By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has launched a proceeding into the planned operation of a temporary fund intended to put base contribution money from streamers toward the programming of commercial radio broadcasters outside of major metro markets.
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) was required to file to the CRTC a detailed operational plan for the so-called Commercial Radio News Fund (CRNF), which will handle money from the five per cent base contribution large foreign and standalone Canadian streamers are required to put into the broadcasting system to float key programming, including local news. The target markets for the fund are those outside of Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa-Gatineau.
The CAB proposes that it distribute the funding monthly and in proportion to each eligible station’s share of total salaries and wages paid with respect to news in the previous broadcast year, according to its submitted plan. Adjustments would be made every December based on information submitted to the commission by the CAB every November 30, so the drip feed, which includes interest, will start in January 2025. No station or group of stations operated by the same licensee in a given market can receive more than 12 per cent of the funding in any broadcast year, the CAB further proposes.
The commission wants to know by December 4 what the public thinks about the CAB’s funding allocation method. Is it adequate? Are there other methods that would ensure fair distribution? Should that 12 per cent cap be imposed and, if so, should it be imposed on each market or on a national level and should it be imposed on an individual licensee or ownership level?
The CAB also proposes that no formal governance structure needs to be established, save for normal oversight of financial controls.
The CRTC wants to know if this is adequate for the fund’s governance. Should additional accountability measures be imposed? What incentives or measures, if any, should be applied to ensure the production of high-quality local news? And should recipients of the money be required to register as members of the standards body, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
The commission also wants to know: What type of mechanisms, if any, should be put in place to monitor how the CRNF funding is used, while not unduly increasing the administrative burden on CRNF recipients? And should fund recipients be required to report on how the funds received were used to meet the CRNF’s objectives? What indicators, if any, should be put in place to monitor the success of the CRNF?
As for when there should be a review of the temporary fund, the CRTC is asking whether three years is sufficient for that purpose.
Screenshot of Kevin Desjardins, head of the CAB
