Canada revamps local quota rules

Canada’s TV landscape looks set for wholesale change after the country’s regulator revealed plans to cut local content quotas and axe protection for specialty channels.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has said it is relaxing local content requirements to enable broadcasters to compete with more recent upstarts such as Netflix and YouTube.

Canadian content quotas for daytime programming on local channels – currently 55% – will be removed completely to allow more money to be spent on high-profile shows with global appeal.

The channels will still have to find local programming for half their primetime slots between 18.00 and 23.00, and the same amount of money must still be spent on Canuck productions.

CRTC is also broadening the definition of Canadian content and removing so-called genre protection, which shields some specialty channels from competition so long as they air certain genres. Some fear the move could lead to Canuck specialty nets closing.

In a separate ruling, the regulator is also giving recent subscription VoD (SVoD) entrants such as CraveTV and Shomi the chance to be exempted from existing quota requirements if they make their services available to consumers without the need of an internet or cable/satellite subscription.

Further amendments could also be made to allow broadcasters to offer unbundled channel packages to viewers, with a decision expected over the coming weeks.

“In the age of abundance, where people can pick from among a multiplicity of programming choices on as many channels, quotas are square pegs in round holes,” CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said.

Canada’s TV landscape has changed over recent months following the launch of Bell Media’s SVoD service Crave TV and Shomi, a joint venture between Shaw Media and Rogers Media.