Citing unspecified examples of abuse by distributors, broadcasters contend that existing regulatory safeguards for verifying affiliation payments are inadequate and want their right to audits enshrined in broadcasting regulations. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) tells the CRTC that such a move would reduce the growing number of complaints regarding affiliation payments that are being filed with the CRTC. In response to the CRTC’s call for comments on the possibility of amending the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations to add provisions governing the audit of affiliation payments, the CAB notes that 27 of 83 dispute resolution complaints filed with the commission between May 12, 2000 and Sept. 20, 2003 involved requests to audit distributor records. The CRTC is considering codifying audit rights in legislation at the request of the CAB (CCR, April 8/04).

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