OTTAWA – The CRTC is calling for comments on an application by three of the country’s big broadcasters seeking to amend their condition of licence requiring that all of their prime time programming be broadcast with described video by September 1st.
Described video is a narrated description of a program’s main visual elements, such as setting, costumes and body language, that helps to make television programming accessible for people with visual disabilities by allowing them to better understand what is occurring on the screen. The Commission has incrementally increased the availability of programming with described video in the Canadian broadcasting system since 2001 to ensure the continual availability of a greater diversity of described video content.
The Commission said Monday that it seeking feedback on a November 2018 application made by Bell Media, Corus Entertainment and Rogers Media requesting that they be allowed to air non-Canadian programs received less than 72 hours prior to broadcast without described video. In their application, the broadcasters claim that a “significant amount” of U.S. content arrives without embedded described video very close to the time of broadcast, and that there is insufficient time to produce or outsource described video in these circumstances. They added that live described video is not a viable option, and maintain that they are unable to meet the prime time described video requirements by the September 1st deadline without being granted this amendment.
The application also proposes that repeat airings of this programming with described video be scheduled in prime time at a time greater than 72 hours from delivery, and recommends that broadcasters be required to keep a log detailing the receipt date of all U.S. programs received without described video and broadcast in prime time.
Interventions are due before April 25, and only parties that file interventions may file a reply to matters raised during the intervention phase. The deadline to file replies is May 13, 2019.
