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Public Notice
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Ottawa, 4 October 1985
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Public Notice CRTC 1985-225
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Amendment to the Television Broadcasting Regulations
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On 25 April 1985 in Public Notice CRTC 1985-82, the Commission announced that it proposed to make three modifications to the Television Broadcasting Regulations. One of these measures was a proposal to delay the implementation of the six-month Canadian content averaging regulation until 1 October 1986. The Commission asked that comments be filed by 31 May 1985.
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The initial decision to propose a delay in the implementation of the six-month reporting period was announced in Public Notice CRTC 1984-194 dated 26 July 1984 and enacted on 28 September 1984 (SOR/84-780).
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As noted in Public Notice CRTC 1985-82:
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broadcasters have continued to urge the Commission to permit a further delay in implementing this change, during which time they propose to provide concrete evidence of their commitments to adjust the scheduling imbalances which the six-month regulation was designed to correct ...
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The Commission has ... taken into account the submissions made by broadcasters and is, therefore, proposing a further one-year delay in the implementation of the six-month reporting period until 1 October 1986. At the same time, the Commission expects broadcasters to take immediate steps to correct the imbalance referred to above, and to improve the scheduling of Canadian programs in all seasons, particularly in prime time.
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The Commission will monitor closely the scheduling practices undertaken to achieve such corrective measures.
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In response to its call for comments on the three proposed changes, the Commission received 17 submissions. On the matter of the six-month averaging, 12 interventions, all from broadcasters, supported the proposed delay, citing the need for flexibility in the scheduling of programs in order to compete effectively in today's broadcast environment. Several of these committed themselves to self-regulation as a means of ensuring the equitable distribution of Canadian programs throughout the year. Three submissions opposed further delay and the other two were non-committal.
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After consideration of the views expressed by these interveners, the Commission announces that, by a majority decision, it has amended the Television Broadcasting Regulations, as set out in the appendix to this notice, to permit a further one-year delay in the implementation of the six-month reporting period, to 1 October 1986.
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At the same time, the Commission again reaffirms its original objective as stated in Public Notice CRTC 1983-18, Policy Statement on Canadian Content in Television, dated 31 January 1983:
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to ensure that Canadian programs are distributed more reasonably during the different seasons and are accessible to the larger audiences available during the fall and winter months.
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With respect to the proposed amendment concerning the permissible amount of advertising material, ten interveners commented. None objected to the proposal. The Commission announces that it has also amended the Television Broadcasting Regulations, as set out in the appendix to this notice, to limit to 12 minutes the permissible amount of advertising material in a clock hour only during the 18 hours of the defined broadcast day.
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Accordingly, on the recommendation of the Executive Committee, the Commission approved the amendments noted above on 4 September 1985. The amendments were registered on 10 September 1985 (SOR/85-885), and published in the Canada Gazette Part II on 2 October 1985.
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The Commission's decision on the proposed amendment to section 8 of the Regulations, as outlined in Public Notice CRTC 1985-82, will be dealt with at a later date.
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Fernand Bélisle Secretary General
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