The cbc is appealing the recent crtc decision rejecting its application for a French-language arts specialty channel. The appeal to Cabinet follows the Commission’s rejection of all four of Radio-Canada’s applications for French-language specialty channels. Grounds of the appeal include that the arts channel fits with Canadian cultural policies and the CBC’s mandate.

* * *

vancouver: In the first six months of 1999, b.c. has posted a 70% increase in the number of productions over the same period a year ago and is on track to crack the $1-billion mark in direct spending over the calendar year.

So far, 113 productions have been confirmed since the beginning of the year, compared with 65 productions tallied for the first six months of 1998.

Direct spending to date is estimated at $509 million for the current year.