Appeal planned against satellite radio decision

A lobby group has said it will appeal the CRTC's decision to approve the licensing of pay satellite radio.

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, a media watchdog, was among those who deplored the Thursday announcement from the broadcast regulator setting out rules for satellite radio in Canada. On Friday, the group said it will join a number of arts organizations in launching an appeal.

On Thursday, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission approved applications for three subscription-based radio services, but imposed strong Canadian content rules on the two satellite services. The third, a digital service broadcast by land towers, already included a substantial Canadian content component in its proposal.

The applicants were Canadian Satellite Radio, partnering with Washington-based XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., and the CBC and Standard Broadcasting, partnering with New York-based satellite service Sirius. The third pay service is from CHUM and Montreal-based Astral Media.

The CRTC has required that the two satellite services must offer:

• At least eight original channels produced in Canada. A maximum of nine foreign channels may be offered for each Canadian channel.
• At least 85 per cent of the musical selections and spoken word programming broadcast on the Canadian channels must be Canadian.
• At least 25 per cent of the Canadian channels must be in the French language.
• At least 25 per cent of the musical selections on the Canadian channels must be new Canadian music.

A further 25 per cent of the selections must be by emerging Canadian artists.

According to critics, the Canadian content regulations don't go far enough to protect domestic creators. Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is worried about an influx of U.S. audio programming and spokesperson Ian Morrison called the decision "a pipeline for U.S. radio programs direct to Canada, with little in return for our country."

Though he said that a number of arts groups would also appeal the decision, Morrison declined to name the other parties.

Others who came out against the announcement include the Canadian Recording Industry Association, and ACTRA, the national performers' union.

"The CRTC has yet again shown it's prepared to allow our broadcasting system to be dominated by pre-packaged foreign programming," said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA's national executive director. "The CRTC has permitted Canada's private broadcasters to fill their prime time TV schedules with U.S. programs. The CRTC's decision on satellite radio creates a precedent that will allow Canadian digital radio to be predominantly U.S. programming."

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters also questioned the fairness of the CRTC decision, with president Glenn O'Farrell worried that subscription radio will compete for existing audiences of conventional radio.

At a media conference Friday, Toronto businessman John Bitove, chief executive of the Canadian Satellite Radio bid, dismissed the possibility of appeals and said he expects an imminent initial public offering for his company.

"We could almost ask all of the bankers and brokers to take a number at the door on proposals," Bitove said.

Indie Pool, an agency representing thousands of independent Canadian recording artists, saw the decision as good news. Just last month, the company had called on the CRTC to change its Canadian content regulations for traditional radio in order to promote lesser-known artists.

Thursday's decision on content from new artists is better than Indie Pool had expected. President Gregg Terrence says that independent artists will benefit from the new services and that many U.S. satellite music channels are already playing independent Canadian artists like the Arcade Fire.

"They have no choice – they have to fill up all that air time," Mr. Terrence said in an interview.

Stakeholders in the industry have about six weeks to decide on whether to appeal.

© CBC News