Scott says CRTC willing to be ‘flexible’ in future radio regulation

CRTC chairman and CEO Ian Scott told a broadcasting conference Tuesday that the commission is “prepared to be flexible with new approaches to regulation” as it prepares to review its policy for commercial radio. According to a copy of his speech to the annual conference of the Western Association of Broadcasters, Scott said the regulator is “in the early stages of preparing for a comprehensive review of our commercial radio policy.” The CRTC’s three-year forecast mentions the review but not specify a timeline for when the CRTC will hold the proceeding. Although he argued that radio has maintained its viability in a changing world, Scott said the CRTC also understands this was a time of complexity and change. “We have heard a great deal about the market conditions before you,” he said, before listing a range of industry issues, from reaching younger demographics and competition from streaming and other online services to maintaining local news sources. “If you as an industry find credible, incentive-based solutions to these and other challenges, we’ll do our part and consider them.” Declaring the CRTC “open to innovation,” Scott said it was prepared to work with the industry to identify “new ways to foster the promotion and discoverability of Canadian content on Canada’s airwaves, and to support the continued production of high-quality local news and information programming.” Scott used the opportunity to announce that the digital monitoring system for radio broadcasters which the CRTC had hinted at in its Harnessing Change report is moving forward. Scott told the assembled audience that the upcoming tool will remove uncertainties relating to content, such as whether a song qualifies as Canadian; will help build an authoritative database on Canadian music; and will allow the CRTC to be less interventionist. How the challenges listed by Scott are to be addressed beyond the app is as of yet unclear, and Scott left it to the industry to answer that question. “My colleagues and I will listen, and will consider your ideas,” he said. The industry is unlikely to get its way entirely however, as the Scott has made clear, noting that the regulator is still bound by the Broadcasting Act. “I’ll caution you straight away. An openness to change is not an invitation to throw away the entire rule book. Complete deregulation, for example, is not an option,” Scott said. Scott also warned that the industry shouldn’t expect to be free from oversight. “Even with the digital monitoring system in place, if we find you run afoul of your obligations, we will take steps to bring you back into compliance.” Scott noted that despite changes in new technology, radio “has maintained its profitability and viability.” That was reflected in a decision the CRTC issued Tuesday, stating that the radio market in North Bay can support an additional radio market. It said because Vista Radio Ltd. is the only entity that’s expressed an interest in serving the market, it won’t publish a call for applications for the new licence.

Scott says CRTC willing to be ‘flexible’ in future radio regulation

Brief | June 6, 2019

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Scott says CRTC willing to be ‘flexible’ in future radio regulation

Brief | June 6, 2019

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