Bell asks CRTC to eliminate local news requirements and reduce CPE, PNI expenditures

BCE Inc. says in order for it to be competitive the CRTC must amend its conditions of licence (COL) to cut Canadian content obligations. In a Part 1 application published on the CRTC website Friday, Bell requested the CRTC delete its requirement to invest 11 per cent of the previous broadcast year's gross revenues in locally reflective news for its English-language television stations and its five per cent investment requirement for French-language stations. “The Canadian broadcast industry is in crisis due in large part to a virtually unlimited array of foreign-owned digital media broadcasting undertakings (DMBUs) being present in the Canadian market for several years without any regulatory obligations,” Bell wrote. “In addition, the growth of the Internet and digital advertising has siphoned billions of dollars in revenue away from traditional broadcasters.” Bell is also seeking to lift the requirements pertaining to the amount of locally reflective news it must broadcast each week in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan markets for its English- and French-language services. Bell requested its local programming requirements be dwindled down to 14 hours per week in its metropolitan markets and to do away with its requirement to broadcast 8.5 hours of local programming per week for its French-language television station in Montreal. “Our local television stations, without codified COLs, will continue to cover a wide range of quality news that our viewers in markets large or small have come to expect from us,” Bell argued. Bell noted the new conditions, if approved, would only last until its licence renewal period next August. “The requested relief we are seeking would allow us to better manage our regulatory obligations through the evolving competitive landscape of the Canadian broadcasting industry in the face of competition from DMBUs,” Bell wrote. Bell filed a separate application requesting changes to its Canadian programming expenditures (CPE) and programs of national interest (PNI) requirements. The company requested the CRTC reduce its CPE from 30 per cent to 20 per cent and its PNI expenditures from 7.5 per cent to five per cent. Bell also asked that the commission expand the PNI categories to include analysis and interpretation, music and dance other than music video programs or clips, variety, game shows, general entertainment and human interest, and reality television. In exchange the company proposed to devote 100 per cent of its PNI expenditures to independent production companies. “The requested relief we are seeking would allow us to better manage our regulatory obligations through the evolving competitive landscape of the Canadian broadcasting industry in the face of competition from digital media broadcasting undertakings,” Bell wrote. Bell's application follows that of Rogers Communications Inc. and Corus Entertainment Inc. who similarly requested changes to CanCon regulations. Quebecor Inc. also got in on the action while simultaneously announcing it would cut programming weekend newscasts – which it then walked back. Unions opposed the call to lighten the regulatory load until updates to the Broadcasting Act, through the passage of the Online Streaming Act, are fully implemented. Bell argued however, that those changes will take time and the industry is in need of immediate relief. Bell originally submitted its application June 14, the same day it announced it was laying off 1,300 employees, shutting the doors to six radio stations, and selling three others. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Phalen Tynes-MacDonald at pcreed@thewirereport.ca.

Bell asks CRTC to eliminate local news requirements and reduce CPE, PNI expenditures

News | June 23, 2023

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Bell asks CRTC to eliminate local news requirements and reduce CPE, PNI expenditures

News | June 23, 2023

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