• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Rogers cable and US channel substitution

S

sum-guy

Last night at midnight the Detroit ABC station broadcast a live news feed from a Detroit jail where Kwamee Kilpatrick (sp?) former Detroit mayor was scheduled to be released from jail. I was watching this (here in London) for about 5 minutes but then they seemed to cut into the Jimmy Kimel show at 12:05 or 12:10 am. Basically Rogers put on the same feed at City TV (also showing Kimmel).

My question is: If the Detroit ABC channel is _not_ broadcasting the regularly scheduled network feed, then was Rogers correct in substituting (duplicating) the feed from CityTV onto that channel?
 
No, Rogers was not correct, as rules say that if a program on the American channel is replaced with a different program, then the American channel must be cleared.

On the other hand, considering that it was after Midnight, the simsub machine at Rogers was probably on autopilot.
 
I believe Rogers was correct, to the extent that Kimmel was the *announced* program on both Citytv and ABC Detroit, thus triggering the substitution. Obviously one can't anticipate a special news event. but if someone was present in their control center they could have overridden things as long as Kimmel wasn't being simulcast. In this instance, given the circumstances, Rogers played the safest card.
 
Programming only needs to be 95% identical for sim sub to be allowed.
If ABC went to programming already in progress with only 5% of the show missing on the American side, Rogers was doing things by the book.

Anything outside of the 5% window is illegal.
 
Here's some more information

K. Remy of CRTC client services sent this information to me in an email response to a similar complaint:


SIMULTANEOUS SUBSTITUTION
When Canadian broadcasters buy programs from content providers (whether Canadian or American, and whether from a producer, a sports entity, or another broadcaster or network), they pay substantial sums of money to have exclusive distribution rights in their home markets. It is a matter of programming copyright, applies to all types of programming (sports events, movies, etc.) and generally does not involve the CRTC.
If these private legal contracts refer to specific rights and territories, a broadcaster or distributor may be required to black out certain games or programs to prevent the breach of programming or underlying rights of a third party. Alternatively, in the case of simultaneous broadcasts, the broadcaster holding the rights may ask that its own signal be substituted in place of the non-local or foreign signal.
The local station can then insert its own advertising. The revenues generated by these ads go to the local television stations (and where the substitution involves a foreign signal, the advertising revenues stay in Canada). You can find further details on about the practice, why it exists, and how it works on the following web pages: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/RELEASES/2007/i070201.htm
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/RELEASES/2004/i040130.htm

K. Remy
CRTC Client Services
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom