OTTAWA – Distributing separate feeds simultaneously is currently a no-no for national sports service The Sports Network, the CRTC said today.
In January, the CBC complained to the Commission that CTV Specialty’s TSN had breached the conditions of its licence by broadcasting NHL hockey games using two simultaneous, national feeds on at least three occasions between October 2005 and December 2005. These games were distributed by cable companies (BDUs) on an analog as well as a digital basis.
The Commission agreed with CBC and found that TSN’s use of two simultaneous national feeds when broadcasting a pair of games runs contrary to its conditions of license.
"The licensee must ensure that it does not permit the simultaneous distribution of separate feeds by BDUs unless it obtains appropriate authorization," says the decision.
Conditions 1(a) and 1(d) of TSN’s licence do not permit the broadcast of two simultaneous feeds that can be accessed in a given marketplace, said the CBC in its complaint. These conditions of licence read as follows:
1. (a) The licensee shall provide a national English-language specialty service which shall consist of programming dedicated exclusively to all aspects of sports, that is, programming covering professional and amateur sports events, sports newscasts, magazine shows, interviews, commentaries, documentaries, audience participation programs, instruction and training programs that promote physical fitness.
(d) The licensee may distribute separate regional programming in place of its national service to affiliated distribution undertakings provided that the hours devoted to such regional programming do not exceed 10% of the licensee’s quarterly program schedule.
According to the CBC, the above conditions do not allow the licensee to multiplex the TSN service "and effectively transform it from a single service into two services, even on a temporary or occasional basis," says the decision. "The CBC therefore requested that the Commission direct TSN to comply with its conditions of licence and, in particular, to cease its practice of broadcasting two or more simultaneous national feeds of NHL hockey games."
The CBC cited a May 1999 determination in which the Commission ruled that the simultaneous distribution of more than one of Sportsnet’s regional feeds by a BDU was contrary to the terms of Sportsnet’s licence. The complainant then? TSN. However, at that time, TSN was still held by Netstar and Sportsnet was a CTV property.
"The CBC further argued that, if TSN were permitted to multiplex its service in the manner described above, then all specialty services should be permitted to do so as well. In the CBC’s view, permitting all specialty services to multiplex their services would constitute a radical change in the broadcasting environment, since services that would normally be carried on a single channel could evolve into multiple services operating under a single licence. The CBC also considered that such an approach would raise significant issues regarding access to BDU distribution capacity," says the decision.
And, allowing such a multiplex would enhance TSN’s already dominant position in sports broadcasting to the detriment of other broadcasters, said the CBC. TSN would be in a position to acquire packages of rights that include simultaneous sports events by paying a higher price for a package than would otherwise be reasonable, since TSN could rely on a national audience, and hence national advertising, for all of the simultaneous sports events, said the CBC. "The CBC considered that conventional television stations would be especially disadvantaged under such an approach, given their inherent inability to multiplex their services," reads the decision.
TSN argued that its licence permits it to offer more than one feed on a limited basis – for up to 10% of the quarterly program schedule, provided that it is comprised of regional programming. After a year without NHL hockey, the live broadcast of the season opening games of five of Canada’s six NHL teams (Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto) constituted programming of regional interest, said TSN.
The provision of two separate feeds of one network on a national basis is typical of the distribution model used by direct-to-home (DTH) BDUs, said TSN, where two or more signals of the same conventional television network are often offered to viewers as time-shifted distant signals. CBC has itself benefited from this distribution model by showing different NHL games on CBC East and CBC West feeds that are both distributed nationally by DTH BDUs, added the TSN reply.
The Commission went with precedence, saying, "the Sportsnet determination provides guidance on the issue of the provision of split-feeds of a broadcaster’s signal to a BDU that is relevant to the current complaint… The Commission drew a distinction between authorizing separate feeds of signals and allowing those separate feeds to be distributed simultaneously by a specific BDU. Absent explicit authorization, a specialty service may only provide one of its feeds, if more than one exists, to be distributed by a BDU in a given region," says the decision.
Sportsnet, of course, has since applied for – and received – permission to distribute its regional feeds to digital cable and satellite companies..
Since TSN has no such official permission, "the Commission finds that the licensee breached its conditions of licence when it broadcast NHL hockey games using two national feeds for simultaneous distribution by BDUs. The licensee must ensure that it does not permit the simultaneous distribution of separate feeds by BDUs unless it obtains appropriate authorization.
However, the decision also said "that it may be appropriate in certain circumstances to permit the multiplexing of specialty services. Accordingly, it would be prepared to consider an application from (TSN) to authorize the simultaneous distribution by BDUs of its separate feeds in a single region on a digital basis only."
