168:
are not already on the lowest level of service must be included in the "best available discretionary package consistent with their genre and programming", or offered to subscribers on a standalone basis. CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais stated that the changes were to ensure that
Canadians would be able to " the news services that are of interest to them" and have " to be exposed to a variety of opinions on matters of public concern."
152:, the CRTC opened a review on the possibility of adding mandatory distribution requirements for Category C national news services. The Commission acknowledged that its current policies had "barriers" that could prevent news channels from having a "pride of place" on the broadcast system, which could hinder their "exchange of ideas on matters of public concern." Previously, only the news networks of the
76:
In an
October 2008 public notice, the CRTC announced that it had considered the possibility of lifting format protection restrictions for channels of certain genres considered by the commission to be popular and diverse enough to support competition within Canada's television industry. In particular,
55:
Under previous policies, these services were intentionally unprotected from competition by other
Category B services of the same genre (as per the now-discontinued genre protection policy), but are still "protected" from competition by other discretionary services. In other words, if someone wants to
167:
On
December 19, 2013, the CRTC announced the adoption of new must-carry requirements for Category C news channels. By March 19, 2014, Canadian television providers must offer all Category C news channels to subscribers as part of their lineup, and by May 18, 2014, all Category C news channels that
201:, in May 2022. It initially declined must-offer status to the channel as it did not meet the requirements for broadcasting updated news reports every 120 minutes; after amending its schedule to comply with the requirements, The News Forum subsequently received must-offer status in November 2022.
121:
Several months later, the CRTC officially announced in 2009 that it would be loosening format restrictions for all mainstream sports and national news services in the country, allowing them to use more streamlined and flexible licensing terms. As part of an overall restructuring of broadcasting
67:
on a packaged or standalone basis, but not necessarily on the lowest tier of service, by all
Canadian television providers. Mainstream sports services are not subject to must-offer rules, and distributors must negotiate directly with their operators for carriage as with all other discretionary
176:
In
September 2015, as a result of discussions held as part of the "Let's Talk TV" initiative, the CRTC adopted stricter content requirements for services that operate as national news channels, in order to "better reflect the national nature of these services" and ensure they "demonstrate the
77:
the CRTC proposed to lift these restrictions for news and sports services, citing examples of
Canadian channels which had remained popular and competitive with each other, despite the restrictions that had been forced in their licenses in order to negate such competition.
110:, and sports news services respectively. Additionally, due to its licensing, The Score was restricted in the amount of live programming it can air. Similarly, TSN was facing scrutiny for having used policies, designed to allow
807:
126:, these channels became legally known as "category C" services beginning on September 1, 2011. Under further reforms, all specialty channels were transitioned to standardized conditions of license as
430:
41:
87:(now CBC News Network), was licensed to serve as a "headline news" service, and was originally required to operate on a strict 15 minute news wheel format (similarly to the U.S. channel
425:
405:
132:
over the course of 2015 and 2016, although the CRTC still recognizes mainstream news and sports services as a distinct class of discretionary service with their own requirements.
683:
91:). CTV however, successfully lobbied the CRTC in 2005 to have these conditions loosened in order to provide a more flexible service that still fell within its assigned scope.
410:
385:
812:
390:
672:
CRTC 2007-07-24. The orders were, and are, intended to ensure that official language minority communities in Canada have access to news in their language.
648:
56:
launch a competing service, they must do so by committing to the same obligations, including common requirements for the exhibition and funding of
225:
80:
555:"ARCHIVED - Conditions of licence for competitive Canadian specialty services operating in the genres of mainstream sports and national news"
395:
60:, as others. Discretionary services, by contrast, may not devote more than 10% of their monthly programming to live professional sports.
400:
187:
Dedicating 95% of their schedules to the program categories of news, analysis, long-form documentary, and "reporting and actualities"
504:"Regulatory policy - Regulatory frameworks for broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) and discretionary programming services"
420:
153:
451:"Conditions of licence for competitive Canadian specialty services operating in the genres of mainstream sports and national news"
44:, operates under the conditions of license for "competitive Canadian specialty services operating in the genres of mainstream
517:
161:
190:
Maintaining a live broadcasting facility, and regional bureaus in at least three regions other than that of the facility.
415:
123:
736:"Revised standard conditions of licence for Canadian discretionary services operating as national news services"
19:
This article is about a former classification system of
Canadian cable TV. For the modern classification, see
107:
127:
34:
20:
734:
Government of Canada, Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) (2015-09-23).
582:
Government of Canada, Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) (2015-03-12).
341:
45:
328:
277:
149:
95:
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for additional sports event programming. However, these complaints were dismissed by the CRTC.
111:
88:
49:
37:
373:
220:
157:
145:
84:
57:
569:"ARCHIVED - Call for comments on amendments to the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations"
491:
669:
584:"Let's Talk TV - The way forward - Creating compelling and diverse Canadian programming"
541:
503:
230:
198:
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capacity to gather news and report events happening throughout Canada." These include:
141:
708:
621:
607:
568:
554:
478:
801:
781:"The News Forum - Distribution pursuant to paragraph 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act"
450:
261:
103:
780:
759:
735:
583:
684:"CRTC makes it mandatory for cable companies to offer all Canadian news channels"
160:
must be carried on a digital basic tier in French-language markets, and likewise
610:. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2 November 2016.
481:. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2 November 2016.
193:
Having the ability to report on international news from a Canadian perspective.
356:
64:
242:
140:
In September 2013, following the highly publicized, but unsuccessful bid by
99:
322:
197:
The CRTC approved a third English-language discretionary news channel,
760:"The News Forum - Licensing of a national news discretionary service"
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must be carried on a digital basic tier in English-language markets.
31:
114:
for Western Canada, as a loophole to launch a second feed known as
349:
303:
298:
293:
288:
283:
115:
16:
Class of Canadian cable TV channel primarily for news and sports
181:
An average of at least 16 hours per-day of original programming
431:
List of television stations in North America by media market
808:
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
42:
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
426:
List of Canadian stations available in the United States
406:
List of foreign television channels available in Canada
205:
List of national news and sports discretionary services
492:
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2005/db2005-131.html
106:(now Sportsnet 360)—which were licensed as national,
622:"Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2013-394"
411:List of United States stations available in Canada
386:List of television stations in Canada by call sign
184:Providing updated news reports every 120 minutes.
83:(now CTV News Channel), because it competed with
608:"Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2016-436"
479:"Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2016-436"
156:were subject to formal carriage requirements;
63:Channels licensed as mainstream news services
473:
471:
8:
391:List of Canadian television networks (table)
124:transition to digital terrestrial television
136:Must-carry requirements for news channels
122:regulations to prepare for the country's
520:. The Globe and Mail. September 15, 2008
442:
172:Conditions of license for news channels
682:Dobby, Christine (19 December 2013).
518:"Rivals want TSN2 kicked out of game"
7:
649:"As losses mount, Sun turns to CRTC"
396:List of Canadian television channels
813:Cable television channels in Canada
670:Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2007-246
542:Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-352
401:List of Canadian specialty channels
709:"Broadcasting Order CRTC 2013-735"
14:
421:Multichannel television in Canada
154:Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
1:
58:Canadian-produced programming
416:Digital television in Canada
368:Defunct Category C services
829:
18:
40:which, as defined by the
30:is the former term for a
243:Sportsnet regional feeds
531:(subscription required)
162:RĂ©seau de l'information
129:discretionary services
21:Discretionary service
651:. The Globe and Mail
647:Ladurantate, Steve.
571:. 10 December 2010.
557:. 4 September 2009.
544:, December 12, 2008
94:On the other hand,
783:. CRTC. 2022-11-01
762:. CRTC. 2022-05-17
715:. 19 December 2013
506:. 30 October 2008.
457:. CRTC. 2012-05-25
278:TSN regional feeds
150:Category A service
112:timeshift channels
28:Category C service
266:Sportsnet Canucks
253:Sportsnet Pacific
250:Sportsnet Ontario
89:CNN Headline News
38:specialty channel
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374:Sun News Network
280:(former analog)
272:Sportsnet Oilers
269:Sportsnet Flames
226:CTV News Channel
221:CBC News Network
158:CBC News Network
146:Sun News Network
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628:. 8 August 2013
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231:The News Forum
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199:The News Forum
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142:Quebecor Media
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98:competes with
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48:and national
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35:discretionary
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785:. Retrieved
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764:. Retrieved
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743:. Retrieved
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717:. Retrieved
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591:. Retrieved
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522:. Retrieved
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459:. Retrieved
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361:TVA Sports 2
331:(must-offer)
325:(must-offer)
196:
175:
166:
139:
128:
120:
93:
79:
75:
62:
54:
27:
25:
719:19 December
693:19 December
632:24 December
81:CTV Newsnet
802:Categories
787:2022-11-30
766:2022-06-03
745:2022-06-03
740:crtc.gc.ca
655:22 January
593:2024-01-11
588:crtc.gc.ca
461:2019-09-27
455:crtc.gc.ca
437:References
357:TVA Sports
68:services.
104:The Score
100:Sportsnet
380:See also
144:to have
108:regional
32:Canadian
323:Ici RDI
210:English
72:History
336:Sports
312:French
237:Sports
46:sports
721:2013
713:CRTC
695:2013
657:2013
634:2013
626:CRTC
526:2008
350:RDS2
317:News
304:TSN5
299:TSN4
294:TSN3
289:TSN2
284:TSN1
215:News
116:TSN2
102:and
50:news
346:RDS
342:RDS
329:LCN
96:TSN
52:".
804::
738:.
711:.
686:.
624:.
586:.
470:^
453:.
26:A
790:.
769:.
748:.
723:.
697:.
659:.
636:.
596:.
528:.
464:.
23:.
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