You have to give Alliance Atlantis full marks for audacity. The broadcaster’s move to air CSI: NY on History Television starting in January is a classic case of trying to shove a gold-plated square peg into a round hole.

CSI: NY as history? The killer AAC/CBS crime drama franchise – of which NY makes up one-third – might be making history in terms of international sales, but beyond that it’s quite a stretch.

This bit of programming got Maureen Parker, executive director of the Writers Guild of Canada, up in arms, and she proceeded to fire a missive to the CRTC complaining about this breach of the broadcaster’s conditions of licence to print money.

The program follows forensic detective Mac Taylor and his team as they solve crimes in The Big Apple, and Parker questioned how it fits into History’s stated mandate to provide docs, movies, minis and programs that ’embrace both current events and past history, with a special emphasis on documentary and dramatic programs related to Canada’s past.’

The CRTC passed the letter over to AAC, requesting that the caster respond. AAC did so, and its defense is a doozy. It argued that the show did in fact fit within History’s mandate, since ‘CSI: NY is based on New York-specific situations and locations, set in the city that became synonymous with one of history’s most significant and notorious events, 9/11.’

What will History serve up next: Shark, since it is about an L.A. defense attorney who practices law in the same city that saw the Rodney King riots? Or perhaps Grey’s Anatomy, historical because it unfolds on the site of the Seattle General Strike of 1919?

Well, the CRTC, in its wisdom, will have none of it, stating in a March 29 letter to AAC that CSI: NY is ‘neither about 9/11 nor directly related to that event,’ and is not consistent with History’s terms of licence. The letter concludes with the commission stating that it expects the caster to take ‘immediate steps to correct the situation.’

As of this writing, AAC’s official response has been defiantly non-committal: ‘We do think CSI: NY fits on the channel, and we are in the process of determining next steps.’ One company executive privately expresses confidence that the caster will prevail in keeping the show on History, which airs it at noon, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET throughout the week, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturdays, and 10 a.m. on Sundays.

Is it just me, or is this another case of somebody taking the CRTC rather lightly? Perhaps it’s time for commission chief Konrad von Finckenstein to issue another one of his stern warnings, using more direct language.

Why, you might ask, is AAC resisting so hard on this? The answer is eyeballs, pure and simple. Nielsen BBM data for 2007 thus far shows how important CSI: NY is to the channel. Its airings at various times represent four of History’s top 10 highest-rated programs (2+), with the 10 p.m. weeknight and Saturday 1 p.m. broadcasts tied as the channel’s most popular shows in the 18-34 demographic AAC is trying so hard to court.

And, of course, AAC still owns half of the CSI franchise, so it is only natural that it would like to fill its channels with the shows, as it has done with the original CSI series on Showcase, Action and Diva. No doubt the presence of CSI on the specialties made those channels all the more appealing when CanWest Global came knocking with a takeover offer.

To some in the industry, the Alliance Atlantis story leaves a bad taste, the company having been built up in part as a domestic prodco with public funding aplenty. The margins just weren’t good enough producing Canuck films and TV shows, so the media giant abandoned that game to focus instead on its lucrative broadcast business and its stake in the American-produced CSI shows.

Still, AAC will defend its track record on commissioning and acquiring Canadian programming – $57 million spent since 2000 – but clearly the likes of the WGC’s Parker don’t think it is enough.

The company is flush, and when its sale to CanWest Global is approved, shareholders will see a pretty payday. In its recent year-end, AAC reported $163 million in direct profit from its interest in the CSIs, and $100 million in EBITDA from its broadcast operations.

Truth be told, History is not the first channel to bend its conditions of licence. But in this particular controversy, AAC can well afford to back down and abide by what it originally told the regulator it would do.