CRTC asks Shaw to justify genre change for BC News 1

The CRTC has asked Shaw Communications Inc. to provide justification for why it should officially be relieved of requirements that its BC News 1 channel provide regional news. Shaw recently filed applications requesting that the "nature of service definition" of several specialty channels be changed to allow for more flexibility. Shaw Media spokeswoman Dervla Kelly told The Wire Report last week that the applications are the result of the decision the CRTC issued in March that eliminated most of the strict conditions surrounding the type of content specialty channels can show. The request relating to BC News 1 asked that its nature of service be changed from "a mix of local and regional news, traffic, weather, business, sports and entertainment information devoted to serving residents of British Columbia" to a "national English-language discretionary service primarily focused on News programming." Kelly, however, said there are no plans to change BC News 1 from a regional to national news service, and that the request was "simply a necessary administrative process" relating to regulatory changes in the TV industry. The CRTC said in a letter to Shaw, dated Sept. 11, that the same March 11 decision it cites also includes a provision that retains genre conditions for certain kinds of programming that benefit from mandatory distribution, such as national news networks. It asked Shaw to send a response by Sept. 18 asking "why BC News 1 should not be reclassified as a Category C national news service and therefore be subject to the regulatory requirements that apply to that class of licence." A letter from Dean Shaikh, Shaw's vice-president of regulatory affairs, which appeared on the CRTC website on Monday and is dated Sept. 18, said BC News 1 would continue to be "primarily devoted to serving residents of British Columbia," and that "if the Commission considers it necessary, we are not opposed to a description as a 'regional' service."

CRTC asks Shaw to justify genre change for BC News 1

Brief | September 18, 2015

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CRTC asks Shaw to justify genre change for BC News 1

Brief | September 18, 2015

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