, including modified versions of these U.S. programming services for the Canadian market, are authorized for distribution in Canada and may negotiate affiliation agreements with Canadian cable, satellite, and [Internet Protocol Television] distributors,” as previously reported by Cartt.ca.
On April 20, 2020, the Governor in Council issued the Direction to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Respecting the Implementation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement in which it directed the Commission to implement the trade agreement’s stipulation (paragraph 4 of Annex 15-D) regarding the authorization of U.S. home shopping services for distribution in Canada.
Therefore, the Commission is adding QVC in its unmodified form to the list, the Commission said today. The Governor in Council’s direction comes into force on July 1, the same day as CUSMA.
Inside the trade agreement is also, as we’ve reported, a stipulation to enforce the simultaneous substitution of advertising within the Super Bowl broadcast, but the Canadian Supreme Court already took care of that decision late last year.
