A Category C service is the former term for a Canadian discretionary specialty channel which, as defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, operates under the conditions of license for "competitive Canadian specialty services operating in the genres of mainstream sports and national news". [1]
Under previous policies, these services were intentionally unprotected from competition by other Category B services of the same genre (as per the now-discontinued genre protection policy), but are still "protected" from competition by other discretionary services. In other words, if someone wants to launch a competing service, they must do so by committing to the same obligations, including common requirements for the exhibition and funding of Canadian-produced programming, as others. Discretionary services, by contrast, may not devote more than 10% of their monthly programming to live professional sports. [2]
Channels licensed as mainstream news services must be offered on a packaged or standalone basis, but not necessarily on the lowest tier of service, by all Canadian television providers. Mainstream sports services are not subject to must-offer rules, and distributors must negotiate directly with their operators for carriage as with all other discretionary services.
In an October 2008 public notice, the CRTC announced that it had considered the possibility of lifting format protection restrictions for channels of certain genres considered by the commission to be popular and diverse enough to support competition within Canada's television industry. In particular, the CRTC proposed to lift these restrictions for news and sports services, citing examples of Canadian channels which had remained popular and competitive with each other, despite the restrictions that had been forced in their licenses in order to negate such competition.
CTV Newsnet (now CTV News Channel), because it competed with CBC Newsworld (now CBC News Network), was licensed to serve as a "headline news" service, and was originally required to operate on a strict 15 minute news wheel format (similarly to the U.S. channel CNN Headline News). CTV however, successfully lobbied the CRTC in 2005 to have these conditions loosened in order to provide a more flexible service that still fell within its assigned scope. [3]
On the other hand, TSN competes with Sportsnet and The Score (now Sportsnet 360)—which were licensed as national, regional, and sports news services respectively. Additionally, due to its licensing, The Score was restricted in the amount of live programming it can air. [4] Similarly, TSN was facing scrutiny for having used policies, designed to allow timeshift channels for Western Canada, as a loophole to launch a second feed known as TSN2 for additional sports event programming. [5] However, these complaints were dismissed by the CRTC. [6]
Several months later, the CRTC officially announced in 2009 that it would be loosening format restrictions for all mainstream sports and national news services in the country, allowing them to use more streamlined and flexible licensing terms. [7] As part of an overall restructuring of broadcasting regulations to prepare for the country's transition to digital terrestrial television, these channels became legally known as "category C" services beginning on September 1, 2011. [8] Under further reforms, all specialty channels were transitioned to standardized conditions of license as discretionary services over the course of 2015 and 2016, [9] [10] although the CRTC still recognizes mainstream news and sports services as a distinct class of discretionary service with their own requirements. [2]
In September 2013, following the highly publicized, but unsuccessful bid by Quebecor Media to have Sun News Network converted to a Category A service, the CRTC opened a review on the possibility of adding mandatory distribution requirements for Category C national news services. The Commission acknowledged that its current policies had "barriers" that could prevent news channels from having a "pride of place" on the broadcast system, which could hinder their "exchange of ideas on matters of public concern." [11] [12] Previously, only the news networks of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation were subject to formal carriage requirements; CBC News Network must be carried on a digital basic tier in French-language markets, and likewise Réseau de l'information must be carried on a digital basic tier in English-language markets. [13]
On December 19, 2013, the CRTC announced the adoption of new must-carry requirements for Category C news channels. By March 19, 2014, Canadian television providers must offer all Category C news channels to subscribers as part of their lineup, and by May 18, 2014, all Category C news channels that are not already on the lowest level of service must be included in the "best available discretionary package consistent with their genre and programming", or offered to subscribers on a standalone basis. CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais stated that the changes were to ensure that Canadians would be able to "[access] the news services that are of interest to them" and have "[opportunities] to be exposed to a variety of opinions on matters of public concern." [14] [15]
In September 2015, as a result of discussions held as part of the "Let's Talk TV" initiative, the CRTC adopted stricter content requirements for services that operate as national news channels, in order to "better reflect the national nature of these services" and ensure they "demonstrate the capacity to gather news and report events happening throughout Canada." These include: [16]
The CRTC approved a third English-language discretionary news channel, The News Forum, in May 2022. It initially declined must-offer status to the channel as it did not meet the requirements for broadcasting updated news reports every 120 minutes; [17] after amending its schedule to comply with the requirements, The News Forum subsequently received must-offer status in November 2022. [18]
WTSN was a Canadian English language category 1 television channel owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc., a joint venture between Bell Globemedia (80%) and ESPN (20%). The channel broadcast sports programming featuring female athletes.
The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by CTV Specialty Television, owned jointly by Bell Media (70%) and ESPN Inc. (30%), itself a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. TSN was established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. TSN is the largest specialty channel in Canada in terms of gross revenue, with a total of CA$400.4 million in revenue in 2013.
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was required to divest its stake in the network following its 2001 acquisition of competing network TSN. Rogers then became the sole owner of Sportsnet in 2004 after it bought the remaining minority stake that was held by Fox.
Discovery Channel is a Canadian discretionary specialty television channel owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery.
A specialty channel can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted television market at a specific demographic.
MTV is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Bell Media with the name and branding used under a licensing agreement with Paramount Global. The channel is devoted to talk, lifestyle and documentary programming, and also airs some scripted programming.
Investigation Discovery is a Canadian Discretionary service owned by Bell Media. Based on the U.S cable network of the same name, the channel focuses on true crime programming.
Family Channel is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by WildBrain. The network primarily airs children's television series, teen dramas, as well as other programming targeting a family audience. Despite having its own headquarters in the Brookfield Place office in Financial District, the channel is transmitted from Corus Quay.
CMT is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned as a joint venture between Corus Entertainment and Paramount Networks Americas, owners of the flagship CMT channel in the United States.
Oprah Winfrey Network, more commonly shortened to OWN, is a Canadian English language discretionary service channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel was launched in September 1, 1999 as Canadian Learning Television (CLT) by Learning and Skills Television of Alberta, Ltd., then held by CHUM Limited. The network's owner, Corus Entertainment, licenses the OWN brand and its American programming from Warner Bros. Discovery.
Sportsnet 360 (SN360) is a Canadian discretionary specialty channel owned by Rogers Media. The channel was launched in 1994 as the licence-exempt service Sportscope, which featured a display of sports news and scores. In 1997, the network was re-launched under Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) licensing as Headline Sports, adding anchored segments to its rolling sports news programming. In 2000, the network gained the ability to air occasional broadcasts of live sporting events, and was re-launched as The Score. In 2012, the network's parent company Score Media announced that it would sell the network to Rogers Communications, which owns the competing Sportsnet family of sports television networks; in 2013, the network was re-branded as Sportsnet 360.
OLN is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media that primarily broadcasts factual-based and adventure-related reality programming aimed at male audiences.
Canada is served by various multichannel television services, including cable television systems, two direct-broadcast satellite providers, and various other wireline IPTV and wireless MMDS video providers.
TSN2 is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel that acts as the secondary feed of sports-centred channel The Sports Network (TSN) and owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc. It was launched in its current form on August 29, 2008.
ATN Cricket Plus is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Asian Television Network (ATN). ATN Cricket Plus broadcasts programming related to the sport of cricket including live and tape-delayed matches and news and highlight series.
Discovery Velocity is a Canadian discretionary specialty channel owned by CTV Specialty Television, a joint venture of CTV Specialty Television Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a Canadian version of the U.S. channel formerly of the same name, and broadcasts factual and reality-style series related to automobiles and transportation.
RDS2 is a Canadian French language discretionary sports specialty channel, acting as the secondary feed of French language television network Réseau des sports, owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc. The channel was launched on October 7, 2011, to coincide with the start of the 2011 MLB post-season; its launch night programming included coverage of the Division Series and a documentary on the Montreal Expos.
Sportsnet PPV is a Canadian pay-per-view (PPV) service owned by Rogers Communications. It is the PPV service used by Rogers Cable, Cogeco Cable and Source Cable for offering out-of-market sports packages and occasionally other special events. Since October 1, 2014, Rogers and Source have also used Sportsnet PPV as their main general-interest pay-per-view provider, replacing Viewers Choice which shut down the previous evening. The service is co-branded with Rogers' sports channel Sportsnet.
A 9.1(1)(h) order (previously known as a 9(1)(h) order) is an order issued by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) pursuant to section 9.1(1)(h) of Canada's Broadcasting Act. It requires that a particular Canadian television channel is must-carry and distributed by all (or a particular subset of) cable, satellite, IPTV, or similar subscription-based television service providers in Canada. In most (but not all) cases, the order requires that the channel be included in the analogue and/or digital basic service, making it available to all subscribers of that TV service provider. A channel subject to such an order, particularly those subject to mandatory carriage on the basic service, was sometimes known as an 9(1)(h) service.
A discretionary service is a Canadian specialty channel which, as defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, may be carried optionally by all subscription television providers. It replaces the previous category A, category B, category C, and premium classifications.