Category C services

In an October 2008 public notice, the CRTC announced that it had considered the possibility of lifting format protection restrictions for channels of certain genres considered by the commission to be popular and diverse enough to support competition within Canada's television industry. In particular, the CRTC proposed to lift these restrictions for news and sports services, citing examples of Canadian channels which had remained popular and competitive with each other, despite the restrictions that had been forced in their licenses in order to negate such competition.

CTV Newsnet (now CTV News Channel), because it competed with CBC Newsworld (now CBC News Network), was licensed to serve as a "headline news" service, and was originally required to operate on a strict 15 minute news wheel format (similarly to the U.S. channel CNN Headline News). CTV however, successfully lobbied the CRTC in 2005 to have these conditions loosened in order to provide a more flexible service that still fell within its assigned scope.http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2005/db2005-131.html{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

On the other hand, TSN competes with Sportsnet and The Score (now Sportsnet 360){{emdash}}which were licensed as national, regional, and sports news services respectively. Additionally, due to its licensing, The Score was restricted in the amount of live programming it can air.{{Cite web|url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2008/pb2008-100.htm|title = Regulatory policy - Regulatory frameworks for broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) and discretionary programming services|date = 30 October 2008}} Similarly, TSN was facing scrutiny for having used policies, designed to allow timeshift channels for Western Canada, as a loophole to launch a second feed known as TSN2 for additional sports event programming.{{cite web|url=http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080915.wrtsn15/BNStory/Business/home|title=Rivals want TSN2 kicked out of game|date=September 15, 2008|publisher=The Globe and Mail|accessdate=September 18, 2008}} {{Subscription required}} However, these complaints were dismissed by the CRTC.[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2008/db2008-352.htm Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-352], December 12, 2008

Several months later, the CRTC officially announced in 2009 that it would be loosening format restrictions for all mainstream sports and national news services in the country, allowing them to use more streamlined and flexible licensing terms.{{Cite web|url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2009/2009-562.htm|title=ARCHIVED - Conditions of licence for competitive Canadian specialty services operating in the genres of mainstream sports and national news|date=4 September 2009}} As part of an overall restructuring of broadcasting regulations to prepare for the country's transition to digital terrestrial television, these channels became legally known as "category C" services beginning on September 1, 2011.{{Cite web|url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-931.htm|title=ARCHIVED - Call for comments on amendments to the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations|date=10 December 2010}} Under further reforms, all specialty channels were transitioned to standardized conditions of license as discretionary services over the course of 2015 and 2016,{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) |date=2015-03-12 |title=Let's Talk TV - The way forward - Creating compelling and diverse Canadian programming |url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2015/2015-86.htm |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=crtc.gc.ca}}{{cite web |date=2 November 2016 |title=Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2016-436 |url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2016/2016-436.htm |publisher=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission}} although the CRTC still recognizes mainstream news and sports services as a distinct class of discretionary service with their own requirements.

In September 2013, following the highly publicized, but unsuccessful bid by Quebecor Media to have Sun News Network converted to a Category A service, the CRTC opened a review on the possibility of adding mandatory distribution requirements for Category C national news services. The Commission acknowledged that its current policies had "barriers" that could prevent news channels from having a "pride of place" on the broadcast system, which could hinder their "exchange of ideas on matters of public concern."{{cite web|title=Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2013-394|url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2013/2013-394.htm|work=CRTC|date=8 August 2013|accessdate=24 December 2013}}{{cite web|last=Ladurantate|first=Steve|title=As losses mount, Sun turns to CRTC|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/sun-news-seeks-mandatory-carriage-on-basic-cable-tv/article7597155/|publisher=The Globe and Mail|accessdate=22 January 2013}} Previously, only the news networks of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation were subject to formal carriage requirements; CBC News Network must be carried on a digital basic tier in French-language markets, and likewise Réseau de l'information must be carried on a digital basic tier in English-language markets.[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2007/db2007-246.htm Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2007-246] CRTC 2007-07-24. The orders were, and are, intended to ensure that official language minority communities in Canada have access to news in their language.

On December 19, 2013, the CRTC announced the adoption of new must-carry requirements for Category C news channels. By March 19, 2014, Canadian television providers must offer all Category C news channels to subscribers as part of their lineup, and by May 18, 2014, all Category C news channels that are not already on the lowest level of service must be included in the "best available discretionary package consistent with their genre and programming", or offered to subscribers on a standalone basis. CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais stated that the changes were to ensure that Canadians would be able to "[access] the news services that are of interest to them" and have "[opportunities] to be exposed to a variety of opinions on matters of public concern."{{cite news|title=CRTC makes it mandatory for cable companies to offer all Canadian news channels|url=http://business.financialpost.com/2013/12/19/crtc-makes-it-mandatory-for-cable-companies-to-offer-all-canadian-news-channels/?__lsa=d90e-5c1a|work=Financial Post|date = 19 December 2013|accessdate=19 December 2013|last1 = Dobby|first1 = Christine}}{{cite web|title=Broadcasting Order CRTC 2013-735|url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2013/2013-735.htm|work=CRTC|date=19 December 2013|accessdate=19 December 2013}}

In September 2015, as a result of discussions held as part of the "Let's Talk TV" initiative, the CRTC adopted stricter content requirements for services that operate as national news channels, in order to "better reflect the national nature of these services" and ensure they "demonstrate the capacity to gather news and report events happening throughout Canada." These include:{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) |date=2015-09-23 |title=Revised standard conditions of licence for Canadian discretionary services operating as national news services |url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2015/2015-436.htm |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=crtc.gc.ca}}

• An average of at least 16 hours per-day of original programming
• Providing updated news reports every 120 minutes.
• Dedicating 95% of their schedules to the program categories of news, analysis, long-form documentary, and "reporting and actualities"
• Maintaining a live broadcasting facility, and regional bureaus in at least three regions other than that of the facility.
• Having the ability to report on international news from a Canadian perspective.

The CRTC approved a third English-language discretionary news channel, The News Forum, in May 2022. It initially declined must-offer status to the channel as it did not meet the requirements for broadcasting updated news reports every 120 minutes;{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-05-17 |title=The News Forum - Licensing of a national news discretionary service |url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2022/2022-130.htm |access-date=2022-06-03 |publisher=CRTC}} after amending its schedule to comply with the requirements, The News Forum subsequently received must-offer status in November 2022.{{Cite web |date=2022-11-01 |title=The News Forum - Distribution pursuant to paragraph 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act |url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2022/2022-296.htm |access-date=2022-11-30 |publisher=CRTC}}

• CBC News Network
• CTV News Channel
• The News Forum

• Sportsnet regional feeds
• Sportsnet East
• Sportsnet Ontario
• Sportsnet Pacific
• Sportsnet West
• Sportsnet One
• Sportsnet Canucks
• Sportsnet Flames
• Sportsnet Oilers
• TSN regional feeds (former analog)
• TSN1
• TSN2
• TSN3
• TSN4
• TSN5

• Ici RDI (must-offer)
• LCN (must-offer)

• RDS
• RDS
• RDS2
• TVA Sports
• TVA Sports 2

• Sun News Network

• List of television stations in Canada by call sign
• List of Canadian television networks (table)
• List of Canadian television channels
• List of Canadian specialty channels
• List of foreign television channels available in Canada
• List of United States stations available in Canada
• Digital television in Canada
• Multichannel television in Canada
• List of Canadian stations available in the United States
• List of television stations in North America by media market

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Category:Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

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