The Federal Court of Appeal said Wednesday it will hear Bell Media’s re-filed appeal of the CRTC’s January 2015 decision to ban the practice of simultaneous signal substitution for the Super Bowl broadcast. In September, the court rejected the company’s appeal of the decision, saying it had come for an appearance too soon – before the CRTC officially issued the order for the new policy. The Commission took 19 months between the decision and officially issuing the order in August of this year, a delay Bell called “extraordinary.” The ban on simsub begins with this season’s game, in February, 2017. The CRTC made the decision (part of its Let’s Talk TV process) because some Canadians groused each year about not being able to see American TV commercials during the broadcast. Simsub has been practiced for years by the Canadian TV industry as a way to protect programming copyrights purchased by Canadian television companies wishing to air U.S. shows here.
GREG O’BRIEN – CARTT – NOVEMBER 2, 2016.
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