The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) didn’t take it easy for the last month of 2022.

This week, the regulator sided with WildBrain on a carriage dispute with Rogers Communications over the pricing of the Family and Family Jr. linear broadcast channels.

The two companies sought final arbitration from the CRTC in July over rates for the respective kid-targeted offerings, according to the Commission. Rogers had proposed a reduced rate for the channels, citing a decrease in consumer interest in Family and Family Jr., due to a rise in streaming and on-demand platforms for children’s programming, an oversaturation within the market due to Disney-branded channels from Corus Entertainment, and the availability of programming on WildBrain Spark.

WildBrain countered with the argument that Rogers’ proposal is “at odds with the Commission’s objectives for a healthy and dynamic wholesale market,” based on the Let’s Talk TV policy framework. The media company also said Rogers “exaggerated” the weight of declining subscribers within its factors, adding that it has implemented strategies to increase its content and “build up its services, which are performing well.”

In its decision to select WildBrain’s offer, the CRTC said the proposal was “in line with historical rates,” although Rogers’ rate was a “better reflection” of historical rates. However, it found WildBrain rates were more reasonable based on penetration, as Rogers’ offer would “discourage its efforts to increase or sustain current penetration levels.”

Family initially launched as a premium specialty service, and was mandated to be ad-free. After changes to the CRTC’s licensing framework in 2016 and Family’s own license conditions, the channel switched to an ad-supported format, though it still does not show ads during programming targeted to preschool-aged children.

Last week, the CRTC issued a pair of decisions that took two specialty channels off the air entirely.

The CRTC issued a decision on Dec. 14 to revoke the broadcast licence of the ad-supported linear channel A.Side, on the request of owner Blue Ant. A.Side is scheduled to go dark on Jan. 15, 2023.

The company decided to close A.Side in order to focus on other priorities in global streaming and other Canadian television operations, a spokesperson for Blue Ant Media told MiC sister publication Playback Daily, adding that there will be no job losses as a result of the closure.

The channel initially launched in 2009 as Aux, which was owned by Glassbox Television before the company was acquired by Blue Ant Media in 2011, with a focus on highlighting emerging artists and indie music in Canada.

Blue Ant rebranded it to A.Side as a multi-platform brand in 2017 in partnership with Shed Creative Agency (rebranded to Universal Music Group for Brands earlier this year), which would handle sponsorships and branded content. The A.Side website has been inactive since 2020, and the current A.Side TV schedule includes programming from other Blue Ant Media-owned channels.

The CRTC also issued a decision to revoke the broadcast licence of Leafs Nation Network on the request of the Toronto Maple Leafs Network. The channel has already gone dark as of Sept. 1.