With Super Bowl LII mere days away, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has denied Bell Media’s request for a stay or suspension of the CRTC’s simultaneous substitution policy.
Cartt reports that Canada’s highest appellate court handed the decision down on Wednesday.
The court could still overturn the policy, however.
On Wednesday, the SCC had yet to decide whether it would hear the NFL and Bell’s case. It did, however, agree to consider the appeal on an expedited basis. Therefore, if the SCC does eventually take on the case, proceedings will start during the court’s Fall 2018 session.
In the meantime, Bell has one last chance to see things go its way before next Sunday’s game. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission could, theoretically, render a decision on an appeal the telecom made on simultaneous substitution in August 2017.
However, it’s more likely Bell will be forced to endure another year of lost advertising revenue. In 2017, the first year in which the telecom was forced to run American ads during the Super Bowl, Bell says it saw a 39 percent decline in viewership and an $11 million drop in revenue.
The CRTC originally banned Bell from substituting Canadian ads for American ones during the Super Bowl in 2015. It originally gave the telecom until 2017 to enact the decision. The CRTC subsequently granted Bell leave to appeal in November 2016.
Via: Cartt
