AUGUST 16, 2011 OfficePage of the 1 of 23 Cabinet 11.du C. 14 - CW CanadianINFO Broadcasting President & CEO président-directeur général Corporat¡on 1400 René-Lévesque Blvd. E 1400, boul. René-Lévesque E 5oc¡été Radio-Canada Montreal QC H2L 2M2 Montréal QC H2L 2M2 cBc ,i3i' nuuio-canada i.',:': ': vi ''i l: . .. rt, , JUL I 2 20n iï!.5,i.i _..1._¡ÍI His Worship the Honourable Joe Fontana Mayor, City of London IrBsì,Eq JUL19?011 300 Dufferin Avenue Refenedto , , -' -'' P.O. Box 5035 o'nars ÈHïoiüål g6;ç6-- London, Ontario N6A 4Lg EiFõiintorma¡on EForfilc :þü'aW6ffi,^^, "Eear f-Ontana, you for your letter in which you express your concerns about CBC/Radio- Canada's transition away from analogue service to digital over-the-air transmission of our television (TV) programm¡ng. We understand your concerns and share them. As you know, the Government of Canada and the CRTC have mandated that over- the-air televisíon transmission must switch from analogue to digital in many parts of Canad,a:startihg August 31, 2ß11 . [n light of this, ÇBC/Radio-Canada is installing a digital tr:ansntitter for every one of its tetevis,íonistations, for a,.total of 27 transmitters ac!'oss the country. All will'b,e operational'by August 31,2011. Without a CBC/Radio-Canada television station, London does not fit the críteria we have used to implement the Government's directive. We understand that our choice not to install a digitaltransmitter in London where residents are facing the prospect of no longer having access to over-the-air.- is concerning to local area residents. That's why we are working with the CRTC to- find solutions to the problem. One.s.elution that we are pro.pclsing is to re<¡uest perrrìission from the CRTC to continue broadcasting in analogue. Since we are going to continue operating over 600 transmitters after August 31 ,2011, the transition date, it makes sense for us to attempt to make the transmitter in London one of them. It's also important to recogníze that CBC/Radio-Canada is commítted to the regions. lndeed, our corporate five-year strategic plan, Everyone, Every way, places regions as a top priority and we will be using our resources to back that commitment. Rather than investing in transrnitters that serve fewer people as the over-the-air usage continues to decline, our strategy consists of enhancing our regional prograrnming offer on multiple platforms. lt also rneans finding ways of providing local radio and web services to the seven million Canadians who aren't currently served by a local station. ,!0) tttat /:) YOURS TO CELEBRAIE uN r,roNDÊ À CÉLÉBRER HO r694 B (01/08) AUGUST 16, 2011 Page 2 of 23 11. C. 14 - CW INFO 2 We hope that you and other London residents understand why we need to modify the way we offer our content in our new multiplatform environment. We are also hopefulthat over-the-air users in London will continue to have access to our analogue signal come September 1,2011. Again, thank you for your interest in our national public broadcaster. We are encouraged to know that London residents value CBC/Radio-Canada and want to maintain access to it. Sincerely, ent and CEO c.c. Mr. Steven Guiton, Vice-President and Chief Regulatory Officer, CBC/Radio-Canada The Honourable Chris Bentley, MPP, London West The Honourable Deb Matthews, MPP, London North Centre The Honourable Steve Peters, MPP, Elgin-Middlesex-London Mr. Khalíl Ramal, MPP, London-Fanshawe Mr. Ed Holder, MP, London West Ms. lrene Mathyssen, MP, London-Fanshawe Ms. Susan Truppe, MP, London North Centre Mr. Joe Preston, MP, Elgin-Middlesex-London AUGUST 16, 2011 Page 3 of 23 11. C. 14 - CW INFO 19 July 2011 Mr. Robert A. Morin Secretary General Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2 Dear Mr. Morin: Appended is an application by CBC/Radio-Canada to amend the licence of television programming undertaking CBLT Toronto in order to change the technical parameters of its transmitter CBLN-TV at London, Ontario. This technical amendment is being submitted subsequent to the Corporation’s request filed on July 14, 2011, for authority to maintain certain analogue transmitters in mandatory markets. The application reflects a change of channel from 40 to 23 and a decrease in average effective radiated power from 1,000,000 watts to 16000 watts (maximum effective radiated power from 1,678,000 watts to 24,000 watts). The EHAAT of 262.9 metres remains unchanged. CBLN-TV is currently operating on channel 40 in NTSC. On August 31st, this channel can no longer be used in London because it has been assigned to a new DTV station in Toronto. Given the technical limitation of our CBLN-TV equipment, the best alternative is to operate on channel 23. The proposed operating parameters have been developed taking into account surplus equipment resulting from the transition to DTV. Thus a 1kW transmitter will be re-used for CBLN-TV in the existing antenna system. The technical documents in support of this application together with a copy of the CRTC application form and this letter are being sent under separate cover to Industry Canada today. Yours sincerely, Bev Kirshenblatt Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs CC: Paul Vaccani, Industry Canada *** End of document *** AUGUST 16, 2011 Page 4 of 23 11. C. 14 - CW INFO 29 July 2011 Filed via Access Key Mr. Robert A. Morin Secretary General Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Ottawa, ON K1A 0N2 Re: Applications 2011-1109-6, 2011-1107-0 and 2011-1099-9 – Response to Intervention Dear Mr. Morin: 1 CBC/Radio-Canada is pleased to respond to the intervention received from Bell Media Inc. (Bell Media) in connection with the above-noted Applications to amend the licence of its over-the-air (OTA) television station CBLT-TV in order to change the technical parameters of the re-transmitters CBLN-TV London and CBLN-TV-1 Kitchener and to amend the licence of its OTA television station CBLFT-TV Toronto in order to change the technical parameters of the re-transmitter CBEFT Windsor. If approved, from a technical perspective, the Corporation could maintain analogue transmitters in these markets without causing interference after the August 31, 2011 digital transition deadline. 2 CBC/Radio-Canada respectfully submits that Bell Media has not raised any valid issues in its intervention and that the Applications should be approved as filed. The Applications Meet the Procedural Requirements 3 Bell Media has asked the Commission to return these applications on procedural grounds alleging they should have been served with the application as a potential AUGUST 16, 2011 Page 5 of 23 11. C. 14 - CW INFO respondent. Bell Media has erroneously interpreted the guidelines on the CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure (Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010- 959; or the Guidelines) and its request should be declined. 4 Determining who is a respondent to a particular application depends on the specific facts of the application. In the case of applications for technical amendments such as the ones filed in this instance, the Corporation is required to identify all television stations whose originating or rebroadcasted signal would suffer interference or that would be required to vacate their frequency. Bell Media has not raised this as an issue in the current proceeding. 5 Indeed, Bell Media has not provided any reason whatsoever to demonstrate that it has a direct interest in these proceedings and make them a potential respondent to these proceedings. Given that approval of these Applications would result in maintaining the status quo – i.e. maintaining existing analog OTA coverage in these markets, CBC/Radio-Canada submits that there are no potential respondents in this matter and consequently, there is no requirement to serve parties with copies of these applications. 6 The precedent CKVR-TV cited by Bell Media is not comparable to CBC/Radio- Canada’s current applications for technical amendments. The Commission required Bell Media to re-file its applications to establish two digital rebroadcasting transmitters for CKVR-TV and serve potential affected respondents because the application, if approved, would extend the reach of the service and result in revenue impacts to both the applicant and other broadcasters. 7 The Commission has determined that these applications are complete and has set out expedited timelines for their consideration. The Corporation notes that Bell Media has filed an intervention in respect of these applications within the deadlines established by the Commission. In the circumstances, its procedural request should be dismissed. 2 AUGUST 16, 2011 Page 6 of 23 11. C. 14 - CW INFO Timing of the Applications 8 The second reason cited by Bell Media is that the Corporation has chosen to file these applications shortly before the deadline to shutdown analog in mandatory markets, the Corporation should have been adequately prepared to transition to digital long ago and private broadcasters have already made significant investments to meet this deadline. The Corporation respectfully submits that none of these are valid grounds for denial of these technical amendments. 9 The Corporation has been very public about its financial constraints and its digital transition plan. On 30 November 2010 CBC/Radio-Canada notified the Commission that the Corporation would be installing digital transmitters for all of its originating television stations – 27 in total – but that it would not be transitioning from analog to digital in any other markets, i.e. those markets where the Corporation maintains re- broadcasting transmitters. 10 The Corporation has also publicly stated its intention to maintain OTA service in all markets, should the CRTC permit.