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Public Notice
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Ottawa, 26 April 1991
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Public Notice CRTC 1991-44
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PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE RADIO REGULATIONS, 1986
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In Public Notice CRTC 1990-111 entitled "An FM Policy for the Nineties", the Commission adopted a number of revisions to its policies for private commercial FM radio. Certain of these changes require amendments to the Radio Regulations, 1986 (the regulations), including amendments pertaining to AM radio. The proposed amendments are attached to this notice.
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The effect of the proposed changes to the regulations may be summarized as follows:
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The requirement that FM stations broadcast foreground segments has been removed. It has been replaced with a requirement that all FM stations broadcast a minimum level of spoken word programming.
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The daily limit on the amount of time that FM stations may devote to advertising material has also been deleted from the regulations. FM licensees will instead specify the maximum amount of advertising they will broadcast in their Promises of Performance. Under the new policy, the amount of advertising broadcast by commercial FM stations will be limited to no more than 15% (maximum 1134 minutes) of the broadcast week.
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References to classes of licence no longer appear in the regulations. This means that the regulations will be applicable to all FM stations. The Commission, however, will have the flexibility to vary the application of certain provisions on a case-by-case basis through conditions of licence. The Commission will retain the concept of various types of stations for administrative purposes.
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As well, requirements for Canadian musical content have been extended to apply to both AM and FM licensees, with compliance to be measured on a weekly basis.
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Changes have also been made to some of the definitions set out in the regulations. The definition of a "market", as it pertains to the prohibition against simulcasting on an FM station of the same program material broadcast on a jointly-owned AM station, has been deleted in favour of a more accurate description of the area within which stations attract most of their audiences and generate the bulk of their revenues. As well, the definitions of the content categories and subcategories have been amended to reflect the simplified system adopted as a result of the policy review.
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All interested parties wishing to comment on the proposed amendments must send their submissions to the Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A ON2, by 10 June 1991. Related Documents: Public Notices CRTC 1990-111 dated 17 December 1990, "An FM Policy For the Nineties"; and CRTC 1991-19 dated 14 February 1991, "Implementation of the FM Policy".
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
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