Search

Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2015-323

PDF version

Ottawa, 21 July 2015

New methods to monitor the amount of Canadian children's and youth television programming and the expenditures on such programming in the Canadian broadcasting system

The Commission is implementing new methods for monitoring the amount of Canadian children's and youth television programming as well as the expenditures on this type of programming in the Canadian broadcasting system.

Starting 1 September 2015, television licensees must record their programs' target audiences in their program logs using new target audience markers. Television licensees will also be required to break down their total programming expenditures by target audience in their annual returns.

The additional data collected will allow the Commission to monitor effectively the amount of Canadian children's and youth programming available in the system as well as the expenditures on such programming. The Commission will be in a better position to determine whether regulatory action is warranted to ensure that Canadians have adequate access to Canadian children's and youth programming.

Introduction

  1. In Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2015-86, the Commission reaffirmed its view that children's and youth programming is an integral part of the Canadian broadcasting system. In that policy, the Commission recognized that there is insufficient data on this type of programming and therefore new methods are needed to gather more detailed information to monitor effectively the amount of, and expenditures on, Canadian children's and youth television programming. With additional data, the Commission will be in a better position to determine whether regulatory intervention is needed in the future to ensure that Canadians have adequate access to Canadian-made programming for children and youth.
  2. Program categories are set out in item 6 of Schedule I to the Pay Television Regulations, 1990, the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990 and the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987 (collectively, the Regulations) and defined in Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2010-808. These program categories are used to log and classify television programs and assist in achieving the objectives of the Broadcasting Act. Currently, programming made for children may fall into almost any one of the 27 program categories and subcategories. Program category 5(a) Formal Education & Pre-school is the only program category that specifically captures programming targeting children. However, this category does not include all programming for children from this age group, nor does it capture programming for older school-aged children and youth.
  3. In Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2015-86, the Commission stated that it intends to track children's and youth programming by creating new program categories based on the age groups of the target audience. However, the addition of such a large number of new program categories or subcategories would be both cumbersome and complex. In order to be able to monitor programming for different age groups (such as preschoolers, school-aged children and teenagers), each program category would require many subcategories. A broader review of the program categories would likely be required and the implementation of new categories or subcategories would be a resource-intensive process.
  4. Instead, the measures detailed below will provide a more effective method of collecting data on Canadian children's and youth programming.

New target audience markers

  1. Broadcasters use the key figures set out in Schedule I to the Regulations to provide details on the programming they list in their program logs. The key figures include, among other information, country of origin, production source, target audience and program category.
  2. However, the current target audience groupings are neither standardized nor fully mutually exclusive across the Regulations. There are overlaps in the age groups, making the current target audience markers an inaccurate tool to monitor the amount of children's and youth programming being broadcast.
  3. The Commission therefore intends to replace the target audience markers found in item 5 of Schedule I to the Regulations with the following proposed markers:

    Target audience

    (1) Preschool children (0-5 years)
    (2) Children (6-12 years)
    (3) Teenagers (13-17 years)
    (4) Adults (18 years and over)

  4. These amendments will standardize the target audience markers across all the Regulations and will eliminate any overlaps in demographics. This will allow the Commission to collect more detailed and accurate data to monitor effectively the amount of Canadian children's and youth programming being broadcast. These amendments will also ensure that there is consistency in the reporting of the amount of programming available for each age demographic, regardless of the type of programming service (discretionary or basic) on which the program is broadcast.
  5. The Commission will issue a notice of consultation setting out the proposed amendments to the Regulations at a later date.

Recording target audience in television program logs

  1. Pursuant to sections 5(2)(b) of the Pay Television Regulations, 1990, 8(2)(b) of the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990 and 12(3)(b) of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987, which require licensees to respond to Commission requests for information, the Commission is requiring licensees to record their programs'  demographic information in their program logs using the new target audience markers set out above starting 1 September 2015.

Reporting on children's and youth programming expenditures in annual returns

  1. Currently, the aggregate annual returns filed by licensed television programming services include a breakdown of spending on each of the program categories. Given that programming for children and youth may be drawn from any of the program categories, this breakdown does not assist in tracking expenditures on this type of programming.
  2. Therefore, the annual returns forms for all licensed programming services will be amended. Services will be required to break down total expenditures on programming produced or acquired for each of the following target audiences:

    (1) Preschool children (0-5 years)
    (2) Children (6-12 years)
    (3) Teenagers (13-17 years)

  3. This information will be used by the Commission to assess the expenditure levels on programming for children and youth in the context of future licence renewals. In order to ensure that the greatest amount of data can be collected, the Commission requests that this information be included in the annual returns for the 2014-2015 broadcast year, which must be submitted by 30 November 2015. 

Secretary General

Related documents

Date modified: