CRTC denies Rogers request for OMNI local programming relief

The CRTC has denied Rogers Communications Inc.’s request to amend a May decision which granted the broadcaster a license to broadcast the OMNI regional channel for three years starting in September, according to a decision released on Monday. In the original decision, Rogers was granted the license as long they “provide 14 hours of original, local independently produced programming each week on the Quebec feed." Rogers subsequently contested that proposal, with Monday’s decision revealing how the broadcaster claimed it was a mistake on their part and originally sought to provide 14 hours of ethnic programming a month, not a week. Rogers said it caught its error only after the commission had approved the May application. The company pointed to a similar application granted to CFHD-DT Montreal from 2012, which the current decision refers to as an “ethnic television station.” Included in the English-language version of the 2012 decision was a line indicating that the station only needs to broadcast 14 hours of local programming a month. But according to Monday's decision, interveners Quebecor Inc. and Cogeco Inc. noted that there was, in fact, a discrepancy between the English and French language versions of the 2012 decision, and the French copy correctly stipulated 14 hours of local programming a week. “Cogeco argued that the body of the decision — specifically paragraph 9 — clearly indicated the Commission’s intention to impose a weekly obligation,” read Monday’s decision. The CRTC rationale for the decision referenced policy from 2010, which stipulates that “applicants must provide evidence that the service is making exceptional commitments to original, first-run Canadian programming through exhibition and expenditures,” it said. The CRTC also ruled that “the current requirement would encourage the production of more original, local programming for Canadians and would help ensure that OMNI Regional, as a service with mandatory distribution, continues to contribute in meaningful ways to fulfilling the policy objectives of the Act.” Rogers OMNI channels have also faced challenges from the union representing Chinese-speaking journalists in a Part 1 application.

CRTC denies Rogers request for OMNI local programming relief

Brief | November 28, 2017

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CRTC denies Rogers request for OMNI local programming relief

Brief | November 28, 2017

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