Broadcasting Distribution Regulations

46 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

independent ownership group

independent ownership group means an ownership group — other than the Corporation or a major ownership group — that owns and operates an independently-owned television station or an ownership group designated as such by the Commission in paragraph 31 of Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010–162 dated March 19, 2010 and entitled Distribution by direct-to-home services of stations from the major ownership groups in the Atlantic provinces and independently owned stations across Canada. (groupe de propriété indépendante)

independently-owned television station

independently-owned television station means a licensed television station that is not owned by one of the major ownership groups and that provides, in one of the official languages, local programming to the community it is licensed to serve. (station de télévision de propriété indépendante)

(2) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute, as part of its basic service, to the extent that they are available, the programming services of two independently-owned television stations from each independent ownership group to subscribers whose residence or other premises are located within the Grade B official contour or noise-limited bounding official contour.

(3) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute as part of its basic service,

• (a) the educational television programming services, to the extent that they are available, whose operation is the responsibility of an educational authority designated by the province in which the subscriber’s residence or other premises are located; and

• (b) 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.

(4) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute as part of its basic service to a subscriber whose residence or other premises are located in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, British Columbia, Saskatchewan or Alberta,

• (a) the programming service, to the extent that it is available, of one of each of the Corporation’s English-language and French-language network television stations that originate in the province in which the subscriber’s residence or other premises are located;

• (b) the programming service, to the extent that it is available, of one television station from each major ownership group that originates in the province in which the subscriber’s residence or other premises are located; and

• (c) the programming service, to the extent that it is available, of one independently-owned television station that originates in the province in which the subscriber’s residence or other premises are located.

(5) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute as part of its basic service to subscribers whose residence or other premises are located in the Atlantic provinces

• (a) the programming services, to the extent that they are available, of two of each of the Corporation’s English-language and French-language network television stations that originate in the Atlantic provinces;

• (b) the programming services, to the extent that they are available, of two television stations that originate in the Atlantic provinces, from each major ownership group; and

• (c) the programming service, to the extent that it is available, of one independently-owned television station that originates in the Atlantic provinces.

(6) If two or more programming services from the Corporation or two or more programming services from the same ownership group are available to be distributed by a licensee in accordance with paragraph (5)(a) or (b), the licensee is required to distribute only one of those programming services from the Corporation or one of those programming services from the ownership group, as the case may be, if the operator of the programming undertaking that provides the programming services has not committed to providing local programming as part of its licence issuance or most recent licence renewal or amendment.

(7) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute as part of its basic service to a subscriber whose residence or other premises are located in Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut

• (a) the programming services of at least one of the Corporation’s Northern Television Services; and

• (b) the programming services referred to in subsections (2) to (4) that are distributed in another province.

(8) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee may, in addition to the programming services required under subsections (2) to (7), distribute to a subscriber as part of its basic service

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

  • (i) in the same time zone as that in which the subscriber’s residence or other premises is located, or

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

• (b) the programming service of any radio station whose market, as defined in section 2 of the Radio Regulations, 1986, includes the location of the subscriber’s residence or other premises.

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