ATN Canada complains about ZEE’s licence

The Asian Television Network (ATN) – which delivers some 40 language channels to South Asian communities in Canada has filed a formal complaint with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) against ZEE TV’s Canada service, operated by the Ethnic Channel Group (ECG).

In a letter dated 3rd June to the CRTC, ATN has complained that ZEE TV Canada has shifted away from its licenced brief to provide a television service targeted at women in the Hindi-speaking community there and has started targeting general viewers. According to ATN, ZEETV Canada was licenced initially as a niche third-language ethnic specialty Category B service targeted at Hindi speaking women. It has since expanded to providing general entertainment programming, which means it has gone beyond its classification.

ATN, in the complaint, has said it had a licensing agreement for airing Zee TV programming on its specialty Category A service South Asian Television (SATV) for a number of years until January 2013 when it could not renew its content purchase agreement. SATV, is among the six authorised third-language general entertainment television services afforded protection under Canadian law. As part of that if the CRTC does licence a specialty service in the same language as one of the existing third-language Category A services, the new third-language service would be packaged as a buy-through with the existing third-language Category A service of the same language, says the ATN complaint. To get around this restriction several foreign broadcasters are applying for the specialty category B service only to launch them later as a general interest service. ATN says that this is hurting its interests.

In the specific case of Zee TV Canada, it says that, as of March 2013 it is offering programming which is between 70 per cent and 90 per cent in Hindi, offering competition to SATV. It further goes on to clarify that in the number of press releases that the Ethnic Channel Group Ltd (EGCL) has made in launching Zee TV Canada there has not been one mention of launching a niche programming service for women. It has rather emphasised on the fact that Zee TV is an international programming service and a leading South Asian media brand available globally to 650 million viewers in 169 countries.

Source: Indian Television