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Described video summaries

Current obligations

Larger broadcasters must provide described video for all English- and French-language programming that is broadcast during prime time (i.e., from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.) and that is drawn from program categories listed below.

Generally speaking, smaller broadcasters must offer at least four hours of described programming per broadcast week of English- or French-language programming drawn from any of the program categories listed below.

If a licensee broadcasts less than four hours per broadcast week of English- or French-language programming drawn from any of the program categories listed below, it shall, by the beginning of the fourth year of the first licence term during which this condition of licence applies, provide described video for all of that programming.

Described video categories

These requirements apply to programming drawn from the following program categories set out in Item 6 of Schedule 1 to the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987, as amended from time to time:

Latest described video summaries

The information used to compile the charts below was taken from the CRTC TV logs, as submitted to the Commission by the licensees. Summaries will be posted here twice per year and moving forward, the data from the latest five years will be kept and made available.

This is not a compliance exercise. The purpose of these summaries is to provide an overview of how many hours of described programming are available in the traditional Canadian system and which programming categories that programming is falling into. These summaries do not include described video programming found online.

1 September 2020 to 28 February 2021
Table 1: Overall number of hours of described video programming – 1 September 2020 to 28 February 2021
Described video categories Sept 2020 Oct 2020 Nov 2020 Dec 2020 Jan 2021 Feb 2021 Total
2(b) Long-form documentary 7682:07:57 8274:46:07 4546:37:38 8026:27:59 8441:03:51 7691:00:40 44662:04:12
7 Drama and comedy 23541:11:09 25207:43:45 25184:26:14 29418:36:01 27784:25:46 32415:38:34 163552:01:29
9 Variety 320:32:06 609:44:04 663:13:43 531:55:47 386:25:34 435:28:35 2947:19:49
11(a) General entertainment and human interest 4081:12:39 3904:50:05 3642:18:27 3563:05:06 3189:52:03 3283:59:20 21665:17:40
11(b) Reality television 5397:57:32 6170:02:26 5708:13:27 5131:53:36 5388:12:28 5032:41:40 32829:01:09
Other:
1 News 2:30:00 3:29:30 63:24:53 17:56:30 1:00:00 2:00:00 90:20:53
2(a) Analysis and Interpretation 252:46:25 243:45:13 242:36:19 224:31:10 276:52:04 250:17:44 1490:48:55
3 Reporting and Actualities 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
4 Religion 181:46:49 0:00:00 0:00:00 187:54:07 200:14:53 168:00:39 737:56:28
5(a) Formal education and pre-school 1207:01:16 1328:42:58 1198:17:24 1230:53:34 1195:09:27 1104:47:57 7264:52:36
5(b) Informal education/Recreation & Leisure 2041:54:50 1864:20:01 1824:15:35 1898:43:45 1995:02:14 79:34:57 9703:51:22
6(a) Professional Sports 39:42:43 87:40:25 52:07:23 84:59:00 75:56:10 0:00:00 340:25:41
6(b) Amateur Sports 0:00:00 4:55:41 6:28:30 1:00:10 17:29:06 6:29:54 36:23:21
8(a) Music and dance 23:36:58 17:38:35 7:39:14 96:17:48 43:30:54 0:00:00 188:43:29
8(b) Music video clips 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
8c) Music video programs 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 1:59:25 0:00:00 0:00:00 1:59:25
10 Game shows 655:49:27 1169:54:19 761:01:35 1379:03:04 667:15:09 270:00:00 4903:03:34
11 General 152:21:55 78:57:14 91:40:27 107:46:02 70:00:42 1:28:48 502:15:08
12 Interstitials 140:27:57 146:41:23 51:24:57 157:25:43 185:24:21 111:59:31 793:23:52
13 to 15 Informercials, Public service announcements, filler programming, etc. 6:42:00 8:43:30 124:03:29 8:26:07 7:19:28 0:00:00 155:14:34
Grand total 45727:41:43 49121:55:16 44167:49:15 52068:54:54 49925:14:10 50853:28:19 291865:03:37
Of the programming hours represented above, programming targeting preschool children (0-5 years of age) and children (6-12 years of age) accounts for the following: 7628:07:44 7578:07:12 7399:55:32 8010:33:00 7933:34:42 7231:21:22 45781:39:32
Table 2: Number of described video programming hours during prime time (7pm-11pm) - 1 September 2020 to 28 February 2021
Described video categories Sept 2020 Oct 2020 Nov 2020 Dec 2020 Jan 2021 Feb 2021 Total
2(b) Long-form documentary 2363:12:23 2675:13:29 2323:31:43 2037:43:49 2320:23:01 2245:31:09 13965:35:34
7 Drama and comedy 11058:17:48 11525:13:06 11798:54:14 13319:51:54 13130:35:11 11504:32:19 72337:24:32
9 Variety 260:15:46 507:05:25 536:35:43 427:35:38 320:59:57 356:31:15 2409:03:44
11(a) General entertainment and human interest 1525:58:11 1375:12:14 1241:04:23 1252:47:00 1237:59:15 1147:37:13 7780:38:16
11(b) Reality television 1855:27:00 2413:15:11 2004:39:56 1535:41:34 1531:42:02 1662:07:07 11002:52:50
Other:
1 News 0:00:00 1:00:00 4:53:23 1:56:30 0:00:00 0:00:00 7:49:53
2(a) Analysis and Interpretation 37:46:01 49:21:47 47:00:16 42:12:58 76:35:07 25:12:59 278:09:08
3 Reporting and Actualities 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
4 Religion 76:28:51 87:15:37 87:30:42 89:03:20 76:13:35 69:00:56 485:33:01
5(a) Formal education and pre-school 14:56:22 5:38:07 10:49:08 10:49:08 9:18:47 7:48:08 59:19:40
5(b) Informal education/Recreation & Leisure 252:22:11 238:39:58 244:44:11 455:42:55 157:40:36 0:00:00 1349:09:51
6(a) Professional Sports 8:59:30 27:07:36 30:30:20 75:59:49 30:28:01 0:00:00 173:05:16
6(b) Amateur Sports 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 5:29:56 2:39:56 8:09:52
8(a) Music and dance 7:28:24 1:00:00 13:55:33 24:55:31 17:30:57 4:00:13 68:50:38
8(b) Music video clips 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
8c) Music video programs 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
10 Game shows 293:06:15 635:02:18 328:33:15 382:34:01 525:39:38 303:02:13 2467:57:40
11 General 38:14:18 33:22:34 36:08:42 36:08:42 31:22:42 38:24:20 213:41:18
12 Interstitials 11:58:03 11:06:21 10:24:49 12:08:47 13:04:18 10:20:59 69:03:17
13 to 15 Informercials, Public service announcements, filler programming, etc. 1:18:51 1:41:15 1:17:55 1:40:05 1:25:44 1:34:00 8:57:50
Grand total 17805:49:54 19587:14:58 18720:34:13 19706:51:41 19486:28:47 17378:22:47 112685:22:20
Of the programming hours represented above, programming targeting preschool children (0-5 years of age) and children (6-12 years of age) accounts for the following: 1312:42:47 1355:52:53 1259:27:56 1505:11:59 1397:55:45 1247:06:10 8078:17:30
1 March 2020 to 31 August 2020
Table 1: Overall number of hours of described video programming – 1 March 2020 to 31 August 2020
Described video categories Mar 2020 Apr 2020 May 2020 Jun 2020 Jul 2020 Aug 2020 Total
2(b) Long-form documentary 7632:31:25 7756:41:03 8067:58:00 7933:22:21 8589:01:54 8278:02:26 48257:37:09
7 Drama and comedy 18393:05:02 20457:35:49 20869:01:43 20191:44:18 11174:36:37 10542:04:35 101628:08:04
9 Variety 465:04:53 370:24:24 344:32:07 233:18:45 107:22:29 119:26:26 1640:09:04
11(a) General entertainment and human interest 2471:51:28 2600:50:32 2430:08:36 2891:44:36 2702:38:28 1944:40:18 15041:53:58
11(b) Reality television 4646:05:48 4315:36:18 4713:36:43 4642:57:00 4851:15:45 2828:05:52 25997:37:26
Other:
1 News 10:30:06 2:56:00 7:49:02 3:53:00 0:56:30 0:58:27 27:03:05
2(a) Analysis and Interpretation 318:08:44 293:02:48 375:00:31 271:37:51 233:03:10 337:14:42 1828:07:46
3 Reporting and Actualities 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
4 Religion 214:16:02 200:40:07 192:38:27 196:19:47 214:37:58 256:19:21 1274:51:42
5(a) Formal education and pre-school 1075:37:18 1191:22:28 1167:41:57 1156:29:55 1068:44:37 1085:45:43 6745:41:58
5(b) Informal education/Recreation & Leisure 1904:58:49 1724:27:42 1709:11:31 1792:13:07 1897:32:10 2151:00:57 11179:24:16
6(a) Professional Sports 20:30:01 53:11:24 26:30:00 18:59:36 69:00:52 48:34:49 236:46:42
6(b) Amateur Sports 16:25:51 47:29:19 51:28:58 50:31:29 42:12:09 53:35:40 261:43:26
8(a) Music and dance 33:06:04 31:50:13 40:17:56 127:57:36 71:48:39 56:44:59 361:45:27
8(b) Music video clips 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
8(c) Music video programs 11:07:54 10:19:03 24:44:52 0:00:00 1:00:00 0:00:00 47:11:49
10 Game shows 536:12:13 774:34:02 922:00:24 769:50:57 750:56:09 712:42:02 4466:15:47
11 General 272:09:54 79:03:49 99:54:41 104:13:57 150:23:33 113:46:25 819:32:19
12 Interstitials 67:15:10 2711:58:46 204:55:31 194:22:54 72:56:18 180:53:49 3432:22:28
13 to 15 Informercials, Public service announcements, filler programming, etc. 13:58:36 12:57:03 15:53:30 16:08:49 18:00:07 16:30:07 93:28:12
Total 38102:55:18 42635:00:50 41263:24:29 40595:45:58 32016:07:25 28726:26:38 223339:40:38
Of the programming hours represented above, programming targeting preschool children (0-5 years of age) and children (6-12 years of age) accounts for the following: 5516:38:11 5347:51:24 1876:40:33 5445:35:26 5727:18:15 6833:14:53 30747:18:42
Table 2: Number of described video programming hours during prime time (7pm–11pm) – 1 March 2020 to 31 August 2020
Described video categories Mar 2020 Apr 2020 May 2020 Jun 2020 Jul 2020 Aug 2020 Total
2(b) Long-form documentary 2265:57:34 2153:09:05 2378:50:55 2173:18:23 2430:08:38 2446:29:19 13847:53:54
7 Drama and comedy 12284:26:56 11379:28:03 11591:07:58 11348:40:31 12020:04:45 11342:44:43 69966:32:56
9 Variety 441:19:29 315:46:30 292:03:47 201:30:46 109:46:23 94:50:43 1455:17:38
11(a) General entertainment and human interest 966:54:24 1181:36:52 932:04:47 1274:19:04 1190:50:56 1103:09:38 6648:55:41
11(b) Reality television 1578:27:40 1353:21:13 1707:11:07 1575:33:31 1728:45:16 1612:36:19 9555:55:06
Other
1 News 5:30:00 1:56:00 5:49:32 3:53:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 17:08:32
2(a) Analysis and Interpretation 137:09:44 119:28:59 123:35:09 49:22:55 29:32:44 40:29:38 499:39:09
3 Reporting and Actualities 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
4 Religion 72:12:26 68:31:30 66:10:37 75:29:31 72:55:23 77:28:20 432:47:47
5(a) Formal education and pre-school 12:28:48 13:58:15 16:55:03 7:28:53 3:59:17 6:21:16 61:11:32
5(b) Informal education/Recreation & Leisure 217:25:11 213:03:28 219:14:00 204:05:55 258:43:31 362:14:06 1474:46:11
6(a) Professional Sports 0:00:00 9:00:00 2:30:00 4:30:00 24:31:15 16:07:32 56:38:47
6(b) Amateur Sports 11:58:30 47:29:19 50:01:27 47:33:15 42:12:09 53:35:40 252:50:20
8(a) Music and dance 0:00:00 15:00:00 26:17:51 93:21:36 95:39:11 42:59:29 273:18:07
8(b) Music video clips 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
8(c) Music video programs 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
10 Game shows 204:49:48 361:28:45 401:31:56 387:29:14 260:01:55 150:16:12 1765:37:50
11 General 44:47:40 44:00:45 20:51:42 29:59:26 48:31:15 39:07:02 227:17:50
12 Interstitials 16:01:49 13:53:11 13:48:00 18:30:45 16:59:06 16:20:18 95:33:09
13 to 15 Informercials, Public service announcements, filler programming, etc. 4:01:13 3:55:28 3:58:50 3:57:29 4:02:13 2:35:54 22:31:07
Total 18263:31:12 17295:07:23 17852:02:41 17499:04:14 18336:43:57 17407:26:09 115425:25:19
Of the programming hours represented above, programming targeting preschool children (0-5 years of age) and children (6-12 years of age) accounts for the following: 1457:38:05 1364:25:36 1469:22:54 1372:09:04 1465:59:51 1641:54:13 8771:29:43
1 September 2019 to 29 February 2020
Table 1: Overall number of hours of described video programming – 1 September 2019 to 29 February 2020
Described video categories Sept. 2019 Oct. 2019 Nov. 2019 Dec. 2019 Jan. 2020 Feb. 2020 Total
2(b) Long-form documentary 6850:41:32 6986:53:11 7099:23:57 7794:27:55 7504:01:40 7033:06:59 43268:35:14
7 Drama and comedy 22314:19:13 25343:08:25 25064:32:09 27919:49:24 27312:26:49 25649:24:59 153603:40:59
9 Variety 11:49:48 14:49:05 14:17:59 5:25:49 17:54:08 23:26:44 2127:43:33
11(a) General entertainment and human interest 2043:35:29 1852:43:42 2231:02:49 2376:22:05 2294:19:52 2035:10:40 12833:14:37
11(b) Reality television 3418:56:20 3522:40:42 3424:25:21 3469:11:25 3874:00:43 3931:07:08 21640:21:39
Other:
1 News 0:00:00 34:30:08 2:01:56 0:09:35 1:30:00 2:00:00 40:11:39
2(a) Analysis and interpretation 341:16:34 322:47:39 345:33:41 351:20:13 300:19:32 313:28:44 1974:46:23
3 Reporting and actualities 4:00:00 70:02:17 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 74:02:17
4 Religion 189:06:27 207:58:13 209:08:17 201:52:45 203:19:31 210:07:58 1221:33:11
5(a) Formal education and pre-school 1013:45:39 1091:49:36 1073:51:39 1091:43:03 1082:35:13 1028:50:03 6382:35:13
5(b) Informal education/Recreation & leisure 1818:51:41 1839:06:16 1916:40:36 1646:37:31 1620:24:44 1809:31:00 10651:11:48
6(a) Professional sports 3:48:55 7:32:01 6:55:05 26:59:59 10:00:00 21:00:00 76:16:00
6(b) Amateur sports 0:00:00 0:00:00 1:00:00 5:35:02 12:49:21 5:53:22 25:17:45
8(a) Music and dance 62:36:41 54:34:50 33:55:17 59:41:44 39:57:33 25:31:50 276:17:55
8(b) Music video clips 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
8(c) Music video programs 0:00:00 1:09:16 0:00:00 2:57:46 0:59:30 0:00:00 5:06:32
10 Game shows 226:36:30 175:11:52 246:21:36 320:36:32 387:52:58 367:31:03 1724:10:31
11 General 69:36:26 176:27:47 127:52:34 116:17:29 153:44:56 152:55:52 796:55:04
12 Interstitials 22:45:35 14:48:44 0:57:56 3:26:29 12:00:14 23:24:47 1205:23:45
13 to 15 Informercials, public service announcements, filler programming, etc. 21:29:57 6:29:54 14:07:12 14:01:46 12:14:02 9:08:19 101:31:10
Total 38749:16:47 42226:43:38 42268:08:04 46078:36:32 45416:30:46 43289:39:28 258028:55:15
Of the programming hours represented above, programming targeting preschool children (0-5 years of age) and children (6-12 years of age) accounts for the following: 5564:14:31 6720:14:27 6651:30:51 7152:50:28 7244:25:22 6765:10:01 40098:25:40
Table 2: Number of described video programming hours during prime time (7pm–11pm) – 1 September 2019 to 29 February 2020
Described video categories Sept. 2019 Oct. 2019 Nov. 2019 Dec. 2019 Jan. 2020 Feb. 2020 Total
2(b) Long-form documentary 2094:46:39 2026:45:44 2052:18:10 2091:17:48 2167:00:12 2008:10:34 12440:19:07
7 Drama and comedy 10598:59:31 11797:18:17 11525:25:49 11916:41:47 12139:22:27 11321:39:56 69299:27:47
9 Variety 15:35:37 20:41:48 0:05:33 12:29:38 1:04:03 13:30:28 1887:27:07
11(a) General entertainment and human interest 938:05:30 861:00:49 994:41:45 1155:12:02 1025:18:29 903:10:38 5877:29:13
11(b) Reality television 1440:49:26 1219:51:59 1015:42:49 1068:18:03 1190:02:21 1118:20:16 7053:04:54
Other:
1 News 0:00:00 17:05:06 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:30:00 0:00:00 17:35:06
2(a) Analysis and interpretation 64:26:59 64:14:03 88:11:17 51:20:46 89:13:53 96:00:20 453:27:18
3 Reporting and actualities 3:00:00 46:02:11 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 49:02:11
4 Religion 71:55:25 74:10:06 66:30:43 74:12:52 64:13:00 66:15:16 417:17:22
5(a) Formal education and pre-school 15:57:26 7:16:41 14:33:53 1:33:37 14:31:01 12:03:34 137:56:12
5(b) Informal education/Recreation & leisure 8:31:36 5:46:34 7:15:14 18:43:27 22:56:06 5:22:07 1316:35:04
6(a) Professional Sports 1:00:00 1:59:59 3:30:15 15:00:00 4:00:00 7:00:00 32:30:14
6(b) Amateur Sports 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 3:41:52 0:00:00 3:41:52
8(a) Music and dance 5:52:45 2:46:53 2:59:55 10:49:31 0:00:00 4:48:55 27:17:59
8(b) Music video clips 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00
8(c) Music video programs 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:29:30 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:29:30
10 Game shows 51:00:56 2:29:15 2:30:00 115:01:02 140:59:58 120:00:02 432:01:13
11 General 21:59:52 53:23:18 22:23:22 24:55:22 34:32:31 27:51:55 185:06:20
12 Interstitials 16:11:56 19:55:09 16:13:39 17:12:26 16:14:03 15:44:57 101:32:10
13 to 15 Informercials, public service announcements, filler programming, etc. 4:15:16 3:32:37 2:38:08 2:51:03 3:23:03 1:29:28 18:09:35
Total 15664:28:54 16752:20:29 16319:00:32 17272:08:54 17421:02:59 16321:28:26 99750:30:14
Of the programming hours represented above, programming targeting preschool children (0-5 years of age) and children (6-12 years of age) accounts for the following: 868:33:59 1182:21:02 1195:49:22 1282:07:35 1309:10:23 1215:18:45 7053:21:06
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