CRTC denies final arbitration request in hotel broadcaster’s dispute with Quebecor

The CRTC won’t force Quebecor Inc. into final offer arbitration (FOA) with hotel broadcaster Coopérative de câblodistribution Hill Valley because there are no regulatory requirement for Quebecor to provide its discretionary programming service to Hill Valley for distribution, nor is there a requirement for Hill Valley to distribute TVA Sports. “In the present case, the parties have not engaged each other in bilateral negotiations prior to requesting FOA and, as such, still have multiple issues to investigate and consider, specifically the scope and the term of the FOA. Based on the information provided to the commission, the dispute appears to involve factors that are not exclusively monetary and, therefore, this dispute does not fit the criteria for FOA,” the CRTC wrote in its Monday decision. In January, Hill Valley requested that the commission initiate a FOA proceeding with Quebecor regarding the distribution of TVA Sports, claiming it had made efforts seeking a bilateral agreement with the incumbent and requests to enter into CRTC staff-assisted mediation. Hill Valley argued that Quebecor is actively trying to delay any negotiated resolution in order to protect Quebecor’s subsidiary Fibrenoire and that it is discrediting Hill Valley. Quebecor said those claims are unfounded and furthermore, it refuses to conclude an affiliation agreement with Hill Valley because it alleged pirates TVA. “Quebecor’s refusal to engage in negotiations leaves no room for an FOA process to unfold,” the CRTC wrote in its decision. Hill Valley’s request was made a week after the CRTC denied Quebecor’s request to sanction Hill Valley and to remove it from the list of exempted broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) because the federal court found Hill Valley was in violation of copyright laws for rebroadcasting TVA and TVA Sports. Hill Valley was founded in 2020 and operated without a licence in certain localities until its service was registered as an exempt BDU in February 2021. The order exempts broadcasters with fewer than 20,000 subscribers from certain regulatory requirements. The CRTC took no action against the company in its January decision because it was brought back into compliance. In regard to TVA Sports, the commission found that Hill Valley appears to be distributing its service contrary to what is permitted by the Copyright Act, which does not fall within the CRTCs jurisdiction. In that decision the CRTC encouraged Quebecor and BCE Inc. (which is also in a dispute with Hill Valley over the distribution of Réseau des sports) to negotiate in good faith with Hill Valley. There is no regulatory requirement to distribute discretionary services, including TVA Sports. — Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca.

CRTC denies final arbitration request in hotel broadcaster’s dispute with Quebecor

Broadcast | March 27, 2023

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CRTC denies final arbitration request in hotel broadcaster’s dispute with Quebecor

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