Broadcasting Distribution Regulations (SOR/97-555)

Account Stacking

15.2 If a licensee is required to pay a wholesale rate for a Canadian programming service that it provides to a single subscriber at two or more separate dwellings or other premises that are owned or occupied by the same subscriber, the licensee shall remit the wholesale rate to the Canadian programming undertaking for each dwelling or other premises served.

Notice of Channel Realignment

15.3 A licensee shall not realign the channel number on which a Canadian programming service is distributed unless, at least 60 days before the proposed effective date of the realignment, the licensee sends a written notice indicating the intended date of the realignment and the channel number on which the programming service will be distributed to each of the operators of the programming services whose channel placements will be affected by the channel realignment.

Cancellation Requested by Subscriber

• 15.4 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

  business day

  business day means a day other than a Saturday or a holiday. (jour ouvrable)

  cancellation request

  cancellation request means a request to cancel the programming services of one licensee and replace them with the programming services of another licensee. (demande d’annulation)

• (2) The current licensee of a subscriber shall accept a cancellation request that is made to it by the subscriber or by a prospective licensee on behalf of the subscriber.

• (3) The current licensee and the prospective licensee shall coordinate with each other to cancel and replace the programming services with a view to minimizing any service disruption to the subscriber.

• (4) Unless the licensees otherwise agree, cancellation and replacement of the programming services shall occur within two business days after the day on which the cancellation request is made.

Cancellation Requested by Customer

• 15.5 (1) A licensee shall accept a request that is made to it by a customer for the cancellation of all programming services that it provides to the customer.

• (2) The cancellation shall occur on the day on which the request is received by the licensee.

• (3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a cancellation request as defined in subsection 15.4(1) that is made by a customer who is also a member of a household that is provided with the programming services for which the request is made.

PART 2Terrestrial Distribution Undertakings

Application

16 Except as otherwise provided in these Regulations or under a condition of licence, this Part applies to the digital distribution of programming services by licensees that hold a licence to operate a terrestrial distribution undertaking.

Basic Service

16.1 Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall not distribute as part of its basic service any programming services other than those referred to in section 17.

• 17 (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (3) to (5) or under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute the following services in each licensed area as part of its basic service, in the following order of priority:

  • (a) the programming services of all local television stations that are owned and operated by the Corporation;

  • (b) the educational television programming services that are received by the licensee over the air or by some other method, the operation of which is the responsibility of an educational authority designated by the province in which the licensed area is located;

  • (c) the programming services of all other local television stations that are not being distributed under paragraph (a) or (b);

  • (d) the programming services of any regional television station that is owned and operated by the Corporation, unless the licensee is distributing, in accordance with paragraph (a), the programming services of a local television station that is owned and operated by the Corporation and that broadcasts in the same official language as the regional television station;

  • (e) the programming services of all regional television stations that are not being distributed in accordance with paragraph (b) or (d), except to the extent that the licensee is distributing, under paragraph (a), (c) or (d), the programming services of an affiliated television station or one that is a member of the same ownership group;

  • (f) if they are provided to the licensee by the programming undertaking and are not being distributed in accordance with paragraph (a) or (d), the programming services of at least one television station that broadcasts in English and at least one that broadcasts in French that are owned and operated by, or that are affiliates of, the Corporation; and

  • (g) the programming services of a programming undertaking that the Commission has required, under paragraph 9(1)(h) of the Act, to be distributed as part of the basic service.

• (2) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute the following services in each licensed area as part of its basic service:

  • (a) the programming services of the community channel if the licensee elects to distribute community programming under paragraph 20(1)(d), or the programming services of a community programming undertaking if one is licensed in the licensed area; and

  • (b) a programming service that consists of the proceedings of the legislature of the province in which the licensed area is located if the licensee elects to distribute that programming service, unless the programming undertaking that provides that programming service agrees in writing to its distribution on a discretionary basis.

• (3) If a licensee receives programming services that are identical, it is required to distribute only one of them under subsection (1).

• (4) If the programming services of two or more television stations rank equally in the order of priority set out in subsection (1), a licensee shall, unless the operators of the stations agree otherwise in writing, give priority to the programming services of those stations that have studios that are located in the province in which the licensed area is located or in the National Capital Region, as described in the schedule to the National Capital Act, in the order of the proximity of their main studios to the local head end of the licensed area.

• (5) The licensee’s obligation to distribute the programming services of a local television station or a regional television station under subsection (1) also includes the obligation to distribute the digital programming service of that television station that is received by direct feed if the programming service of the local television station or regional television station is also received over the air by the licensee in its licensed area.

• (6) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee may, in addition to the programming services required under subsections (1) to (5), distribute the following services as part of its basic service in the licensed area:

  • (a) the programming services of no more than 10 licensed television stations, including those stations whose programming services are required to be distributed under subsection (1);

  • (b) a 4 + 1 package of programming services that originates

    • (i) in the same time zone as that in which the licensee’s local head end is located, or

    • (ii) if no such package originates in that time zone, in any other time zone; and

  • (c) the programming service of any local radio station.

• (7) A licensee that distributes a programming service under this section may also distribute the high definition version of that programming service.

17.1 Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall not charge a customer more than $25 per month for the distribution of its basic service.

First-tier Offering

17.2 Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee may offer its first-tier offering to its subscribers and prospective subscribers.

• 17.3 (1) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, if a licensee offers a first-tier offering it shall distribute the following services in each licensed area as part of that offering:

  • (a) the programming services that are required to be distributed under subsections 17(1) to (5); and

  • (b) the programming service of at least one Canadian programming undertaking that is in addition to those distributed under paragraph (a).

• (2) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee may, in addition to the programming services required under subsection (1), distribute as part of the first-tier offering in the licensed area any non-Canadian programming service that may be distributed under subsection 17(6).

Access for Television Programming Services

• 18 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

  ethnic Category A service

  ethnic Category A service means, in respect of a licence that was issued before March 12, 2015, a programming service that is designated as an ethnic Category A service by the Commission or named in paragraph 138 of Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2008-100, dated October 30, 2008 and entitled Regulatory frameworks for broadcasting distribution undertakings and discretionary programming services. (service ethnique de catégorie A)

  general interest television pay-per-view service

  general interest television pay-per-view service means a television pay-per-view service whose programming is selected — unrestricted by any condition of licence — from any of the categories set out in item 6, column I, of Schedule I to the Pay Television Regulations, 1990 (service de télévision à la carte d’intérêt général)

• (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, in sections 23 to 27 or under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute

  • (a) if the licensee is operating in an anglophone market,

    • (i) each English-language Category A service whose operator is authorized to provide the service to all or part of the licensed area,

    • (ii) at least one English-language general interest television pay-per-view service, and

    • (iii) to the extent that such a programming service is available, at least one French-language discretionary service for every 10 English-language programming services that it distributes;

  • (b) if the licensee is operating in a francophone market,

    • (i) each French-language Category A service whose operator is authorized to provide the service to all or part of the licensed area,

    • (ii) at least one French-language general interest television pay-per-view service, and

    • (iii) to the extent that such a programming service is available, at least one English-language discretionary service for every 10 French-language programming services that it distributes; and

  • (c) the ethnic Category A service of a programming undertaking that is authorized to provide that programming service to all or part of the licensed area if

    • (i) the licensee was distributing the service in the licensed area on October 30, 2008, or

    • (ii) according to the most recent population figures published by Statistics Canada, 10% or more of the total population of all cities, towns and other municipalities situated in whole or in part within the licensed area is of one or a combination of the ethnic origins to which the service is intended to appeal.

• (3) For the purposes of subparagraphs (2)(a)(iii) and (b)(iii),

  • (a) the definition discretionary service in section 1 does not include a programming service that the licensee is required to distribute under paragraph 9(1)(h) of the Act; and

  • (b) the analog or standard definition programming service and the high definition service together count as a single programming service.

• (4) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute

  • (a) the programming service of a community-based low-power television station to the subscribers of the distribution undertaking whose residence or other premises are located within the service area of that station; and

  • (b) the programming service of a community-based digital undertaking to the subscribers of the distribution undertaking whose residence or other premises are located within the service area of that undertaking.

• (5) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee fulfils its obligations under this section and section 19 by distributing either the standard definition programming service or the high definition version of that programming service.