Programming

At the CRTC, our radio, TV, and online programming initiatives focus on:

  • Ensuring that broadcasting meets the needs and interests of Canadians with content made by Canadians
  • Monitoring the operations of licensed  services to ensure they meet regulatory requirements

Content made by Canadians

One of our goals is to ensure that Canadian broadcasting content meets the needs and interests of Canadians by delivering compelling, high-quality Canadian-made creative content from diverse sources on a variety of platforms.

Among other things, we engage in public processes that generate content policies, encourage linguistic duality, support public affairs programming, and support broadcasting for Canada’s diverse communities. We also support the maintenance and development of Canadian talent by ensuring that Canadian artists can create content for both Canadian and global audiences, that they can gain financial support, and that they can promote their creations.

Other ongoing activities related to content made by Canadians include:

  • Analyzing various broadcasting licence applications from the perspective of content made by Canadians
  • Issuing Canadian Program Certification to independent Canadian program producers for TV productions that use mainly Canadian crews and talents
  • Monitoring the programming and financial performance of broadcasters to ensure they comply with regulations and licence conditions

Exclusive broadcasting rights

We ensure that television programming is widely available to Canadians across the country. Television services often acquire exclusive rights to programs, but since these services are offered to all cable and satellite distributors, most Canadians will have access to them.

On the Internet, digital media services may offer exclusive content as well, but we do not permit programs designed for television to be offered exclusively by only one specific mobile or retail Internet service. This ensures that customers will not have to subscribe to more than one Internet service provider (ISP) or mobile provider to watch content.

Video-on- demand (VOD) services offered via traditional television distributors are not permitted to acquire exclusive rights because that would mean those programs would only be available to subscribers of that specific television distributor. However, VOD services can offer exclusive content in the same way as digital media services on the Internet provided the VOD service is also offered on the Internet to all Canadians without the need for a television subscription.

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