Rules on Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcast Registration and Program Content Broadcast through Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcast Service

July 27, 2016

MTRCB MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 002-16

 

Pursuant to the Board's power to supervise and regulate television broadcast of programs and motion pictures, and in the light of its authority to exercise such powers and functions as may be necessary or incidental to the fulfillment of its mandate (§ 3 (d) in relation to § 3 (k), P.D. No. 1986) vis-à-vis the developments in technology of Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcast services, the Board hereby promulgates these rules on registration of Digital Terrestrial Television services and program content broadcast through the platform of Digital Terrestrial Television, as follows:

CHAPTER I. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Circular, the following terms shall mean:

a) Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) — an implementation of the digital technology in the television service intended to provide a greater number of Standard Definition Television (SDTV) channels and/or better quality of picture (e.g., HDTV) and sound (e.g., AAC, EAC3, Dolby Digital) through a conventional aerial antenna instead of a satellite or cable connection. It also pertains to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT). 1

b) Standard Television TV (SDTV) Format — a television broadcasting system that has a resolution of 480 lines per frame.

c) High Definition TV (HDTV) Format — A television broadcasting system with a resolution higher than 480 lines per frame.

d) Television Broadcast — Public showing by transmitting sound or images by television or similar equipment, including cable television, and other limited audience distribution. 2

e) Board or MTRCB — The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

f) NTC — The National Telecommunications Commission.

g) Duly Authorized Analog UHF or VHF-TV Operator — A duly enfranchised TV broadcast network that holds a valid Provisional Authority (PA) or Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) for VHF or UHF analog TV operations, and duly registered with the MTRCB.

h) Service Area — The geographic area over which a duly authorized DTTB operator is authorized to provide its broadcast service.

i) Simulcast — The simultaneous broadcast, on different channels, of the exact, same material coming from one feed.

j) Replay — The re-airing in the same channel of the exact same material within the validity period of its Permit to Exhibit previously issued by the Board.

CHAPTER II. Registration of Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcast Service. —

SECTION 1. Registration. — All persons authorized by law to engage in DTTB Service shall register with the Board.

A DTTB service provider shall, in accordance with the PA or CPC issued to it by the NTC, register either a single or multi-channel HDTV format or a single or multi-channel SDTV format, or a combination thereof, for each new or additional service area.

Registration shall be per PA or CPC, unless a PA or CPC covers more than one DTT channel, in which case, registration shall be per DTT channel.

SECTION 2. Application for Registration. — Persons required to register with the Board shall accomplish such forms prescribed by the Board, submit true copies of documents attesting to the authority to do business in the Philippines, and pay the registration fee fixed by the Board, after which a Certificate of Registration shall be issued by the Board.

SECTION 3. Effectivity of Registration. — The Certificate of Registration issued by the Board shall be effective for one (1) year, renewable every year, unless earlier cancelled by the Board for cause, or unless the applicant has unsettled obligations with the Board, in which case, the applicant must first settle all obligations before the application for registration can be processed.

CHAPTER III. Program Content Broadcast through Digital Terrestrial Television Service. —

SECTION 1. DTTB Treated as Free-to-Air TV. — DTT broadcast of materials shall be treated in the same manner as free television broadcast. Hence, all rules and regulations of the Board on the public exhibition of materials through free television broadcast shall apply to all program content broadcast through DTT.

SECTION 2. Permit to Exhibit. — In accordance with the preceding section, each DTT material must have a valid Permit to Exhibit issued by the Board prior to broadcast except if said program is imprinted or exhibited by the Philippine Government and/or its departments and agencies, or is in the nature of live newsreels, as provided for in Sec. 7 of P.D. No. 1986.

SECTION 3. Simulcast. — If a material will be simulcast or aired simultaneously in two (2) or more channels, whether it is on two (2) free TV channels, or two (2) DTT channels, or a combination of both, only one (1) application for review may be filed under which it shall be indicated therein that the material will be simulcast over the indicated channels. In this case, a single permit to exhibit shall be issued indicating therein on which channels the material will be simulcast. The simulcast nature of the broadcast subsists notwithstanding the presence of a commercial gap between free television and DTT broadcast; provided, however, that the contents of the subject television material are exactly the same in all respect across these platforms.

SECTION 4. Replay. — A material aired in a channel other than that for which a Permit to Exhibit had been issued shall be treated as new material and shall be submitted to the Board for review and classification prior to the issuance of its own Permit to Exhibit.

CHAPTER IV. Transitory Provisions. —

SECTION 1. Registration of DTT Channel While on Test Broadcast. — All persons and entities already registered with the Board pursuant to Sec. 3 (d) of P.D. No. 1986, in relation to Chapter X of the 2004 Implementing Rules and Regulations, as amended, as a duly authorized analog VHF-TV operator, or as a duly authorized analog UHF-TV operator, and is already airing or will air its content over DTTB after this Memorandum takes effect, whether on test broadcast or otherwise, shall register with the Board as a provider of DTTB Service for the year 2017, naming therein all the channels through which it will offer its DTTB Service.

SECTION 2. Registration Period. — In relation to the preceding section, the period for registration for the year 2017 shall commence on 01 September 2016 and end on 31 January 2017.

SECTION 3. Application/Petition in Lieu of PA/CPC. — Pending the issuance by the NTC of a PA or CPC, the applicant may, for the purpose of registration, submit a copy of its Application or Petition for PA or CPC with the undertaking that it shall submit its PA or CPC to the Board within fifteen (15) days from issuance by the NTC.

SECTION 4. Per DTT Channel Registration. — Registration shall be per DTT channel.

SECTION 5. Registration Fee Waived for 2017. — The Board shall not charge a registration fee for the year 2017, unless the applicant fails to register within the period for doing so; in which case, the applicant shall be charged the corresponding registration fee plus surcharge, and penalties, if any. Registration fees for the year 2018 onwards shall be charged in full.

SECTION 6. Self-Regulation. — From the time of promulgation of this Memorandum Circular until 31 January 2017, a DTTB service provider shall have the obligation to ensure that the content it airs is within the parameters of "General Patronage," "Parental Guidance," or "Strong Parental Guidance," as defined in Memorandum Circular No. 05-2011 known as the "Revised Classification Rating for Television Programs," and its Implementing Guidelines.

SECTION 7. Pictogram Advisory. — From the time of promulgation of this Memorandum Circular until January 31, 2017, a self-designed pictogram advisory accompanied by a full-screen written verbal advisory to the effect that the program is classified either as "G," "PG" or "SPG" shall be broadcast for at least ten (10) seconds immediately before the opening credits of the particular television material classified as such. The pictogram advisory showing a capital letter "G," "PG" or "SPG" with a phrase "General Patronage," "Parental Guidance" or "Strong Parental Guidance," as the case may be, at the bottom, shall be clearly superimposed at the bottom right corner of the television screen throughout the entire showing of the material classified as such. The superimposed pictogram advisory shall be 45 mm by 55 mm in size. It shall not contain any reference to the Board, or made to look as if it is the Board which classified the program.

Midway in the showing of the particular television material classified as "SPG," the pictogram advisory and the full screen written and verbal advisory shall again be shown on screen in the same way as in the opening credits.

SECTION 8. Submission for Review and Classification. — Starting 01 February 2017, all laws, rules and regulations, memorandum circulars and other directives issued by the Board in regard to the requirement of securing a Permit to Exhibit from the Board before any and all material is aired over free TV, which now includes DTTB, shall be in full force and effect. No material intended for DTT broadcast, except those specifically exempted by law under P.D. No. 1986 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations, may be aired without a valid Permit to Exhibit previously issued by the Board.

Applications for Permit to Exhibit for content to be simulcast between an analog channel and a DTT channel shall be filed at the instance of the analog channel and charged according to the rates of analog channels, with the DTT channel being a mere beneficiary of the single-filing policy provided for in Section 3, Chapter 3 hereof.

SECTION 9. Rate of Review and Monitoring Fees. — As a way to assist the DTTB industry in the initial stage of its operations while at the same time protecting the general public from inappropriate materials shown on DTT channels, the Board shall impose a reduced review and monitoring fee for materials to be aired over DTTB. DTT channels shall only be required to pay Forty (40%) Percent of the applicable fees listed in Memorandum Circular No. 12-2013 (Schedule of MTRCB Review and Classification Fees and Charges) for the year 2017, with an additional twenty (20%) percent for each succeeding year until the DTTB rate equals the prevailing rate for free TV.

SECTION 10. Review and Monitoring Fees upon Issuance of PA/CPC. — Upon the issuance of a PA/CPC by the NTC to the DTT channel, the reduced rates mentioned in the immediately preceding section shall be deemed abandoned and the prevailing fees for Review and Monitoring listed in Memorandum Circular No. 12-2013 (Schedule of MTRCB Review and Classification Fees and Charges) shall immediately apply thirty (30) days after the date of issuance of the PA/CPC, regardless of whether the applicant complied with the submission requirement mentioned in Section 3 of this Chapter.

CHAPTER V. Administrative Sanctions. — Any violation of this Memorandum Circular shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of Section 11 of P.D. 1986 and Chapter XIII of the 2004 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations.

CHAPTER VI. Effectivity. — This Circular shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following its publication in a newspaper of general circulation and filing with the Office of the National Administrative Register in the University of the Philippines Law Center, as required under the Administrative Code of 1987.

APPROVED, by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, in a meeting called for the purpose on 27 July 2016.

RECOMMENDING APPROVAL:

(SGD.) MA. LOURDES LILIA E. SUPNETChairperson, Committee on Cable Regulation

(SGD.) RICARDO M. SALOMON, JR.Co-Chairperson, Committee on Cable Regulation

APPROVED BY AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD:

(SGD.) EUGENIO H. VILLAREALChairperson

Footnotes

1. As defined under NTC Memorandum Circular No. 05-11-2013 entitled "Standard for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Broadcast Service."

2. As defined under Section 10, P.D. 1986.