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Decision
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Ottawa, 30 September 1988
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Decision CRTC 88-710
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Maclean Hunter Limited, operating under the name of Maclean-Hunter Cable TV
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Thunder Bay, Ontario -873445100
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Following a Public Hearing in the National Capital Region on 7 June 1988, the Commission, by majority decision, renews the Class 1 licence held by Maclean Hunter Limited (Maclean-Hunter) for the broadcasting receiving undertaking serving Thunder Bay from 1 October 1988 to 31 August 1993. The operation of this undertaking is regulated pursuant to Parts I and II of the Cable Television Regulations, 1986 (the regulations), and the licence will be subject to the conditions specified in this decision and in the licence to be issued.
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In addition to the services required or authorized to be distributed pursuant to the applicable sections of the regulations, the licensee is authorized, by condition of licence, to continue to distribute, at its option, the signals of WXYZ-TV (ABC), WJBK-TV (CBS), WTVS (PBS) and WDIV (NBC) Detroit, Michigan, received via satellite from the CANCOM network, as part of the basic service.
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It is a condition of licence that the licensee delete commercial messages from television signals received from broadcasting stations not licensed to serve Canada and substitute suitable replacement material in place of such messages upon receipt of notice in writing from the Commission.
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Consistent with Decision CRTC 87-279 dated 31 March 1987, by condition of licence, the licensee is relieved of the requirement of section 9 of the regulations which makes it a priority to distribute the programs of the French-language educational television service operated by TVOntario ("La Chaîne française") on the basic band (channels 2 to 13), so long as it is distributed as part of the basic service.
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The Commission reaffirms the particular importance it attaches to the development of community programming and has taken note of the projected resources which will be allocated during the next licence term. The Commission encourages the licensee to continue its efforts with respect to the development of community programs that reflect subscriber interests and concerns.
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The licensee was requested to appear at the hearing to discuss matters raised by various interveners regarding the distribution of U.S. television signals received via CANCOM from Detroit.
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The Commission authorized Maclean-Hunter to carry the CANCOM signals in Decision CRTC 86-219 dated 14 March 1986. Prior to that, the licensee had been distributing the signals of WDIO-TV (ABC), KDLH-TV (CBS), KBJR-TV (NBC) and WDSE-TV (PBS), received over-the-air from translators of these Duluth, Minnesota stations located at Grand Portage, Minnesota. In its 1986 decision, the Commission reviewed the comments of all interveners, including those for and against the retention of the Duluth signals, and examined carefully all of the evidence, including that related to the poor technical quality of the Duluth signals as received at the licensee's head end.
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The licensee had advised the Commission of a 1983 study conducted by the Department of Communications which concluded that the interference problems associated with the Duluth signals were a consequence of the method of signal delivery which employs VHF transmitters and a number of low-power UHF translators to cover a distance of more than 300 kilometers.
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Decision CRTC 86-219 noted the licensee's statements that it had been unable to arrive at a satisfactory long-term agreement with the Duluth broadcasters for the construction and operation of a microwave system to replace the existing delivery system, and that the licensee had determined, based on the results of a microwave feasibility study, "that satellite delivery was both more cost efficient and more reliable." The Commission also noted the licensee's statement that it had concluded a 15-year fixed-rate agreement with CANCOM "for the satellite delivery of more reliable, better quality signals at comparable cost," and concluded that satellite delivery represented the most cost efficient and technically reliable means of providing high quality U.S. television signals to Thunder Bay.
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Included among the interventions considered at the 7 June 1988 hearing in the National Capital Region was a joint submission by Messrs. Ernie Epp and Iain Angus, Members of Parliament for Thunder Bay -Nipigon and Thunder Bay -Atikokan, respectively, presenting the views of some of their constituents who would like to receive the signals of the Duluth, Minnesota affiliates of the four U.S. networks in place of the Detroit signals received from the CANCOM network. Similar views were expressed in interventions by Mr. Ken Stovel, Chairman of the Bring Back Duluth Committee, Mr. John P. O'Brien and Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Crindle. An expression of support for the retention of the Detroit signals was contained in a letter signed by Mr. John Meader and ten other individuals.
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A major concern of those supporting the reinstatement of the Duluth television signals is that there is an unacceptable amount of crime and violence depicted in the news programming of the Detroit stations, including the headline news bulletins broadcast at various times throughout the day. These interveners also argued that the continued carriage of the Detroit signals ignores the community of interest which exists between residents of Thunder Bay and Duluth; in particular, they suggested that the news and such things as the weather coverage provided by the Duluth stations are of much greater relevance to their needs than programming provided by the Detroit stations.
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In his presentation, Mr. Epp acknowledged that the switch to CANCOM had been motivated by the licensee's desire to provide better service. He also acknowledged the findings of an independent survey of Thunder Bay cable subscribers, commissioned by the licensee prior to the change, in which 64% of those responding had expressed a wish for the improved signal quality offered by CANCOM and more than 70% had indicated a dependence on local television stations for their news coverage.
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At the hearing, Mr. Stovel of the Bring Back Duluth Committee was accompanied by Mr. George Jauss, the General Manager of WDSE-TV (PBS) Duluth, who indicated that he was speaking on behalf all four Duluth stations. He stated that, if the licensee were to go back to distributing the Duluth signals on the Thunder Bay cable system, the work required to maintain the signal delivery system between Duluth and Grand Portage, Minnesota would be charged to Maclean-Hunter by the American stations at cost, representing an estimated $40,000 per year.
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Mr. Jauss indicated that a new microwave system to replace the existing delivery system could be built at a cost only slightly higher than the $335,000 (U.S.) estimated for such a system in 1985. Although he was not able to make specific commitments on behalf of the Duluth broadcasters, Mr. Jauss suggested that a 1985 offer by the Duluth broadcasters to contribute $100,000 (U.S.) towards the cost of a new microwave delivery system might still stand, and that other financial support from the Duluth business community for such a project might also be forthcoming.
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In rebuttal, Maclean-Hunter insisted that the reasons underlying the change to CANCOM-delivered signals are as valid today as they were three years ago. With respect to the technical quality of the signals, for example, it noted that reception-related service calls have been reduced by 79% since 1985, the year prior to the replacement of the Duluth signals.
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With regard to the violence contained in the news programming broadcast by the Detroit stations, the licensee noted that its subscribers have a wide choice of programming available to them on other stations. As for the suggestion that the news and weather programming provided by the Duluth stations was of greater relevance to Thunder Bay residents, the licensee noted that the vast majority of its subscribers have shown a distinct preference for the news and information programming provided by the local Canadian television stations. Maclean-Hunter also noted that the Canadian weather specialty service would be available on basic service in September 1988.
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Maclean-Hunter questioned the argument that the Duluth signals should be reinstated on cable because of the community of interest that exists between that city and Thunder Bay. According to the licensee, whatever special relationship there may be is very one-sided. It also argued that the interests of the Duluth broadcasters are purely commercial in nature. With regard to the costs of delivering the Duluth signals to Thunder Bay, Maclean-Hunter noted that it had paid the Duluth broadcasters approximately $136,000 for this service in 1985, compared to the annual cost of $40,000 which Mr. Jauss suggested they would charge now. Maclean-Hunter also estimated that the costs of constructing a new microwave system to deliver the signals from Duluth would likely be closer to a figure of $500,000 (U.S.) rather than the $335,000 mentioned by Mr. Jauss.
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The licensee concluded by noting that it had properly consulted with its subscribers prior to switching to CANCOM in 1986, that it had participated in a public hearing process and had received the necessary Commission authorization for the switch, that it had entered in good faith into a long-term contract with CANCOM for its services, and that the change-over had achieved the objective of providing subscribers with signals of good and reliable quality.
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The Commission has considered the views of all of the interveners and of Maclean-Hunter on this issue. Based on the available evidence, the Commission has determined that the circumstances present at the time it issued Decision CRTC 86-219 remain substantially unaltered, and that the distribution of the CANCOM services at Thunder Bay continues to present Maclean-Hunter with the most reliable and cost-effective method of providing high quality signals to its subscribers, and is in accordance with Commission policy.
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While acknowledging the concerns of many Thunder Bay cable subscribers regarding what they consider to be the excessive depiction of crime and violence in the news programming of the Detroit television stations, the Commission considers that these concerns, and the matter of CANCOM's distribution of the Detroit signals in preference to those of other possible U.S. stations, should be addressed in the context of its consideration of CANCOM's application for the renewal of its network licence, which expires 30 September 1990.
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Fernand Bélisle
Secretary General
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Dissenting Opinion of Commissioner Paul McRae
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The renewal should be for a shorter period, which would enable the community of Thunder Bay and Maclean-Hunter, to resolve serious differences which exist vis-à-vis the Detroit signals and the strong community of interest between Thunder Bay and its twin city, Duluth, Minnesota.
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