GATINEAU – 9(1)(h), the gift that keeps on giving.
An application filed with the CRTC last week says so and the applicant wants his service to be carried on Sirius XM through mandatory carriage [through section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act].
The applicant, Evan Kosiner, also made an application during the last must-carry proceeding where OMNI re-won the licence for a must-carry Multicultural Described Video Guide (MDVG). This time, he is proposing, “a barker licence type, on the SiriusXM Platform, for an audio-based radio guide for the visually impaired, entitled as Visually Impaired Listing Service (‘VILS’).”
This service would allow visually impaired Canadians to have access to the alphanumeric information displayed on the screen in your car or on your portable receiver, where it would be turned into machine-read audio. The information pertains to the song or the show being played.
This service would be financed through a $0.05/subscriber monthly charge by way of a 9(1)(h) order. Considering the applicant estimates Sirius XM has approximately 2.8 million Canadian subscribers, the service would collect approximately $1.7 million annually.
“This application speaks to the ‘BDU portion’ of SiriusXM Canada’s responsibilities. This is unique to SiriusXM as terrestrial AM/FM radio airs on a per-channel transmitter basis without a single managed platform. If anything, additional regulations should be provided given SiriusXM arbitrarily signs programming agreements for certain channels and creates its own packaging without the oversight of the Commission to the same extent a satellite or cable television operator would,” the application reads.
Now that the OMNI file is closed 9(1)(h), will this application steer CRTC staff in a new, unexpected, direction?
According to the definition of the Broadcasting Act, Distribution undertaking means an undertaking “for the reception of broadcasting and the retransmission thereof by radio waves or other means of telecommunication to more than one permanent or temporary residence or dwelling unit or to another such undertaking,” so it could be argued SiriusXM is a BDU.
However, it is also a programming undertaking, which is an “undertaking for the transmission of programs, either directly by radio waves or other means of telecommunication or indirectly through a distribution undertaking, for reception by the public by means of broadcasting receiving apparatus.”
Seems the Commission will have a decision to make.
