Broadcasting Distribution Regulations

17 (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (3) to (5) or under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute the following services in each licensed area as part of its basic service, in the following order of priority:

• (a) the programming services of all local television stations that are owned and operated by the Corporation;

• (b) the educational television programming services that are received by the licensee over the air or by some other method, the operation of which is the responsibility of an educational authority designated by the province in which the licensed area is located;

• (c) the programming services of all other local television stations that are not being distributed under paragraph (a) or (b);

• (d) the programming services of any regional television station that is owned and operated by the Corporation, unless the licensee is distributing, in accordance with paragraph (a), the programming services of a local television station that is owned and operated by the Corporation and that broadcasts in the same official language as the regional television station;

• (e) the programming services of all regional television stations that are not being distributed in accordance with paragraph (b) or (d), except to the extent that the licensee is distributing, under paragraph (a), (c) or (d), the programming services of an affiliated television station or one that is a member of the same ownership group;

• (f) if they are provided to the licensee by the programming undertaking and are not being distributed in accordance with paragraph (a) or (d), the programming services of at least one television station that broadcasts in English and at least one that broadcasts in French that are owned and operated by, or that are affiliates of, the Corporation; and

• (g) the programming services of a programming undertaking that the Commission has required, under paragraph 9(1)(h) of the Act, to be distributed as part of the basic service.

(2) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute the following services in each licensed area as part of its basic service:

• (a) the programming services of the community channel if the licensee elects to distribute community programming under paragraph 20(1)(d), or the programming services of a community programming undertaking if one is licensed in the licensed area; and

• (b) a programming service that consists of the proceedings of the legislature of the province in which the licensed area is located if the licensee elects to distribute that programming service, unless the programming undertaking that provides that programming service agrees in writing to its distribution on a discretionary basis.

(3) If a licensee receives programming services that are identical, it is required to distribute only one of them under subsection (1).

(4) If the programming services of two or more television stations rank equally in the order of priority set out in subsection (1), a licensee shall, unless the operators of the stations agree otherwise in writing, give priority to the programming services of those stations that have studios that are located in the province in which the licensed area is located or in the National Capital Region, as described in the schedule to the National Capital Act, in the order of the proximity of their main studios to the local head end of the licensed area.

(5) The licensee’s obligation to distribute the programming services of a local television station or a regional television station under subsection (1) also includes the obligation to distribute the digital programming service of that television station that is received by direct feed if the programming service of the local television station or regional television station is also received over the air by the licensee in its licensed area.

(6) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, a licensee may, in addition to the programming services required under subsections (1) to (5), distribute the following services as part of its basic service in the licensed area:

• (a) the programming services of no more than 10 licensed television stations, including those stations whose programming services are required to be distributed under subsection (1);

• (b) a 4 + 1 package of programming services that originates

  • (i) in the same time zone as that in which the licensee’s local head end is located, or

  • (ii) if no such package originates in that time zone, in any other time zone; and

• (c) the programming service of any local radio station.

(7) A licensee that distributes a programming service under this section may also distribute the high definition version of that programming service.