In handing down its specialty licence decisions last month, the crtc said The Classic Channel got the nod because it would help to strengthen this country’s premium discretionary tier.

It is the first line of defense because the point of entry into Canada of the American dbs services is primarily movies, says Lisa de Wilde, president and coo of Toronto-based First Choice Canadian Commun-ications, owner of the new pay-tv movie service.

The Classic Channel, which is looking at a mid-October launch, will provide 24 hours of English-language feature films and film-related programming in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.

The service will broadcast ‘uncut and commercial-free’ movies with no less than 20% overall Canadian content and a 20% Cancon level between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.

De Wilde says The Classic Channel is a vital complementary packaging asset to First Choice sister service The Movie Network and similar in purpose to the premium-tier support of American classic movie services, Encore and Flix, properties of hbo and Showtime respectively.

Films on The Classic Channel must be copyrighted at least five years prior to distribution.

The crtc has stipulated the new service must spend at least $1.87 million on Canadian programming in the first year, 1995/96, and 22% of the previous year’s revenues in each subsequent year.

According to First Choice’s application, 69% to 84% of all Canadian programming expenditures will be allocated to dramatic films.

De Wilde says ‘more than $14 million new dollars’ will be spent over the six-year licence term, resulting in 1,700 hours of Canadian programming each year.

The service has also committed to ‘make the first-ever outright cash grant, no strings attached,’ of $50,000 in year one to The National Archives for the important work of restoring and preserving Canadian film and archival materials. This contribution will increase $5,000 each year for a minimum total over the term of the licence of $375,000.

The Classic Channel is obliged to spend no less than $95,000 on closed captioning in 1994/95, rising to $104,000 in 1999/2000. New, original specials, 92 over the entire six-year licence term, will be commissioned from independent Canadian producers.

The management group for The Classic Channel will be the First Choice (tmn) executive group, namely de Wilde, president; Dave Samuel, vice-president sales and marketing; Alison Clayton, vice-president programming; Joe Tedesco, vice-president finance; Terry E. Markus, vice-president business and legal affairs; Terry Snazel, vice-president technical development; John Gunn, vice-president creative affairs; and Ellen Davidson, vice-president communications. Approximately 10 new positions will be created.

The service is available for standalone distribution at a wholesale rate of between $5 and $6 a month but The Classic Channel intends to promote its sales as part of a new discretionary package, which will include existing and new Canadian and foreign specialty and pay services. Distributed as part of a larger discretionary package, the new service would have a per-subscriber monthly wholesale rate in the $2 to $2.50 range (retail: approximately $3 per month), a ‘reasonable rate’ in the crtc’s view because ‘most of the programming on (the service) will consist of older movies (from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s), the rights to which may have already been acquired by the (licensee’s premium pay-tv service) as part of larger purchases from film distributors.’

The Classic Channel will be financed entirely by subscription revenues and delivered to cable on a strictly discretionary basis. Its licence expires in August 2000.

First Choice is a unit of Astral Broadcasting Group.

The Classic Channel

BCE Place181 Bay Street

P.O. Box 787, Suite 100

Toronto, Ont. M5J 2Y3

Tel: (416)956-2010

Fax: (416) 956-2012

Contact: Lisa de Wilde