The CRTC has approved an application from the CBC to exclude programming expenditures on the public broadcaster’s coverage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games from the calculation of its regulatory obligations relating to Canadian programming expenditures (CPE) and expenditures on programs of national interest (PNI).
In its Tuesday decision, the commission said it is granting the relief to CBC’s licensed English- and French-language audiovisual services with the recognition that CBC would have difficulty meeting its overall programming objectives and requirements if the application was denied, which would most likely result in the broadcaster reallocating spending currently slated for non-PNI to PNI. The consequences of this would be potentially negative for Canadian independent productions, including those from indigenous producers, official language minority community (OLMC) producers and producers from equity-deserving groups, the commission said.
The commission’s approval of the CPE exemption for CBC’s coverage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games “could help mitigate potential impacts on its expenditures on Canadian independent productions, thereby helping the CBC maintain its requirement to provide balanced programming on its audio-visual undertakings,” the regulator’s decision says.
The CRTC says it expects the CBC to take steps to ensure its levels of spending on PNI do not fluctuate significantly between Olympic and non-Olympic broadcasting years, and it intends to monitor the CBC’s spending with this expectation in mind.
Photo via CBC/Radio-Canada
