Offers extended payment deadlines instead
OTTAWA – After holding a public consultation, the CRTC yesterday denied the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ (CAB) request for Covid-related regulatory relief for private broadcasters.
In July 2020, the CAB, which represents the majority of private Canadian programming services, sought “immediate regulatory relief relating to expenditure and exhibition requirements for Canadian private broadcasters due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the CRTC’s decision.
The organization specifically proposed that for the 2019-2020 broadcast year the CRTC “deem broadcasting licensees, absent any bad faith on their part, to have met requirements set out in their conditions of licence and by regulation relating to expenditures,” the decision reads. “In addition, the CAB proposed that the Commission not require that any shortfalls incurred during the 2019-2020 broadcast year be made up in subsequent broadcast years.”
The CAB’s request was ultimately denied on the grounds the organization’s specific proposals did not meet all of the requirements for relief, set out by the CRTC in a September notice of consultation. This includes requirements “relating to ensuring that parties currently benefiting from the Commission’s requirements for broadcasters are not unreasonably affected by the proposed regulatory relief, and to ensuring that the proposed regulatory relief is minimally administratively burdensome for those entities seeking relief, but easily monitored and supervised by the Commission to ensure appropriate accountability,” reads the CRTC’s decision.
The CRTC did, however, offer some support for private broadcasters by allowing them to have additional time to pay expenditure and contribution shortfalls.
As set out in the decision, the Commission now requires television “licensees of the large ownership groups that incurred CPE (Canadian programming expenditures) shortfalls as of 31 August 2020 pay those shortfalls by no later than 31 August 2023,” and “licensees of independent services that incurred shortfalls as of 31 August 2020 pay those shortfalls by no later than 31 August 2024.” The Commission also requires any shortfalls in contributions to be made to FACTOR and Musicaction incurred as of August 31, 2020, to be paid no later than August 31, 2021. Beginning in 2020-2021 broadcast year, the CRTC will also allow licensees to “avail themselves of 10% flexibility in regard to CPE and PNI (programs of national interest) under-expenditures until the end of their respective extended payment period, with the exception of the last year. However, the flexibility relating to under-expenditures on locally reflective news is maintained at 5%,” the decision reads.
For radio, the CRTC now requires any licensee that incurred shortfalls in Canadian content development contributions for the 2019-2020 year to pay 50% by August 31, 2022, and the remaining amount by August 31, 2023.
For the full decision, please click here.
