OTTAWA – The CRTC is calling for comments on a targeted review of its policies for commercial radio.
The Commission said Wednesday that a comprehensive review is not necessary at this time, noting that the sector has remained relatively stable, both financially and in terms of tuning, since the last policy review in 2006. Nevertheless, the CRTC continued, the commercial radio sector would benefit from an update of certain regulatory and policy elements.
The regulator requested comments on the following topics:
– the Commission’s approach to calls for applications and to small markets;
– the processing of applications for the conversion of low-power, unprotected stations to protected status;
– the definitions for local and national time sales and the need for a definition for regional advertising;
– the possible implementation of HD Radio technology in Canada and the need for a regulatory framework;
– the possible adoption of new compliance mechanisms to encourage licensees to comply at all times with regulatory requirements and their conditions of licence; and
– a regulatory update of the provisions under which licensees must maintain and submit their logs and records.
Comments are due by January 16, and the deadline for replies is March 18, 2014.
