CMPA files for Federal Court review of CBC license renewal decision

By Ahmad Hathout OTTAWA – A large trade group representing Canadian media producers has filed an application asking the Federal Court of Appeal to review a decision by the CRTC last month that extended the licences of the country’s national public broadcaster, using two dissenting commissioner opinions in alleging the decision goes against the objectives of the Broadcasting Act. At issue is the CRTC’s decision to largely move away from standard hourly requirements the CBC would need to air certain content to an approach that would evaluate how it is promoting Canadian content through its spending. The regulator said in its decision...