Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-356
Ottawa, 19 December 2008
Access Communications Co-operative Limited
Regina, Saskatchewan

Licence amendment

1. The Commission approves the application by Access Communications Co-operative Limited (Access) to amend the Class 1 broadcasting licence for its cable broadcasting distribution undertaking (BDU) serving Regina, Saskatchewan by replacing the current condition of licence that authorizes the licensee to distribute, at its option, WBZ-TV (CBS), WHDH-TV (NBC), WCVB-TV (ABC), WFXT (FOX) and WGBH-TV (PBS) Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the basic service, with the following condition of licence:

The licensee is authorized to distribute, at its option, WCCO-TV (CBS) Minneapolis, Minnesota and WHDH-TV (NBC), WCVB-TV (ABC), WFXT (FOX) and WGBH-TV (PBS) Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the basic service. Alternatively, for each network signal, the licensee may distribute the signal of a different affiliate of the same network located in the same time zone as that of the licensed area and included in the Lists of eligible satellite services, as amended from time to time.

2. There were no interventions to this application. The licence amendment will provide Access with similar flexibility to that granted to other BDUs.

In a nutshell, Access can substitute its current line-up of U.S. networks with stations in the same time zone as Regina.

I would assume they could offer the affiliates from Denver which I believe is in the same time zone.

Nope, Denver is MST.

Yep, to be from the same time zone we'd be looking at Chicago, Milwaukee, or Minneapolis-St. Paul, most likely.

The 105th meridian is the boundary between CST and MST, astronomically. Regina is barely east of this boundary; Moose Jaw is west of it. If legislation didn't override the MST/CST boundary to the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, Regina and Moose Jaw would be in different time zones.

What are the practical implications of this change? I almost wonder if this is a drawback... if it's going to lead to more low quality Canadian sim-subs.

I know there was a big flap awhile ago when they had to rejig their network feeds, but I never got the full story of what the problem was there.

What is promising is that someone at Access has taken the initiative to apply for a CRTC permission for something and was successful with apparently little effort and delay. For years they've been content to be passive and blame everything on the CRTC. Maybe this small success (?) will set a new trend in working with the regulator to provide a good offering.

Looks like they're just switching the CBS feed to Minneapolis. Then again, I thought they already had CBS Minneapolis to begin with.

Seems like just a formality more than anything.