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Public Notice
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Ottawa, 25 April 1985
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Public Notice CRTC 1985-82
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Proposed Amendments to the Television sur la télédiffusion
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Background
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On 31 January 1983, in Public Notice 1983-18, Policy Statement on Canadian Content in Television, the Commission announced changes in the regulation of Canadian content, including proposals
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- to change the reporting period for the measurement of Canadian content from an annual to a semi-annual basis;
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- to rely on the use of conditions of licence, over and above minimum regulatory requirement, to stimulate improvements in Canadian television programming; and
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- to allow broadcasters greater flexibility by defining, for regulatory purposes, the "broadcast-day" as a period of up to 18 consecutive hours.
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A number of broadcasters and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters have, on several occasions, expressed their concern to the Commission with respect to these matters. In response, the Commission now proposes amendments to its Television Broadcasting Regulations as set out in the appendix to this notice.
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Six-month reporting period
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The Commission's decision to implement a six-month reporting period for Canadian content was intended to correct recurring imbalances in the scheduling of Canadian programs by a number of Canadian stations.
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A Commission analysis of television scheduling practices over a four-year period, concluding with the 1983-84 broadcast season, indicated that some broadcasters regularly offer more foreign content in the fall and winter months when viewing audiences are larger, and rely on the spring/summer period to schedule significantly more Canadian content in order to meet their annual requirements.
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While the seasonal variation is approximately 10% over the prime-time schedule for some broadcasters, a few stations have had consistent variations of more than 20%.
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In order to remedy this situation, the Commission determined to impose a six-month reporting period for Canadian content. After examination of a number of alternatives, the Commission selected the periods 1 October to 31 March, and 1 April to 30 September.
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In March 1984, the Commission gazetted these proposed regulatory changes. Some broadcasters expressed concern over the change and suggested that, if the annual basis were not retained, the Commission should consider an alternative reporting period, i.e. January to June and July to December.
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Public Notice CRTC 1984-110, dated 9 May 1984, stipulated that the six-month reporting period proposed by the Commission would be implemented as an amendment to the Television Broadcasting Regulations, effective 1 October 1984. However, in response to concerns expressed by some broadcasters that there was then insufficient time to adjust their schedules to comply with the requirements of the amended regulation, the Commission announced that it proposed to delay implementation of the regulation for a calendar year (Public Notice CRTC 1984-194).
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After due consideration, the Commission published its amendment to the Television Broadcasting Regulations on 10 October 1984 (Public Notice CRTC 1984-247) which postponed the implementation of the new semi-annual reporting period until 1 October 1985.
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In recent months, 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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After careful reconsideration, the Commission today reaffirms its original objective "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" (Public Notice CRTC 1983-18). The Commission has, however, 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 l 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 intends to monitor closely the scheduling practices undertaken to achieve such corrective measures.
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Development of a condition-of-licence approach for the provision of Canadian content
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The notion of regulating Canadian content requirements by condition of licence, taking into account the particular financial and human resources of each licensee, was raised in Public Notice CRTC 1983-18, dated 31 January 1983, Policy Statement on Canadian Content in Television, which stated:
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Where circumstances warrant, the Commission intends to rely to a significantly greater extent than in the past on the use of conditions of licence to stimulate improvements in Canadian television programming. This will allow much greater flexibility in taking the particular financial and human resources of each licensee into account.
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Under such an approach, licensees capable of contributing more than minimum regulatory requirements to quality and quantity of Canadian programming could be required to do so.
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Consistent with this concept, the Commission now proposes to amend section 8 of the Television Broadcasting Regulations so as to allow variances to the minimum Canadian content requirement stipulated in the regulations, provided it is satisfied that such variance is for the purpose of developing enhanced Canadian programming of competitive quality.
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The condition-of-licence approach will permit the Commission greater flexibility in considering commitments by licensees concerning the production and scheduling of Canadian programming of exceptional quality. If the Commission is not convinced, however, that this approach will in fact contribute to enhanced programming, the existing minimum regulatory requirement will continue to apply.
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Removal of commercial content requirements beyond the 18-hour "broadcast day"
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For regulatory purposes, Canadian content is measured over the "broadcast day", a period of up to 18 consecutive hours. For purposes of scheduling flexibility, each licensee is permitted to select the period which best corresponds to its needs, namely an 18-hour period or less between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. the next day.
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On the other hand, the Commission notes that regulations respecting the maximum permissible amount of commercial content are currently calculated on the basis of each clock hour over the full 24-hour day.
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The Commission has decided to standardize the time periods during which Canadian programming content and advertising material are measured. Accordingly, the Commission proposes to amend subsection 11(1) of the Television Broadcasting Regulations so that advertising requirements will, in future, be limited to the "broadcast day".
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Licensees are reminded that they still have to continue to abide by existing standards with respect to the nature and form of the advertising that they carry, including all applicable regulations and advertising codes, after the broadcast day.
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Comments should be submitted ON OR BEFORE 31 MAY 1985 and be addressed to Fernand Bélisle, Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N2.
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Fernand Bélisle
Secretary General
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