There is possibly a new Canadian pornography pay-television channel. They a pledging to show 50 per cent Canadian content if they get to air. This new channel has been approved by federal regulators this week. They now must get cable and satellite providers to carry their service.
This new digital channel will be called Northern Peaks, was approved Wednesday by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, after Alberta-based Real Productions first applied for the licence in October of 2007.
The company said in their application that Northern Peaks will be “Canada’s first adult video channel offering significant Canadian adult content.” Also, Northern Peaks will produce its own movies, in addition to events and series from Canada, the company told the regulator.
“During each broadcast year, the licensee shall devote not less than 50 per cent of the evening broadcast period to Canadian programming,” say CRTC documents outlining the decision.
In hopes of getting the licence, Northern Peaks must show the CRTC that at least one cable or satellite carrier has agreed to pick up the service. If Northern Peaks doesn’t reach an agreement with a cable or satelllite carrier within three years, they risk losing the licence.
The channel is a category 2 pay-television service, meaning cable and satellite carriers are not required to pick up the channel and the company must negotiate with each carrier.
The CRTC said it did not receive any interventions at hearings held in May, meaning there were no other broadcasters or interest groups who registered their opposition to the bid.
In accordance with the licence, Northern Peaks is restricted to certain genres such as: drama and comedy, long-form documentary, miniseries, theatrical feature films, game shows and human-interest programming. Also in the documentation, Northern Peaks will not have any high-definition programming. But of course that may change in the future.
Based in Sherwood Park, Alta., Real Productions produces adult content for Starz, Playboy TV and HBO.
“Northern Peaks’ broadcast day will start at 6 a.m. and run a full 24 hours,” the company told the CRTC in its application.
If it launches, Northern Peaks will be required to spend a minimum of 25 per cent of its subscriber revenues on Canadian programming, including at least $1-million in its first broadcast year. All programs must be close-captioned, as per CRTC rules.
In approving the licence, the CRTC also issued a reminder to cable and satellite companies that “due to the adult nature of the programming, this service shall only be distributed at the specific request of the subscriber.” The carriers are not permitted to package the service so that customers must buy Northern Peaks to get other channels.
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