Media News Digest: Quebecor sues press council, lots of licence renewals, strike threats at TVA and Postmedia

News about news

At the CRTC

  • Because broadcast licences normally end on Sept. 1, late August is licence renewal season:
    • CFNV 940 Montreal, the French-language TTP Media station, got its licence renewed for five years. No licence compliance issues were raised and no interventions were filed, but because it took so long to launch, it gets a shorter-term renewal.
    • Blue Ant Media’s licensed TV channels — A.Side, BBC Earth, Cottage Life, HIFI, Love Nature, Makeful, T + E and Smithsonian Channel — got a five-year renewal (which is what most TV licences are getting these days). The group as a whole has a 21% Canadian programming expenditure quota set, despite requests from various industry groups for a higher quota, and all channels now get standard conditions of licence. There was a compliance issue related to the filing of audited financial statements that was quickly rectified.
    • Canal Évasion has also been renewed to 2023, with its CPE quota reduced from 46% to 40% (not the 32% it requested). Compliance issues related to Canadian content and closed captioning were dismissed as minor reporting issues. Évasion is owned by Groupe Serdy, which is looking to sell to Quebecor.
    • Hollywood Suite has been renewed, with no compliance issues and a minimum CPE quota of 10%.
    • Knowledge Network and BBC Kids were renewed. Knowledge had requested a reduction in Canadian content exhibition requirements from 55% to 40% of the broadcast day. The CRTC denied this request.
    • Rewind (formerly Moviola), renewed with a 19% CPE requirement.
    • The Rural Channel, renewed with a 10% CPE requirement.
    • CKOY-FM Sherbrooke (Cogeco talk station 107,7 Estrie) got a four-year licence renewal because of a compliance issue related to local programming. The station blamed it on an exceptional broadcast of an Alouettes football game with Sherbrooke native Jacques Chapdelaine as the new head coach. The CRTC was satisfied that it was an exceptional case, but because the station had two previous licence terms in non-compliance, it gets a short-term renewal.
    • CJLD-FM Leduc, Alta. (The One 93.1) got a full seven years. But it must pay $1,189 in owed Canadian content development contributions.
    • CJOA-FM Thunder Bay got four years because of failure to provide financial statements for two years before the current owner (United Christian Broadcasters) took control of the station.
    • CJHR-FM Renfrew, Ont. (Valley Heritage Radio 98.7) got six years, because the community station’s financial statements reflected a fiscal year that didn’t match the CRTC’s broadcast year (September to August). The station is fixing that issue.
    • CHCR-FM Killaloe/Wilno, Ont., got a full seven years, with the CRTC finding that getting the emergency public alerting system operational 39 days after the deadline (because of missing parts) was not significant enough to warrant a finding of non-compliance.
    • CFAQ-FM Blucher, Sask., got five years, with a non-compliance because of a failed logging system.
    • CIRP-FM Spryfield, N.S. (Live 94.7got a full seven years, after sorting out its paperwork and showing that it did indeed make Canadian content development contributions as required.
    • CKNT Mississauga, renewed for only five years because it’s only finally getting on the air now.
  • The CRTC is renewing mandatory distribution orders, which require all TV subscribers to subscribe to particular services. Orders are until August 2023 unless otherwise noted:
  • The commission won’t make its own deadline deciding on some licence renewals, so has issued so-called administrative renewals, extending current licences for a few months to give itself more time:
  • At the request of basically everyone who owns a private commercial radio station in Quebec City, the CRTC has extended the comment period for the proposal to add new stations in Quebec City, Portneuf and Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce. The new deadline is Sept. 28.
  • The commission has launched an online survey asking people’s opinions about misleading and aggressive sales tactics by telecom providers.

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5 thoughts on “Media News Digest: Quebecor sues press council, lots of licence renewals, strike threats at TVA and Postmedia

  1. Mediaman

    Speaking of Global Network jgens2here, whatever happened to that much vaunted Global One news network??

    And is TTP 940 gonna5wait til they get the5renewal for AM600 to launch, more stalling time..

    Reply
    1. Fagstein Post author

      whatever happened to that much vaunted Global One news network?

      Plans for that were quietly shelved.

      And is TTP 940 gonna wait til they get the renewal for AM600 to launch, more stalling time..

      I don’t see why licence renewal would have any impact on their programming plans.

      Reply
  2. Richard G

    Re Z documentaries
    It seems unfair to label those in the Pinel institute as “violent mentally unstable people” . I’m sure some are but to to paint all with the same brush is wrong . You should have put a modifier in there .

    Reply
  3. Mimo Nielsen

    I absolutely adore Annie Bergeron-Oliver. I know she did some political round table stuff for CTV years ago. As a local reporter, she’s my favourite. I’m happy to see her get more national exposure. In her words, her dad “is over the moon.” about her getting the job. I believe she may be replacing her friend, Mercedes Stephenson, who I believe is with Global now.

    Reply

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