Commission boosts LPIF to 1.5%, sets digital transition market limits, and more

GATINEAU – The increase wasn’t as big as the broadcasters hoped, but the new Local Programming Improvement Fund will now top $100 million, the CRTC announced today. The money is still geared towards stations serving markets of less than a million and the Commission has dropped its demand that the content be “incremental” to the year before. The Regulator also made a few other key announcements today, including that broadcasters in markets of over 300,000 people – and all provincial and territorial capitals – must build digital OTA transmission facilities, meaning small ’burgs like Charlottetown, Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Iqaluit must...