Canadian Television Laws

If you're familiar with the TV licensing schemes in countries like Britain, it is nothing compared to what Canada is becoming. Here are a few of our broadcasting laws:

- 30% of content on Canadian radio must be by Canadian artists (already mentioned on this site)
- 35% of content on cable TV must be Canadian.
- 50% of content on satellite TV (including audio-only channels, i.e. satellite radio) must be Canadian.
- All channels must be approved by the government for broadcast. Channels which have NOT been approved include HBO, Cinemax and ESPN.
- Anyone who possesses equipment capable of decoding "illegal" channels (not approved by the government) can be punished by fines of $5,000 or a year in prison. This includes American (and foreign) mini-dishes such as DirecTV, as well as the large C-band dishes. Penalties for distributing this equipment are much more severe. This doesn't just cover pirated access cards, it also applies to legally purchased equipment.

These Canadian laws are nearly identical to those existing in Cuba, China and Iran. Check out www.legal-rights.org for more information.

[MacReady]

so freedom of speech does not apply to canada?

[The Empress]

These broadcasting laws are not about free speech they are about protecting our culture and keeping our identity. If these laws were not in place then no canadians would have a chance in that area. The rest of the world already considers us as part of the states, this is just so that we (canadians) don't forget that we are that we are a seperate country!

[paulgro]

First welcome to dumb laws, both of you.

As you can see I'm an American. I can watch a Japanese movie and know I'm still an American. Telling people what they can and can't see isn't going to make a better Canadian no more then watching HBO will make them all into Americans...

[Serendipity]

And I'm a Brit (and welcome to you both :) ); we have to put up with American show after American show (some good, some dreadful). But I'd still prefer to watch a good American show than a bad British one.

[The Empress]

I want to clarify that we do get many American shows , many many American shows. The government just wants to leave a little room for something of canadian content.

[weldordave]

Jeez! And I've been chastised by a Canadian in other areas for living in a "police state" and that I have lost all my "civil rights" (I still don't know what they are). I wonder if he'll use this topic to question my access to 576 channels of whatever I want, whenever I want. Although CBUT does go off-air at odd times.
Empress, how can you legislate culture? I am American but love the Korean channel to keep up with my Hangul. I watch the Japanese channel and can make out about 1 word in 1000. I don't feel that my culture is at risk. BTW I love Red Green (Canadian). If you're worried about your culture you should pull that show! Why, one would think that Canadians hold everything together with Duct Tape!

[weldordave]

You say "keep your culture" and "Keep your identity". Your culture and identity allows me to use my US$$ at any establishment for prime rate exchange. And your identity allows Saudis to enter Canada with no passport so they can cross the largest unprotected border in the world to..................................
Thank you very much for preserving your culture and identity. American TV will not spoil any more Canadian brains!!!!!!!

[The Empress]

Originally posted by weldordave

I am American but love the Korean channel to keep up with my Hangul. I watch the Japanese channel

Note your use of the word "The" before each channel listed. The Korean channel, The Janpanese channel. I don't think you have any concept of the sheer number of American shows/channels that bombard me on a daily basis. I am not saying that I watch Canadian TV. I actually hate the Red Green Show. I was just trying to let you know the reasoning behind the broadcasting laws. Provide a little understanding, thats all!

On the subject of legislating culture I would say that by making sure that Much Music (like MTV but with music) plays at least some music by Canadian artists we can ensure that canadian musicians are given a chance. That is all. It is not the big deal that you people are making out to be.

Regarding satellites: It is not impossible to obtain and use an American satellite dish. I myself have a Direct TV dish as well as a Canadian Bell Express Vu. Comparing the two, the Canadian has better overall programming (more variey) while the American has earlier movie releases.

The Empress

[Serendipity]

And your identity allows Saudis to enter Canada with no passport so they can cross the largest unprotected border in the world to....... W-Dave, the topic is about TV. If you want to start a thread about Canadian responsibility for 9/11 , then do so, but it's unwarranted here. :)

I just read these postings, and I absolutely have to post a few replies:

Radio: the Canadian music industry is supported by the CRTC regulation requiring 30% Canadian content on the air. There is nothing wrong here with this, because the remainder is all foreign! Is it that much of an injustice to foreign musicians that less than 1/3 of our content be from Canadians? Big business can really manipulate sales, and thus the success of any musician. If you don't believe me, just try to buy a book today: all the major bookstores are owned by the same company. Now they can select which books get sold etc... say, for example, you are studying twentieth century history, and you need a copy of Mien Kampf: It’s banned! The same is true for the music industry. WE need the controls in order to preserve our culture, and the well-being or our music industry.

T.V. This is a good one! All the prime time shows I watch are U.S. shows, but surprisingly, a good portion of them is filmed in Canada (Vancouver and Toronto mainly). Remember when X-Files was really good? That's before they moved it from Vancouver to Hollywood (So David could live closer to his wife's failing career as an actress!).

Satellite: If you read the news lately, there has been a moratorium on banning the American dishes. This story is still unfolding. My opinion is this, make the American satellite providers register all Canadian users with the CRTC, and thus pay a premium for broadcasting into Canada. If any user is found to have issued a false address (they all have! Every single U.S. dish owner in Canada has lied about where they live, in order to get the service), they should be fined. It is the same as tax evasion.

Terrorism: Man! That's a stupid and cheap shot! You complain about our immigration and customs policy, while Crack and gangs are being exported from the U.S. to Canada every day! Go to Toronto, and you'd swear you were in any of the crack-infested cities of the U.S. but, this isn't a thread about terrorism, and it doesn't belong in this forum: I just had to reply to a cheap shot like that one!


:)

[weldordave]

How can you NOT like Red Green? And remember SCTV? And, yes, many American shows are filmed in Canada. I listen to Canadian radio whenever I can get it on the AM side. Alot of theater stuff that you just can't find in the American markets anymore.

[weldordave]

Originally posted by Serendipity
W-Dave, the topic is about TV. If you want to start a thread about Canadian responsibility for 9/11 , then do so, but it's unwarranted here. :)
A reply to culture and identity. But, OK Dippy, you're the boss.
Empress, my most sincere apologies for an unwarranted placement.

[jettmotto]

ummm. from the first post about identity and culture of "canadians"

the great thing about "us americans" is the culture diversity even tho i don't think that because we get "the japeness channel" or "the korean channel" or even "the canadian channel" that makes us more american,because there even more diersity on tv thats lame. and i'm not trying to be rude here but i seen some of the canadian brodcasts....huh moving on, i know that there are a lot, (emphazises a lot) of dumb tv shows in the u.s. of a but remember all the good ones:D night rider, air wolf, babewatch of course:D , and who could fer get the ledgendary dukes of hazzard:lol i don't even know why i posted here it looks like i didn't even have a point but oh well....

Okay, a followup: They've finally started enforcing this. Dealers in Winnipeg, Vancouver, Regina and Saskatoon have been shut down and their owners charged. There are ads running on TV and all over Canadian websites to "educate" people about this. It doesn't seem to be working, as about a million people still have these dishes.

By the way, this has absolutely nothing to do with "culture" or "Canadian content." It has to do with American shows, and who has the rights to air them in Canada.

Canadian cable/satellite providers broadcast all the major American nets: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB and UPN. However, most of the shows on these networks are simulcasted by Canadian nets (CTV/Global/CHUM). By law, cable/satellite companies must replace the American feeds with the Canadian ones, so that viewers see Canadian commercials during the show. So basically, all that's happening when people watch American feeds is they're not seeing Canadian commercials.

Personally, I have no need for an American dish, I get everything I want on Starchoice. (I got to watch HBO a few years ago, and it's overrated IMHO). The issue is this: Many original series on HBO/Showtime do not get picked up for years by Canadian nets, and many sports events (particularly bike races) are not broadcast in Canada. If Canadian providers would be more quick to buy the rights to these shows and air them, there would be no need for pirated American equipment. CTV finally bought the rights to the Osbournes and broadcasts it (uncensored!) but it took them damn long enough.

Just my 2 cents ;) ...

[Phreakmeister]

Originally posted by weldordave
And your identity allows Saudis to enter Canada with no passport so they can cross the largest unprotected border in the world to..................................

Whose job was it to prevent them from entering America? Not Canada's...

[weldordave]

See dippy's post. I won't even go into our mutually open border policy with Canada, which you obviously have NO idea of or you would feel very ignorant for posting what you did.

To assist in understanding why there are Canadian content regulations, you might refer to the Broadcasting Policy for Canada here (http://www.efc.ca/pages/law/canada/canada.B-9.01.part-1.html) (Scroll down past the definitions to the "Declaration", paragraph 3)

Chas

Originally posted by thubble
If you're familiar with the TV licensing schemes in countries like Britain, it is nothing compared to what Canada is becoming. Here are a few of our broadcasting laws: ...................................etc............ ............................
These Canadian laws are nearly identical to those existing in Cuba, China and Iran. Check out www.legal-rights.org for more information.
This is my first post on this site. I have found that there are many threads that are informative and entertaining.


In regards to Canada's Communication laws, I understand how some could see these as restrictive or somehow limiting our rights.

The reality is that our country has many disadvantages that work against our artists, performers and even the support systems that allow our "culture" to exist. These are primarily due to our large and widespread size, relatively small population, and having a well established "culture" in a neighbour that has always been widely distributed throughout our country.

We simply did not have the cultural, or economic resources to compete with the large number of major productions the US generates constantly.

The result of not addressing this problem would be effectively no Canadian content worth any value to the consumer.

In the wisdom of some of our previous governments, it was decided to pass laws, and offer incentives (tax breaks) to help "Compensate" for the handicap we had to overcome.

Contrary to the views of some, these initiatives were not intended to "block out" the American broadcasts, publications, etc., but to ensure that our own industry was at least given the opportunity to develop. Most areas have always been and are still served by the major US channels, which are not required to follow our laws.

Our Canadian stations purchase many US programs, as well as our own productions.

The real issue here is - What are the results?
Has this actually helped our "Cultural Industry"?

I think the answer is obvious.

We have a strong and thriving industry, when you consider our size. Many of our entertainers have progressed to become international stars. The quality of our own programming has improved to the point where many have found that they can compete with the best from anywhere.

But the most important factor, from a Canadian perspective, is that what is being presented is from a Canadian Perspective. We are not NYC, LA, Denver, or Kansas City - We are a divers country with talent from Coast, to Coast, to Coast, that has had an opportunity to grow and express themselves to the rest of our country.

This would not likely to have happened to anywhere the extent it has if it was merely left to the "survival of the strongest."

I cannot tell you how satisfying it is to appreciate the diverse array of QUALITY talent that has developed because of this, that would not likely to have had the slightest chance, had this infrastucture not been there to support it.

(Sorry for the rant!)
Thank you.

:) :)

[guitartanic]

I'm in Canada. Do all of you in the UK, Europe, Australia, etc really have the ability to subscribe to any US station you want? Or for that matter any Canadian or other country's station? Are there companies that can provide such a service to you?

[AWPrime]

I think that the Canadian laws are quite good.


I would say that almost 50% of all the shows on dutch tv networks are American made, with most of the being worth sh*t.

On the other hand Australian shows, who we have in lower numbers, but have a higher quality.




ps. Who makes the ignore lists?

[Phreakmeister]

Originally posted by guitartanic
Do all of you in the UK, Europe, Australia, etc really have the ability to subscribe to any US station you want? Or for that matter any Canadian or other country's station? Are there companies that can provide such a service to you?

If you have a satellite or get a decoder (?), you can see just about any channel in the world. If you don't have a satellite, you have to rely on what the cable company (?) offers. The channels we can get nationwide are Dutch, British (BBC), German, Turkish, French, pan-European and Belgian. CNN can be seen everywhere except for Amsterdam. Some cable companies also show Moroccan, Spanish and/or Italian channels. For more information: http://www.hiptravelguide.com/amsterdam/php/article.php?sid=149

[El Más Grande]

The Dutch way seems a lot like Danish, though there are very few cable/sattelite channels based in Denmark, since we have very strict rules about the amount of time spent on commercials and no commercial breaks in programs. So most of the Danish commercially financed channels broadcast via sattelite from Britain.
The nationwide ground based channels also have rules as to how much Danish content must be present in their schedule, the local stations have, in addition, an obligation to transmit a certain amount of local content, including news. This applies to both radio and TV.
Our two nationwide TV stations actually have Public Service obligations, which ensures a blend of news and documentary in between the mind-numbing sit-coms.
I think the object is to enlighten the public :cool

Like mentioned already the reasons we have these laws is to protect our culture and identity. The world is bombarded with American culture and we as Canadians need to stop Canada form becoming American. And to the moron who alluded that Canada is responsible for 9/11 maybe you should look at your government and thier foreign policy... you need to start keeping an open mind about different laws in different countries

:wink

[civiltech]

The 1/3 Canadian Content which is required in television is also evident in much of our media including radio, concert venues and entertainment.

If you are a member of any symphony Orchestra accross Canada, you know that 1/3 of every concert has to been of Canadian Origin to have access to Federal Grant money. No Canadian Concert, and the taxpayer will not grant money to you. Every wonder why we always play the National Anthem at the commencement of any concert? It counts towards that 1/3 !!!! Now, if only we can get Canada's Royal Anthem in there, we will have it made!!!

Best regards to all!


Civiltech