Broadcasting Distribution Regulations

17 (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (3) to (6) or under a condition of its licence, a licensee shall distribute in each licensed area the following as part of its basic service, in the following order of priority:

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

• (b) the educational television programming services received over the air or by satellite or microwave relay, the operation of which is the responsibility of an educational authority designated by the province in which the licensed area of the undertaking is located;

• (c) the programming services of all other local television stations;

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

• (e) the programming services of all other regional television stations, unless the licensee is distributing, under paragraph (a), (c) or (d), the programming services of a television station that is an affiliate or member of the same network;

• (f) if they are received by satellite or microwave relay and if they are not being distributed under paragraph (a), (c), (d) or (e), 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;

• (g) the programming services of an extra-regional television station owned and operated by the Corporation, unless the licensee is distributing, under paragraph (a), (d) or (f), the programming services of a television station owned and operated by the Corporation that broadcasts in the same official language as the extra-regional television station;

• (h) the programming services of all other extra-regional television stations that are not affiliates or members of the network to which a station referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (g) belongs;

• (i) if the licensee is operating in a francophone market within the meaning of paragraph 18(4)(a), the House of Commons programming service, including the main audio channel of that service in the French language and an auxiliary audio channel of the service in the English language; and

• (j) if the licensee is operating in an anglophone market within the meaning of paragraph 18(4)(b), the House of Commons programming service, including the main audio channel of that service in the English language and an auxiliary audio channel of the service in the French language.

(2) A licensee of a cable distribution undertaking shall distribute in each licensed area the programming services referred to in subsection (1) beginning with the basic band.

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

(4) If a licensee receives over the air an educational television programming service the operation of which is the responsibility of an educational authority designated by a province other than the province in which the licensed area of the undertaking is located, the licensee is not required to distribute it under subsection (1) but may distribute the service as part of the basic service.

(5) If the Commission has determined that a programming service is of national public interest and has licensed the service as a mandatory service, the licensee shall distribute the service in each licensed area as part of the basic service.

(6) If the programming services of two or more television stations rank equally in the order of priority established by this section, unless the operators of the stations agree otherwise in writing, a licensee shall give priority

• (a) if the studios of the stations are located in the same province as the licensed area or in the National Capital Region, as described in the schedule to the National Capital Act, to the programming services of the stations in the order of the proximity of their main studios to the local head end of the licensed area; and

• (b) in any other case, to the programming service of the station that has a studio located in the same province as the licensed area.