GATINEAU – We're about a month away from all Canadian television distributors being required to make all Canadian national news channels available to all of their subscribers, but one seemingly basic question remains unanswered: Will Sun News Network be made available on analog cable?
Two months after the CRTC issued an order requiring that Sun News and the four other Category C national news channels be made available to subscribers of "all licensed distribution undertakings", there doesn't seem to be a consensus on this question.
The order and accompanying decision don't include the word "analog" at all, even though Sun News made a point of noting that it wanted distribution on analog systems.
The CRTC's communications monitoring report showed only 11% of Canadians subscribing to analog cable in 2012, down from 14% a year earlier, and large providers are shutting those networks down in the near-to-medium term (see the attached note Cartt.ca editor and publisher Greg O’Brien received recently about the shutdown of analog cable in his Hamilton area). But Sun argued to the Commission its viewership is skewed older, and so the remaining analog cable subscribers are a larger part of its potential viewer base and more important to helping it increase revenue. It pointed to data showing a drop in viewership after it stopped simulcasting Sun News on CKXT-TV Toronto, which Rogers carried on a Channel 15 on analog cable.
The CRTC hasn't allowed new specialty channels on analog cable (again, which is being phased out gradually, everywhere) with some exceptions, since it started licensing digital-only services in 2000. But the broadcasting order says it applies to all licensed distributors.
Asked whether the order applies to analog systems as well as digital ones, the CRTC media relations department initially said it does. However, large distributors with analog systems don't agree with that interpretation. In fact, none of them say they are required to distribute the channel on analog or plan to do so.
"We don't interpret this as requiring us to distribute every Category C news specialty service on an analog basis," said Jennifer Kett, senior manager of media relations for Rogers.
"From our understanding this is not an order for basic carriage. It is a 'must offer' order," said Tami Mitchell of Access Communications in Saskatchewan, while specifying that the company is reviewing its obligations. "You can satisfy it with carriage of the service in discretionary tiers/packages."
Cogeco Cable, Novus and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance all agreed that the order doesn't require Sun News to be distributed on analog
so long as it's distributed on digital. "The offerings can be purely discretionary so there is no requirement to offer these channels on basic service. Similarly, there is no requirement, per se, to offer the services on analog," said Chris Edwards, vice-president corporate and regulatory affairs for the CCSA, which represents more than 100 distributors in Canada, but only seven of whom are licensed.
Even Videotron, whose parent company owns Sun News, won't be distributing it on analog. "The new policy on Category C news services … applies only to digital services, since Category C channels are digital services that were created solely for a digital environment," the company said in a written statement. "As a proof, we cannot offer news channels on a standalone basis in an analog environment, as required by the new CRTC policy."
Videotron, which argues it doesn't have any space left on its analog cable system, has also applied to the CRTC for an exemption so that it would not be required to distribute ICI, the new ethnic conventional (over-the-air) television station that launched in Montreal in December, on its analog system. The station said it would oppose this application without giving details.
Shaw, which also maintains its legacy analog cable system, would say only "we have no comment to provide at this time." Eastlink did not respond to a request for comment.
Asked about the distributors' interpretation of the order, that it doesn't require distribution on analog provided the channel is distributed in digital format, the CRTC has yet to respond to our query.
And what does Sun News have to say about all this? Not much. Sun News vice-president Kory Teneycke said he did not wish to comment because the network is in negotiations with distributors.
The CRTC's order requiring Sun News to be made available takes effect on March 19. Elements of the order relating to packaging and the filing of affiliation agreements take effect on May 20. After that, it will be up to Sun News to decide if it wants to keep fighting to get access to the dwindling analog cable market.
