CRTC Reports & Hearings
 

• Len Katz Elected Acting CRTC Chair
  He will remain as acting, or interim, chair until such time as the Government of Canada names a new chairperson.
   
• Growth of New Media Means the Job of CRTC Will Only Get Tougher
  Successful CRTC chairs seem to combine a strong management and policy bent with equally strong political instincts.
   
• Local Programming Improvement Fund Goes Under Review
  The CRTC has scheduled a public hearing as part of its review process to begin April 16 in Gatineau, Comments are due by February 15, 2012.
   
• Supreme Court Will Hear Fee-for-Carriage Appeal
  The Supreme Court of Canada said it will decide whether or not the CRTC has the jurisdiction to institute the fee-for-carriage regime it okayed in 2010.
   
• Wanted: Feedback on BCE's Accessibility and Broadcasting Participation Funds
  The industry will now have a chance to comment on BCE's proposed Broadcasting Accessibility Fund and Canadian Broadcasting Participation Fund.
   
• CRTC to Craft French-Language TV Regulatory Framework
  The process will determine the most appropriate approach to take in regard to the French-language television market.
   
• Co-operative Codes May Win the Day on Vertical Integration Policy
  The CRTC wants to see a code of business practices for vertically integrated media companies set out in writing in order to try and avoid new regulatory and legal battles when the new BDU regulations come into force this September.
   
• Vertical Integration: IBG Report Highlights Independent's Issues
  The report warns of tiering that could place broadcasters with smaller audiences in tiers with lower penetration and errode audieces further. 
   
• OTT: Shaw Wants Cancon Funding Regimes Abolished
  What is needed now is a coherent scheme for the support of Canadian content and the development of a flexible, competitive and innovative system that provides access to programming on the customer’s chosen delivery system.
   
• We Need A Hammer, Too, Independent 'Casters Tell the CRTC
  Independents worry that BDUs could re-distribute or re-package their service in a manner that adversely affects its penetration rate. 
   
• Bell and Telus Face Panel and Find it's All About the Code
  Carriers in the country without media assets are worried the like of Rogers, Bell, Shaw and Quebecor will make acquiring content for wireless and online too difficult or expensive
   
• Commision Believes in Skinny Basic
  A mandaded skinny basic package would force cable, satellite and telco TV distributors to offer a very short list of channels as their point of entry for customers
   
• Content Exclusives Boost Competition
  If the Canadian TV industry is to fend off the growing power of unregulated sources of video (especially Netflix), exclusive deals on content must be allowed
   
• CRTC Deals "With Facts, Not Spidey Sense"
  The CRTC's chair says that the country's four vertically integrated companies are in the best position to defend against the negative impacts of OTT
   
• CRTC Release Touted Broadcasters' Revenue Rebound
  The return of the advertising market has translated in some modest profits.
   
• CRTC Reminds Industry Vertical Integration Hearing to Concentrate on Five Key Issues
    
• Commision Embarks on OTT Video Fact-Finding Month
  The CRTC today asked Canadians what they think about “online broadcasting services,” and to provide it with data and information on the impact of the various over-the-top video options.
   
• CRTC Gives BCE Go-Ahead on Purchase of CTV Globemedia
   
• CRTC Reviews Deluge of New Specialty TV Apps
  Horror, health, luxury and romance are among programming options Canadian cable viewers may soon be able to choose.
   
• Group-Based Licensing, Terms of Trade, Digital Transition Dominate CRTC Chair Chat
  CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein used an interview-style keynote as a soap box of sorts to press broadcasters and producers on a number of issues.
   
  
• Quebecor Urges New Framework to Prevent Exclusive Sports Content
  Quebecor Media Inc. is asking the CRTC to establish a new regulatory framework to prevent the exclusive ownership of broadcasting rights for sports content, arguing that BCE Inc. is on the verge of holding a monopoly in the Quebec market.
   
  
• Cogeco Calls For Regulatory Safeguards in Advance of Vertical Integration Hearing
  Cogeco Cable urged the CRTC to keep close watch over the potential merger between Bell and CTV in order to “preserve competition and protect consumer interests”. 

   

• BCE Not Committed to Sharing All Content Following CTV Acquisition
  BCE Inc. president and CEO George Cope told the CRTC Tuesday he can’t guarantee the company will not use exclusive content after it completes its acquisition of CTVglobemedia Inc.’s broadcasting assets.
   
  

• CRTC Issues Video-On-Demand Licence Conditions
  The CRTC released standard conditions of licence Monday for video-on-demand services.
   
  

• Vertical Integration Hearing Pushed Back to June
  The CRTC has pushed back the date of the hearing to investigate vertical integration by six weeks.
   
  

• CEP Says CRTC Lacks Data to Make Informed Decisions on Vertical Integration
  The CRTC must take an evidence-based approach to the impacts of cross-media ownership as it looks into vertical integration, the Communications, Energy and Paperworks Union of Canada (CEP) says.
  
  

• CRTC Announces Revised Definitions for Television Program Categories
  Definitions for Television Program Categories Revised.
   
  

• CRTC Will Investigate Vertical Integration
  Since all of the country’s biggest broadcasters (save CBC) will soon all be owned by Canada’s biggest carriers, the CRTC has announced a new proceeding to examine safeguards to prevent anti-competitive behaviour.
   
  

• CRTC Issues Correction on Community TV Policy
  In order to provide licensees with adequate time to prepare to meet this minimum requirement, the Commission will implement the new 50% exhibition requirement through amendments to the Regulations.
   

• CRTC Announces Hearings For News Channel
  Public hearings into the application for a proposed all-news channel, by Quebecor Media, will be held in November, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has announced.
   
  

• CRTC Issues New Rules For Must-Carry Requests
  The CRTC released new criteria Friday for the application of section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act, under which broadcasters can request a special order for must-carry status on a carrier’s digital basic service.
   
  

• CRTC Changes Community Television Policy to Enhance Local Participation
  The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today issued a new policy that will give Canadians more opportunities to participate in their community television channels.
   
  

• CRTC Issues Annual Report on the Communications Industry
  In 2009, the communications industry accounted for 4.6% of Canada’s gross domestic product with overall revenues rising 2.1% to $55.4 billion, compared with revenues of $54.3 billion the previous year.
   
  

• CRTC Plans Overhaul of TV Program Categories
  The CRTC is undertaking a review of television program categories.
   
  

• TV Renewal Hearings Will Start in Spring
  The CRTC has released an approximate schedule for its upcoming television license renewals.
   
  

• Implementation of the Accessibility Policy
  The Commission indicated that it would require all broadcasters, including third-language broadcasters, to caption 100% of their English- and French-language programs, with the exception of advertising and promos.
   
  

• Rogers Says "The Cable Network is a Shared And Limited Resource"
  The CRTC should not mandate wholesale Internet access to the cable carriers’ so-called next generation networks because there is a limited amount of spectrum in the network tubes, a consortium of Canada’s largest cable companies told the CRTC.
   
  

• Telus Says Network Bundling Would Hobble Its Ability to Compete with Cable TV Services
  Telus Corp. told the CRTC Tuesday that regulations forcing it to unbundle its high-speed Internet infrastructure to third-party wholesale buyers would hobble its ability to compete with cable television using Internet protocol television (IPTV).
   
  

• Third Party Ad Avail Sales Back on the Agenda
  After issuing its new policy on advertising in the local availabilities of non-Canadian services, the CRTC has agreed to hear Media de Novo’s plans to do just that.
   
  

• Partial Suspensions of Prohibitions on VOD Advertising
  In Regulatory Policy 2010-190, the Commission determined that it will allow video-on-demand (VOD) licensees, by condition of licence, to advertise in programming only if it is acquired directly from licensed Canadian broadcasters.
   
  

• CRTC's Community TV Hearing
   

• CRTC Says Foreign Control of Broadcasting Industry a 'Mistake'
  The CRTC says it would be a mistake to allow foreign control of Canada's broadcasting and telecommunications industries.
   

• Community Television Represents Tiny Share of TV Market
  Community television makes up a tiny share of the Canadian television market, according to statistics released by the CRTC. 
   

• CRTC Retains Policy on Avails, Alters VOD Rules
  The avails are still not for sale and while ads will be allowed in the video on demand stream, there are to be new rules, the CRTC announced Monday.
  

   

   

   

•  CBC's Response to CRTC Decision
  The CBC says that with over 40% of its budget dependent on advertising, it is being hit by revenue decreases, too, and should be able to push for a wholesale carriage rate.
   

• CRTC Makes Decisions on Fee-for-Carriage, Local Avails, and VOD Ads
  The CRTC introduced a new framework that will give English-language private television broadcasters greater flexibility to offer high-quality programs that are of interest to Canadians.
   

• CRTC Has Lost its ‘Structure of Control,’ says CRTC Chair
  The role of the CRTC could change significantly in the coming years as converging technologies change how Canadians use and access media, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said at the Prime Time Ottawa conference on February 19, 2010.
   

• CRTC Arrives at Fee-for-Carriage Decision
  CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein says the commission has arrived at a decision on the controversial value-for-signal debate, but he’s holding his tongue on whether it will include a negotiations regime to determine the “value” of local broadcasts.
   

• CRTC Postpones Mediadenovo's Appearance
  The CRTC has dropped Mediadenovo’s application from its public hearing scheduled for February 22, but will reschedule it at a later date.
   

• CRTC's "Navigating Convergence" Report
  CRTC's report examines telecommunications, broadcasting and the evolving converged world of communications.
   

• Local Avails: Whose Time is it Anyway?
  You can’t sell what isn’t yours. That, in a nutshell, is what some of the interveners into Mediadenovo’s application for a broadcast license have said about the company’s plans to sell the local availability advertising time on American specialty services to national Canadian advertisers.
   

• Community Television Hearings at CRTC
  CRTC will hold public hearings into policies for community television beginning April 26, 2010.
   

• CRTC to Consider Third Party Avail Sales
  Glenn O’Farrell’s plan to sell ad time on US specialty channels' local avails in Canada is one step closer to fruition. His application will be considered as part of a CRTC public hearing scheduled for February 22, 2010.
   

• CRTC Public Hearing: Local TV
   

• CRTC Seeks Input From the Public
  The CRTC opened an online consultation to receive the comments of Canadians on the future of television.
   

• CRTC Hearing: November 2009
   

• Consumer Support for Local TV
  More than 130,000 Canadians from across the country submitted comments confirming local television matters as part of CRTC public consultation process.
   

• CRTC to Hold Public Hearings on Community TV
  Amidst concerns over the future of local TV and the financial health of the broadcast television industry in Canada, the CRTC will hold public hearings into policies for community television beginning April 2010.
   

• CRTC Seeks Public Input on TV Services
  The hearing will begin on December 7, 2009, in Gatineau, Que. The CRTC is considering whether local television stations should be allowed to negotiate compensation from cable and satellite companies for their signals.
   

• CRTC Consumer Hearings to be Held in December
  The CRTC was quick to reply to the government's request to hold consumer hearings into the fee-for-carriage debate. It will begin public hearings this December, with a report to the government to follow.
   

• CAB Announces Governance Structure for LPIF
  Over-the-air broadcasters serving markets of less than 1 million people can now apply for a share of approximately $100 million from the new Local Programming Improvement Fund, which came in to effect on September 1, 2009.
  

   

• Fact Sheet on Local Programming Improvement Fund
  Here is a fact sheet from the CRTC explaining the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF).
    

• CRTC Reschedules Hearing Date for Broadcasters
  The policy hearing on the structure for the group-based licensing of television stations planned for September 29, 2009, is rescheduled to November 16, 2009.
   

• CRTC's Report on the Communications Industry
  CRTC's second annual Communications Monitoring Report revealed that broadcasting revenues were up $900 million, or 7.3%, and totalled $14 billion for the twelve-month period that ended on August 31, 2008.
   

• Improving Access to Broadcasting Services
  The CRTC announced new requirements to facilitate access to broadcasting services.
   

• Other Highlights From CRTC Announcement
  Here are some other highlights from Monday's CRTC announcement.
   

• Funding for Local Improvement Fund Increased
  The CRTC announced that the Local Programming Improvement Fund will have over $100 million to distribute during the 2009–2010 broadcast year. 
   

• CRTC to Develop New Regulatory Framework
  The CRTC launched a public proceeding to develop a new regulatory framework for conventional television broadcasters.
   

• CRTC Extends Exemption for New Media
  The CRTC announced that it will maintain its approach for broadcasting content distributed over the Internet and through mobile devices.
   

• CRTC Chair Says Acts Need Updating
  In a speech to the Conference of the Broadcast Educators Association of Canada, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said that the two dated Acts that govern the CRTC desperately need updating.

• CRTC Issues Short-Term Licences
  The CRTC announced that Canadian convention broadcasters will have their broadcast licenses renewed for a year and won’t face a one-to-one foreign-Canadian programming spend requirement.

• Cancon Defended at OTA Hearing
  In a report prepared for producers, writers, and directors, consultant Nordicity Group sets out to prove that Canadian programming can be profitable for broadcasters.

• Rogers Favours VOD Over Distant Signals
  Rogers Cable pointed out that time-shifted viewing of popular programming can be done much more efficiently and in a more consumer-friendly way via its on demand platform.

• Canwest Blames Regulations for Problems
  Canwest Global president Leonard Asper said that federal rules are to blame for the problems plaguing the TV sector, not the economic crisis or the staggering debt his company faces.

• CTV's Presentation at CRTC Hearing
  Ivan Fecan said that Canadian broadcasters need to find new ways to make money if they are to continue to offer popular, quality programming as well as local and national news.
  

• Report on French & English Minority Broadcasting
  The CRTC concluded in its report that the official-language minority communities do have appropriate access to TV services of " 'equitable and of adequate quality.' "
   

• CRTC Adds To April Hearing
  The CRTC has added to what it wants to discuss at April's conventional TV station licence renewal hearing.

• CRTC Chair Speaks to Heritage Committee
  Called before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein said that implementing a fee-for-carriage for OTA TV stations is not the only solution for the lack of local TV programming.

• Local Avails Issue Revisited
  The CRTC will be holding a new public proceeding examining whether BDUs may be allowed to insert ads into the two minutes per hour of local avails on U.S. cable channels.

• Submissions by Conventional Broadcasters for CRTC Hearing
  The CRTC will be tackling serious issues facing conventional broadcasters in a hearing that begins on April 27. This week, the CRTC made the submissions of the conventional broadcasters public.

• Licence Renewal Hearings Delayed
  The CRTC has decided to push the licence renewal hearings for Canwest Global, CTV, TVA, and Citytv back another year.

 

• Requests to Delay CRTC Proceedings
  The CAB and the CBC have asked the CRTC to delay proceedings on a proposed framework for the sale of commercial advertising in the local availabilities of non-Canadian services.

• Accessibility Hearing
  The CRTC is holding a hearing on the accessibility of broadcasting services to persons with disabilities.

• Explanation of Fee-For-Carriage Ruling
  The CRTC does understand that the OTA sector is under real financial pressures.
  

   

• CRTC's New Policies for Broadcasting
  One of the key decisions is that there would be no new fee-for-carriage of broadcast signals in Canada.
   
• Hearing On French & English Minority Broadcasting
  The CRTC announced that it will examine broadcasting services offered to French- and English-language communities in a minority situation.
   
• CRTC To Hold Hearing on Broadcasting in New Media
  The CRTC will review its policy of allowing unregulated distribution of broadcast media content over the Internet and cellphones.
   
• Report on Regulating New Media Broadcasting
  The report concludes that new media broadcasting should have the same regulatory treatment as TV broadcasting.
   
• Access to Broadcasting for the Disabled
  The CRTC will hold a hearing on access to broadcasting services for persons with disabilities in November.
   
• CRTC Announces Steps to Increase Funding for Canadian Shows
  CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein said that the Commission will take steps to increase funding for Canadian programming, even while Canadian Heritage reviews its recommendations for the Canadian Television Fund (CTF).
   
• CRTC's Report on the Canadian Television Fund
  The CRTC submitted a report on the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) to the Minister of Canadian Heritage which has recommendations relating to the CTF's mandate and governance structure.
   
• CRTC's BDU and Specialty Hearing
  Rogers Communications said that it would fight a carriage fee for conventional over-the-air broadcast signals in the Supreme Court of Canada if it has to.
   
• Carriage Fees and Distant Signals
  The CRTC announced it would consider rule changes regarding carriage fees and distant signals, and welcomed comments from interested parties for the hearings this April.