OTTAWA-HULL — "The CBC plays a unique and vital role in the Canadian broadcasting system. At the dawn of the new millennium, it should give an even greater voice to all our citizens. With a shift in focus, strengthened basic services and a more balanced programming schedule during peak audience periods, it will better reflect the many cultures present in Canada and respond more effectively to the needs and interests of all its listeners."

These remarks were made by Françoise Bertrand, Chairperson of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), in releasing the Commission’s decision to renew the licences for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) English- and French-language radio and television networks, its owned and operated television stations, and its specialty services, Le Réseau de l’Information (RDI) and Newsworld for a seven-year period.

As a public institution, the CBC has been a trailblazer and a role model in many fields. It should continue to provide a general interest broadcasting service that expresses the concerns and diversity of all Canadians and more accurately reflects the reality of the entire country.

The CBC’s licence renewals were carried out in the context of the CRTC’s review of all of its major policies, particularly those concerning television. As will be the case for the large private television networks, the CBC’s renewal applications for almost all of its licences were examined at the same time.

The CRTC’s decision is based on the legislative mandate of the CBC, on all of the testimony received during the public consultations held last spring in 11 Canadian cities and at the public hearings last May and June, as well as on the commitments made by the licensee itself. Here are the highlights.

The CBC’s basic over-the-air television and radio services are received free of charge by most Canadians. A balanced variety of programming including most genres, from documentaries to variety shows, and originating from all over the country, will ensure that these services have a truly distinctive and recognizable voice.

The Commission believes that in a time of budgetary constraints, the CBC should devote all available resources to its existing services in order to reach the most listeners and viewers possible. It should therefore focus on preserving and reinforcing its existing radio and television services with the aim of strengthening representation from all regions of the country.

This means rebalancing television program schedules. It also means ensuring that, over the next seven years, radio services provided by La Chaîne Culturelle are extended to reach at least 50% of the francophone population of each province and Radio Two services are extended to reach 75% of the entire anglophone population of Canada.

Given Canada’s cultural and social diversity and the needs and interests of anglophone as well as francophone audiences, the CBC should emphasize programming that reflects all the communities of this country. This obligation is at the very heart of the CBC’s mandate. If Canada’s many voices and faces are to be represented on the public broadcasting service, the CBC must have a stronger presence in all parts of the country and must be committed to regional talent.

"The CBC has an essential role to play in offering a wide range of radio and television programming," explained the CRTC Chairperson. "Each of these media should contribute in its own way to reflecting the realities of its particular audience and Canadian society. The CBC should continue its long tradition of high quality, rigour and professionalism by providing a balanced reflection of Canadians’ values, linguistic duality, cultural diversity, and creativity. With today’s decision, the Commission is encouraging the CBC to be more balanced in its choice of programming in order to strengthen its mandate under the Broadcasting Act."

The Commission believes that the CBC’s English- and French-language television networks should offer the Canadian public programming that is distinctive from other broadcasters through its originality and its capacity to reflect the multiple realities of this country. To do so, they must better balance their programming schedules during peak audience periods (7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.). As much as possible, they should also distribute original programming over 52 weeks to reduce repetition.

Because the situation for the English-language television network (CBC) differs in some respects from that of its French-language counterpart (Radio Canada), the Commission has chosen different means for each to attain its objectives.

Among other things, the CBC should do the following:

• Place more emphasis in peak times on regional programs (i.e., produced outside of Toronto), such as dramas, music, dance and variety shows, long-form documentaries, and entertainment magazine programs;
• reduce the total number of hours of professional sports programming; and
• provide regional weekend newscasts in its affiliated stations.

Radio Canada’s French-language television should do the following:

• increase the presence of francophone communities outside Quebec in all types of programming in order to more adequately respond to their needs and expectations;
• provide as wide a range of programming as possible, particularly in the area of culture. Emphasize music and dance, varieties and the performing arts in order to continue to develop and promote francophone artistic and musical talent throughout the country; and
• offer more original programming for children and youth. Radio Canada has been a pioneer in the creation and production of children’s shows which, in addition to being etched into the collective francophone memory, kick-started the careers of many artists. Because there are fewer programs available for young francophones, the French-language network should broadcast an average of at least four hours per week of original programming (other than movies or cartoons) aimed at children under 12.

The Commission requires that within three years, popular foreign feature movies, commonly known as ‘blockbusters’, will no longer be shown on the English- or French-language networks between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. The three-year delay will allow the CBC to program any blockbusters for which it already holds the broadcast rights. After that time, it will no longer be able to do so unless the movie was released in theatres at least two years previously, and has not been listed in the top 100 of Variety Magazine’s top grossing films for at least ten years. Moreover, the programming schedules of Radio Canada and the CBC should continue to include not only Canadian movies, but also the best productions from as many countries as possible.

The Commission has refused the licensee’s application to broadcast short messages from sponsors. The CBC’s English- and French-language radio networks offer a service that clearly distinguishes them from private radio stations. They have created a sense of attachment among Canadians around the world and promoted a Canadian cultural identity. Connecting with CBC radio services means connecting with Canada. Of all the qualities that have earned for CBC radio the public’s unshakeable loyalty, the most important is its non-commercial nature.

The Commission stresses the importance of the public broadcaster’s leadership role in the area of cultural diversity, both on the air and in its hiring practices. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has an obligation to reflect the multicultural and multiracial makeup of Canada, while ensuring that the representation of Aboriginal people reflects their participation in our society. Radio-Canada and the CBC have already made significant gains in this regard. The Commission encourages them to continue the effort, and to submit an annual report detailing their progress.

The Corporation also has a responsibility to make programming accessible to the visually impaired and hard-of-hearing, and to promote the values that are important to our society. These include gender equality, non-violence, and the restriction of advertising aimed at children.

In keeping with its tradition of acquiring and broadcasting the work of independent Canadian producers, the public broadcaster has made a commitment that during prime time hours, at least 50% of programming (other than news, current affairs and sports) will be from independent productions. Given the important contribution made by independent producers to the Canadian broadcasting system, the Commission encourages the CBC to maintain this minimum level.

The Commission has asked the CBC to ensure that independent producers are aware of these programming priorities so that they can submit projects that meet these requirements.

The fee increases approved for RDI and Newsworld will help to improve these two specialty services.

The Commission approves the proposed fee increases. The monthly fee will increase by 10¢ per subscriber for RDI, going from 90¢ to $1.00 in francophone markets. The Newsworld subscriber fee will increase by 8¢, going from 55¢ to 63¢ in anglophone markets. The new fees will come into effect on September 1, 2000.

RDI and Newsworld have committed, among other things, to work together on new projects and to increase the number of episodes of the coproduction Culture Shock. They will also create a network of video journalists to serve new sectors in the Atlantic provinces, southern Ontario, northern Manitoba, the interior of British Columbia, and the Far North.

The Commission is very pleased with the plans of the two specialty services to work in partnership with the aim of maximizing their respective resources. The partnership of these two specialty services will allow an increase in the quantity and quality of the programs produced by each one.

"With this decision--more than one hundred pages consisting of a preamble, two decisions concerning the French-language and English-language services, Newsworld and RDI--the CRTC confirms the essential character of the public broadcaster and its importance in the Canadian broadcasting system," concludes Françoise Bertrand.

Reference Documents: Public Notice CRTC 2000-1, Decisions CRTC 2000-1, 2000-2 and 2000-3

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Copies of today's documents are available through our Internet site (http://www.crtc.gc.ca) or by contacting the public examination room of any CRTC office. These documents are available in alternative format upon request.