How are American broadcast network (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) affiliates be offered on Canadian cable systems? Doesn’t Canada have a law requiring TV channels to air a certain percentage of Canadian content? Even BBC Canada has to air Canadian shows. Don’t Canadian commercial networks air mostly American shows anyway? Don’t those networks own the rights to broadcast US shows in Canada? How can foreign TV networks broadcast those same shows in Canada?
I have no idea what the rules are for Canadian cable but the last time I was in Vancouver BC the hotel cable service had all the Seattle channels. I remember that Law & Order was shown on a Canadian channel but they switched out the Seattle NBC channel to something else during L&O.
I referenced this in the Café thread about the broadcast of Saving Private Ryan:
The local cable TV company gives us access to American network affiliates and in the Montreal market, they naturally choose ones that are in geographically nearby Vermont and upstate New York. As part of the basic package, we get:[ul][li]NBC (WPTZ Plattsburgh)[]ABC (WVNY Burlington/Plattsburgh)[]CBS (WCAX Burlington)[]PBS (WCFE Lyon Mountain and WETK Burlington)[]Fox (WFFF Burlington/Plattsburgh)[/ul][/li]
The CRTC (the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, our equivalent of the FCC) has a number of regulations regarding necessary Canadian content, but the relevant rules to this thread boil down to the following:[ul][]If a Canadian broiadcaster and an American broadcaster are carrying the same content at the same time in the same market, cablecarriers are required to carry the Canadian signal on both channels. As an example, on Wednesday at 10 p.m. Law and Order is carried by WPTZ (NBC) and our local CFCF (a member of the CTV network). At that time, the local cable channel will transmit the CFCF signal on both cable positions.[]A specialized cable channel cannot be carried by a Canadian cable provider if a Canadian channel of similar premise exists. As a result, we have the Space channel instead of the Sci-Fi channel, The Comedy Network instead of Comedy Central, etc.[/ul]
The reason for requiring that the Canadian signal be broadcast instead of the American signal is to allow Canadian advertisers to run their commercials during popular, prime-time American programs. For example, the local FOX affiliate would switch to the Canadian Global network during popular shows, and these programs often had ‘On Global’ on the screen under the show’s title. (e.g. ‘The Simpsons On Global’. The commercials would be Canadian.
Outside prime time, and on 24-hour networks such as CNN, a certain percentage of American commercials are replaced by Canadian ones. Commercials from advertisers who sell their product in both countries (car manufacturers and fast food chains, for example) will still be shown in Canada. But commercials for things Canadians can’t buy (health insurance, 501(k) plans, US cellular carriers) are often replaced with Canadian commercials.
The Canadian content restrictions only apply to domestic broadcasters; obviously American networks can’t be required to have any Canadian content. Also, the less restrictive Canadian regulations on coarse language (and the more restrictive Canadian regulations on gender portrayal and gratitutous violence) don’t apply to American networks, so we still hear ‘I’m gonna git that son of a wench’ on TBS. (Canadian broadcasters are not required to censor profanity after 9 pm, provided there is a warning before each segment of the show.)
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers]
…The CRTC (the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, our equivalent of the FCC) has a number of regulations regarding necessary Canadian content, but the relevant rules to this thread boil down to the following:[ul][li]If a Canadian broiadcaster and an American broadcaster are carrying the same content at the same time in the same market, cablecarriers are required to carry the Canadian signal on both channels. As an example, on Wednesday at 10 p.m. Law and Order is carried by WPTZ (NBC) and our local CFCF (a member of the CTV network). At that time, the local cable channel will transmit the CFCF signal on both cable positions.A specialized cable channel cannot be carried by a Canadian cable provider if a Canadian channel of similar premise exists. As a result, we have the Space channel instead of the Sci-Fi channel, The Comedy Network instead of Comedy Central, etc.[/ul][/li][/QUOTE]
So If Global or CTV air a TV on Thursday but NBC airs it on Monday the signal isn’t blocked?