Bell Media seeks appeal to CRTC’s renewal of broadcast licences

After asking the federal telecommunications regulator to waive local news and Canadian programming requirements for its television stations, BCE Inc.’s media arm is seeking to appeal a CRTC decision that renewed its broadcast licences for three more years.

In an application last month to the Federal Court of Appeal, Bell Media said the renewal happened without a public hearing and could result in the regulator prejudging the issues it outlined in its June applications to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

The CRTC released the decision Aug. 8 announcing the administrative renewals of broadcasting licences for major companies including Bell until August 2026.

But the company alleged the CRTC breached a requirement under Canada’s Broadcasting Act by not holding a public hearing before making that move. It said the regulator “acted without jurisdiction” and did not provide Bell with notice of its intent to make the decision, nor an opportunity to make submissions in advance.

“The renewal decision is likely to have serious adverse impacts on Bell Media,” the company argued in court filings.

“It will impair Bell Media’s ability to evolve in the competitive landscape of the Canadian broadcasting industry in the face of a growing presence from digital media broadcasting undertakings.”

The CRTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In June, Bell submitted two applications to the CRTC, which have yet to be ruled upon.

In one submission, the company requested the regulator drop requirements for spending on local news and on the number of hours per week that stations are required to broadcast locally reflective news in major and smaller markets.

It also asked that the CRTC reduce its obligation for Canadian content spending on some of its television stations.

Those applications were filed the same day Bell announced it was cutting 1,300 positions, shutting or selling nine radio stations and closing two foreign bureaus amid plans to “significantly adapt” how it delivers the news in the face of rising financial pressure.

The layoffs included a six per cent cut at Bell Media.

At the time, Bell noted its 35 local television stations branded as CTV, CTV Two, and Noovo plus three discretionary television news services — CP24, CTV News Channel and BNN Bloomberg — were under financial strain, prompting the need for regulatory action.

It said Bell Media’s average annual news operating loss totalled $28.4 million between 2016 and 2019, a figure which jumped to $40 million last year as web giants scooped up the Canadian advertising market.

Bell chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson said Monday those applications, if granted, “would have provided much needed financial relief and flexibility,” but that “rather than dealing with our applications, the CRTC chose instead to renew our licences without any timeline to address our urgent request.”

The application before the Federal Court of Appeal argued that as a result of the renewal decision, there is a risk that the CRTC could delay and defer a ruling on Bell’s programming requests “and it could very well prejudge the issues in those applications to the detriment of Bell Media.”

“Canada’s broadcasting industry is in crisis and we need urgent action now,” said Malcolmson in a statement.

“The CRTC’s decision to extend our broadcast licenses for three more years without first dealing with our requests for financial relief is arbitrary and unfair. The CRTC approved these conditions of licence in 2017, which were set in a much different economic and competitive environment than what broadcasters face today.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2023.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press