CRTC questions Bell TV’s community programming practices

Four years after the CRTC found Videotron failed to comply with its obligations related to community television programming, the commission is taking a very critical look at Bell Canada’s community TV services, with questions suggesting it is concerned Bell is inappropriately redirecting funding that was supposed to go to community TV in small Atlantic Canadian communities toward large productions out of Toronto and Montreal that are essentially spinoff shows of commercial productions that air on Bell Media TV channels.
In a notice of consultation posted last month, the commission published applications for licence renewal for Bell Fibe and Bell Aliant TV services in Atlantic Canada, Ontario and Quebec. The applications, which include 42 documents, shows repeated rounds of questions over two years about Bell’s community TV operations, which operate under the Bell TV1 brand (formerly Bell Local).

The regulations

Under CRTC regulations, licensed TV distributors must devote a certain percentage of their gross revenues (usually around 5%) to Canadian programming, usually through contributions to the Canada Media Fund, but are allowed to deduct some of that money (usually 1.5%) to fund a community television service. Most large distributors, including Bell, choose to do so. (Satellite TV operators don’t have community channels, so have different rules.)
Community television services have specific rules attached to them, governing what programming they can air and how much money they can spend on certain expenses. One key rule is that 50% of programming funding and 50% of the programming schedule (if applicable) be spent on community access programming, that is programming that was specifically requested by a member of the community that is not an employee of the TV provider.