Can We Talk? The CRTC and the Future of Broadcasting In Canada

After a fifteen month long conversation with thousands of Canadian citizens about the future of television, called Let’s Talk TV, Jean-Pierre Blais, the Chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) gave a statement to the London (Ontario) Chamber of Commerce in which he explained some of the conclusions that the Commission had come to and some of the decisions that it had made. 

The CRTC plans to continue its commitment to over-the-air broadcasting in order to make it available to the citizens of the country, because viewers have indicated that they still want a commitment to that model.

The Commission is loosening (a little) its simultaneous submission rule. Simultaneous submission allows a Canadian station to substitute a local signal for a foreign signal in order to increase market share and advertising revenues. Some viewers have objected to this practice. Result; there will be no simsub during the 2017 Super Bowl broadcast.  But nothing is easy: Bell Media is already pushing back over the decision. See  here.

Finally, the Commission has addressed the question of net neutrality.

The Federal Commissions Commission has now taken an equally strong stand in favor of net neutrality.

More here from the New York Times,

Commentary on the CRTC’s decisions from Gregory Taylor,