CRTC denies CAB request for pandemic-related regulatory relief

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...