OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal said Wednesday it will hear Bell Media’s re-filed appeal of the CRTC’s January 2015 decision to ban the practice of simultaneous signal substitution for the Super Bowl broadcast.
In September, the court rejected the company’s appeal of the decision, saying it had come for an appearance too soon – before the CRTC officially issued the order for the new policy. The Commission took 19 months between the decision and officially issuing the order in August of this year, a delay Bell called “extraordinary.”
The ban on simsub begins with this season’s game, in February, 2017. The CRTC made the decision (part of its Let’s Talk TV process) because some Canadians groused each year about not being able to see American TV commercials during the broadcast.
Simsub has been practiced for years by the Canadian TV industry as a way to protect programming copyrights purchased by Canadian television companies wishing to air U.S. shows here. As long as the show airs at the same time, conventional broadcasters can have their signal substituted by Canadian cable, satellite or IPTV carriers in place of the U.S. broadcast signal. It allows the Canadian broadcaster to monetize 100% of the viewing done over Canadian BDUs. Of course, anyone with an OTA antenna within range of a border station can view the U.S. signal uninterrupted, and anyone with an internet connection can now see any and all ads, on demand. The overall simsub regime is remaining in place, except for the Super Bowl.
“We're happy that our appeal is moving forward but disappointed the court didn't stay the CRTC's decision considering the uncertainty it creates and its impact on viewers and advertisers in Canada for Super Bowl LI,” said Bell Media in a statement.
While the court said in its decision Bell can ask for an expedited appeal, there is likely no way this case will be heard prior to this season’s championship game.
Bell Media’s contract with the NFL for the game runs through the 2018-19 season and the company maintains the loss of simsub for the Super Bowl over the life of its remaining contract will cost it $80 million. Besides Bell, Canadian advertisers and the NFL have come out against the decision.
