The media of Canada is diverse and highly regionalized.
News media
The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and th ...
, both
print and
digital and in both
official languages
An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
, is largely dominated by a handful of major media corporations. The largest of these corporations is the country’s national
public broadcaster
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
,
CBC/Radio-Canada
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
, who also plays a significant role in producing domestic cultural content, operating
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
and
TV networks in both English and French.
Non-news media content in Canada, including
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
, is influenced both by local creators as well as by imports from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. While Canadian content has historically failed to substantively penetrate foreign markets, this has begun shifting in recent years as platforms like
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
and
CBC Gem
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
enable those media traditionally only popular within Canada to reach foreign audiences.
Television, magazines, and newspapers are primarily
for-profit corporations based on
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
,
subscription
The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, and ...
, and other sales-related revenues. Nevertheless, both the television-broadcasting and publications sectors require a number of government interventions to remain profitable, which can include regulation barring foreign companies in the broadcasting industry, as well as
tax laws that limit foreign competition in magazine advertising. In addition to CBC, some provincial governments offer their own public educational TV broadcast services as well, such as
TVOntario
TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...
and
Télé-Québec
The Société de télédiffusion du Québec (; en, Quebec Television Broadcasting Corporation), branded as Télé-Québec (), is a Canadian French-language public educational television network in the province of Quebec. It is a provincial Crown ...
.
The organization
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
compiles and publishes an annual ranking of countries based upon the organization's assessment of their
Press Freedom Index
The Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders since 2002 based upon the organisation's own assessment of the countries' press freedom records in the previous year. It intends to ...
. In 2011–12, Canada was ranked 10th out of 179 countries in the world, which was an improvement from the preceding year. In 2020, Canada ranked 16 out of 180.
History
The history of Canadian media performers goes back to the first days of radio. In the 1940s, the
Radio Artists of Toronto Society
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
(RATS) was formed. Radio performers in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, and
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
also organized to fight for artists' rights, working conditions, and better fees. In 1943, the Association of Canadian Radio Artists (ACRA) was formed as a loose national coalition of actors' groups. Over the years, ACRA evolved into the Association of Canadian Radio and Television Artists, followed by the Canadian Council of Authors and Artists, then the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, and, in 1984, to the
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has 25,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. The orga ...
, its present name.
The Canadian ''
Broadcasting Act'', historically and in its modern conception, is based on the fact that, since the start of the 20th century, it was important for broadcasters to ensure that information flowed freely and reflected the diversity of Canadian points of view, as opposed to the classic approach, which gives media owners more freedom to express their views. The Canadian broadcasting system as it exists today "would probably not exist if we had allowed the marketplace to regulate ownership rights."
In August 2015, the
Canadian Media Guild
The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) is a trade union representing employees at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (outside Quebec and New Brunswick), the Canadian Press, Thomson Reuters, Agence France-Presse, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Netw ...
, the union representing CBC journalists, became a
registered third party in order to campaign for increased taxpayer funding of the CBC in the 2015 election. After the
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...
won the election, it increased taxpayer funding of the CBC by
CA$
The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style g ...
150 million. In 2017, the federal government announced a five-year $50-million program to help struggling local newspapers. In 2018, it announced $595 million in tax credits to help struggling newspapers and television networks adapt to competition from online news sources.
In 2013, ''
Maclean's
''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian perspe ...
'' wrote an article noting the influence that
Quebecor
Quebecor Inc. is a Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company serving Québec based in Montreal. It was spelled Quebecor in both English and French until May 2012, when shareholders voted to add the acute accent, Québecor, in F ...
and owner
Pierre Karl Péladeau have on the Quebec media system. The article noted that Quebecor behaves like a counterpart to the
federalist
The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''.
History Europe federation
In Europe, proponents of de ...
''La Presse'', owned by the
Desmarais family''.'' In November 2018,
Unifor
Unifor is a general trade union in Canada and the largest private sector union in Canada. It was founded in 2013 as a merger of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions, and consists of 310,000 workers an ...
, the other major union for Canadian journalists, announced that it would campaign against the
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
in the
43rd Canadian federal election
The 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. Members of the House of Commons were elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. In keeping with the maximum four-year term under a 2007 amendment to the ''Canada Elections Act'', ...
. In February 2019, former Attorney General
Jody Wilson-Raybould gave testimony to the House of Commons Justice Committee raising further speculation of political interference from the Liberal Party in journalism. As part of the testimony, Jessica Prince, the Wilson-Raybould's chief of staff revealed that
Katie Telford
Katie Telford (born 1978) is a Canadian political strategist who is the Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. She served as Trudeau's chief campaign advisor during his successful campaign in the 2015 election. Following the resignati ...
, chief of staff to Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
, said: “If Jody is nervous, we would, of course, line up all kinds of people to write op-eds saying that what she is doing is proper.”
Postmedia
Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is a Canadian media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news ...
has faced questions from both
Maclean's
''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian perspe ...
and
Canadaland
Canadaland is a Canadian company that operates a news site and a network of podcasts. It was founded by Jesse Brown in 2013. Canadaland has produced podcasts on Canadian media, art and culture, cooking, medicine, and politics. Podcasts include ...
, regarding whether recent changes to their editorial staff was singling a shift that they were pushing "conservative views" onto their audience. In 2019, Kathy English, the public editor for the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'', admitted that ''The Star'' has failed to meet its journalistic standards by stating "call for reporting fairly and accurately and reflecting the pertinent facts and diversity of views on matters of public debate."
English defended ''The Star'', arguing that there is "no such a thing as objectivity in journalism."
A report released from the Digital Democracy Project, a joint venture between the
Public Policy Forum
The Public Policy Forum (PPF) is an independent, non-profit Canadian think tank for public-private dialogue. The organization's stated aim is "to serve as a neutral, independent forum for open dialogue on public policy."
The Forum was founded in ...
and
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
’s School of Public Policy revealed that
non-partisans
Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party.
While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers s ...
with high exposure to traditional media gave roughly 50% more wrong answers than those with low exposure. “Strong partisans,” however, gave almost twice as many.
Regulation
The Canadian government regulates
media ownership
Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation or media convergence) is a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media. Contemporary research demonstrates in ...
and the state of media through the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
. Section 3(d)(iii) of the Canadian ''
Broadcasting Act'' states that media organizations should reflect "equal rights, the linguistic duality and
multicultural
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...
and multiracial nature of Canadian society and the special place of
aboriginal peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
within that society."
Television broadcasting
The Canadian
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
broadcasting industry is split between public and private ownership. Canada currently has 130 originating television stations, which broadcast on 1,456 transmitters across the country, on both the
VHF and
UHF bands.
In addition to the public
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
/
Société Radio-Canada
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
, which operates both English (
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
) and French (
Ici Radio-Canada Télé
Ici Radio-Canada Télé (formerly known as Télévision de Radio-Canada) is a Canadian French-language free-to-air television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada), the national pub ...
) television networks, there are five major private TV networks.
CTV,
Global
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
, and
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
broadcast in English, and are available throughout the country.
TVA
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a Federal government of the United States, federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, an ...
and
Noovo
Noovo is a Canadian French-language terrestrial television network owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The network has five owned-and-operated and three affiliated stations throughout Quebec, although it can also be seen over-the-ai ...
(formerly 'V') broadcast in French and operate over-the-air in French-language markets (including Quebec and parts of Ontario and New Brunswick), although are also available across Canada via pay television. Most network stations are owned and operated by the networks themselves, although all networks have some affiliates with different ownership.
In addition, the
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN, stylized aptn) is a Canadian specialty channel. Established in 1992 and maintained by governmental funding to broadcast in Canada's northern territories, APTN acquired a national broadcast lice ...
(APTN), a service devoted mainly to programming of interest to the
Indigenous peoples of Canada
In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider them ...
, is considered a network by the
CRTC
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
, although the network airs terrestrially only in the 3 Canadian territories, and must be carried by all television providers in the rest of Canada. There are, as well, a number of smaller
television system
In Canada, a television system is a group of television stations which share common ownership, branding and programming, but which for some reason does not satisfy the criteria necessary for it to be classified as a television network under Cana ...
s, such as
CTV Two
CTV 2 is a Canadian English-language television system owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The system consists of four terrestrial owned-and-operated television stations (O&Os) in Ontario, one in British Columbia and two regional ...
(a compliment to the main CTV network in smaller and secondary markets), and
Omni Television
Omni Television (stylized as OMNI Television) is a Canadian television system and specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. It currently consists of all six of Canada's conventional multicultural t ...
—a group of Rogers-owned ethnic broadcasters.
Several provinces maintain provincial public broadcasting networks in addition to the CBC, including
Télé-Québec
The Société de télédiffusion du Québec (; en, Quebec Television Broadcasting Corporation), branded as Télé-Québec (), is a Canadian French-language public educational television network in the province of Quebec. It is a provincial Crown ...
,
TVOntario
TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...
,
TFO
TFO is a Canadian French language educational television channel and media organization serving the province of Ontario. It is owned by the Ontario French-language Educational Communications Authority (OTELFO), a Crown corporation owned by the ...
, and
Knowledge
Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distinc ...
(British Columbia).
Citytv Saskatchewan
Citytv Saskatchewan (formerly the Saskatchewan Communications Network, or SCN) is a Canadian English language cable television channel in the province of Saskatchewan. Headquartered in the provincial capital of Regina, the channel is owned by t ...
and
CTV Two Alberta
CTV 2 Alberta is a Canadian English language entertainment and former educational television channel in the province of Alberta. Owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc., it operates as a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station of its ...
were formerly provincial public broadcasters (SCN and Access), but both have since been privatized and amalgamated into commercial networks operated by their current owners (
Rogers Rogers may refer to:
Places
Canada
*Rogers Pass (British Columbia)
* Rogers Island (Nunavut)
United States
* Rogers, Arkansas, a city
* Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement
* Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...
and
Bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
). While both outlets devote a portion of their schedules to their networks' respective, advertising-supported entertainment programming, both networks are still required to adhere to an educational remit in the majority of their programming. Unlike in the United States, where a statewide public network is usually the state's primary
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
member station, the provincially owned public systems in Canada are independent of each other and have their own programming.
Only CBC/Radio-Canada, TVA and APTN are officially considered national networks by the CRTC, while V is a provincial network in Quebec. City, CTV and Global are legally considered "television services" even though they operate as networks for all practical purposes. As well, there are a few independent stations, including
CFTU in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
CJON in
St. John's and
CJIL in
Lethbridge
Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...
. However, most of these are not general entertainment stations like independent stations in the United States, but are instead specialty
community channels or educational services. CJON is the only independent commercial station currently operating in Canada, although CJON sublicenses a mix of programming from Global, CTV and other sources rather than purchasing program rights independently.
TV station
callsign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
s in Canada are usually made up of four letters, although two stations have three call letters (
CKX in
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
and
CKY CKY may refer to:
* CKY (band), American rock band, formerly "Camp Kill Yourself"
** ''CKY'' (video series), named after the band
**CKY crew, people involved in the video series and related projects
*CKY-DT, a television station in Winnipeg, Manito ...
in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
) and some (primarily CBC-owned Radio-Canada stations) have five. The first call letter is always ''C'', and callsigns of privately owned television stations start with the
two-letter combinations of ''CF'', ''CH'', ''CI'', ''CJ'', or ''CK''. The combinations ''CG'', ''CY'', ''CZ'' and several combinations beginning with ''V'' and ''X'' are also assigned to Canada, but to date no Canadian television station has ever been licensed to take a call sign within those ranges. There is no clear rule for the call letters of
rebroadcaster
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
s—some are labelled by the call-letters of the originating station, followed by a number, while others have their own distinct call letters. Low-power repeater transmitters (LPRTs) have their own unique callsign format, which consists of the letters CH followed by four numbers. Some rebroadcast transmitters are licensed as ''semi-satellites'', which are licensed to air separate commercials (and, on rarer occasions, a limited amount of distinct programming) targeted to their community of license.
CBC-owned stations use call letters beginning with the combination ''CB'' (through a special agreement with the government of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
); private affiliates of the CBC use the same combinations as other private stations. The CBC has also sometimes directly acquired former private affiliate stations; these usually (although not always) retain their historic call sign rather than changing to a CB call. While Canadian TV stations are technically required to identify themselves over the air by their call letters, the rule is rarely enforced by the CRTC. As a result, most TV stations never use their call letters for any purpose other than official CRTC business, and instead brand under regional names such as
CTV Northern Ontario
CTV Northern Ontario, formerly known as MCTV, is a system of four television stations in Northern Ontario, Canada, owned and operated by the CTV Television Network, a division of Bell Media.
These stations are:
* CICI - Greater Sudbury (flag ...
or
Global Regina. Even then, most network-owned stations may only use these brands for station identification and newscasts, and promote the majority of their programming under the network brand without any disambiguation.
Due to their proximity to American media markets, a number of Canadian cities and regions receive US broadcasters as part of their local media. This has required special dispensation for Canadian content for broadcasters in the
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...
region (due to it falling within the
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
media footprint), and there have also been cases of US-based broadcasters (
KCND-TV
KCND-TV was a television station which broadcast from Pembina, North Dakota, United States from 1960 to 1975, targeting the Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada market some 60 miles (100 kilometres) to the north. It was the forerunner of current Global T ...
of
Pembina, North Dakota
Pembina () is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 512 at the 2020 census. Pembina is located south of the Canada–US border. Interstate 29 passes on the west side of Pembina, leading north to the Canada� ...
, now
CKND-DT
CKND-DT (channel 9) is a television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. The station is owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, with studios on the 30th floor of 201 Portage in downtown ...
of Winnipeg; also
KVOS-TV
KVOS-TV, virtual channel 12 ( UHF digital channel 14), is a Heroes & Icons owned-and-operated television station licensed to Bellingham, Washington, United States. Owned by Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting, it is part of a duopoly with Seatt ...
of
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...
) targeting its programming and advertising at Canadian viewers.
Although all broadcast networks in Canada are required to produce and air some
Canadian content
Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (inclu ...
, only the English and French networks of the
CBC run predominantly Canadian-produced schedules, though, the English network does run some imported programming from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, most notably ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford.
Origi ...
''. The private networks,
CTV,
Global
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
and
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
, have all at times faced criticism over their level of commitment to producing and airing Canadian programming. The commercial networks often find it easier to purchase rights to hit American series than to invest in Canadian productions, which are often prohibitively costly for the comparatively small size of the Canadian market. The French-language networks traditionally have had less difficulty meeting their Canadian content obligations, as the language difference makes francophone audiences much more readily receptive to home-grown programming than to dubbed American imports.
Digital television
Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...
is an emerging technology in Canada. Although some TV stations have begun broadcasting digital signals in addition to their regular VHF or UHF broadcasts, this is not yet as widespread as in the United States. Although most markets have digital channel assignments already in place, to date digital broadcasts have only launched in the largest
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
s. Digital television sets are available in Canadian stores, but are not universally present in all Canadian homes.
Several broadcasters, including the CBC, have argued that there is no viable business case for a comprehensive digital conversion strategy in Canada. At
CRTC
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
hearings in 2007 on the future direction of regulatory policy for television, broadcasters proposed a number of strategies, including funding digital conversion by eliminating restrictions on the amount of advertising that television broadcasters are permitted to air, allowing terrestrial broadcasters to charge cable viewers a subscription fee similar to that already charged by cable
specialty channels
A specialty channel (also known in the United States as a cable channel or cable network) can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted ...
, permitting
license fees similar to those which fund the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, or eliminating terrestrial television broadcasting entirely and moving to an exclusively cable-based distribution model.
In May 2007, the CRTC set August 31, 2011 as the deadline for digital conversion in Canada. This is approximately two years later than the cutoff date in the United States. The CRTC ultimately decided to relax restrictions on advertising as the funding mechanism. However, a CRTC statement issued in June 2008 indicated that as of that date, only 22 digital transmitters had been fully installed across the entire country, and expressed the regulator's concern that Canada's television broadcasters were not adequately preparing for the shift to digital broadcasting.
is a very common method of television programming delivery in Canada. Many Canadian cities have cable penetration rates of 90% or more of television households.
There are currently 739 licensed cable distributors in Canada. This significant decline from over 2000 just a few years ago is attributable both to major cable companies acquiring smaller distributors and to a recent change in CRTC rules by which independent cable operators with fewer than 2,000 subscribers are no longer required to operate under full CRTC licences. (However, the CRTC does retain some regulatory authority over these operators. This is an exemption granted by the CRTC to previously licensed companies that continue to meet certain conditions, and does ''not'' mean that anybody can simply set up their own small cable company without CRTC approval.)
Major Canadian cable companies include
. Most Canadian cities are served by only one cable company per market; in the few cities that are served by more than one cable company, each company is restricted to a specific geographical division within the market. For instance, in
are all licensed operators, but each has a monopoly in a specific area of the city.
However, two major companies offer
, which is a division of Shaw. ''
, but as these are not licensed Canadian providers, stores that sell those packages—and users who buy them—are at risk of criminal charges.
In some remote communities in the Territories (
), cable delivery is prohibitively costly, so similar services are offered through
technology.
An English-language 'basic cable' package in Canada traditionally includes:
*
— the English- and French-language CBC networks;
* a provincial educational broadcast undertaking (e.g.
and information programming as well as community events listings (c.f.
* nearby independent channels or channels from smaller television systems such as
s and committee meetings, along with some political public-affairs programming;
* a similar channel to CPAC, but broadcasting the proceedings of the provincial legislature;
*
* a mixture of Canadian and American special-interest channels (e.g.
).
A further set of Canadian and American special-interest channels are offered as 'extended cable' packages, which are available for additional fees. In the past, cable companies have engaged in the controversial practice of
, in which a subscriber is automatically given and billed for the new services unless he or she specifically declines them, but this is now illegal.
A package of '
' channels is also available for additional fees, including movie networks such as
.
A study in 2006 said that the CRTC had licensed 44 digital specialty services and 5 ethnic specialty- and pay-television services across the country.