CRTC reply and follow up to appearance by Scott Shortliffe (Executive Director, Broadcasting) and Michael Craig (Director, Audio-visual Programming and Distribution) before the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications on October 29, 2024 Local services provided by CBC/Radio-Canada Exchange #1 Senator Simons: Really? On what basis are you saying they have routinely exceeded in places like Edmonton, Calgary or Winnipeg? Mr. Shortliffe: Based on their hours of local programming. Senator Simons: Again, what were the metrics? How many hours were they supposed to produce?

That is what I was trying to figure out. Mr. Shortliffe: Yes, before, the licence condition was that they had an expectation to produce 14 hours Senator Simons: Fourteen hours in what period? Mr. Shortliffe: Fourteen hours a week of local programming. Senator Simons: And that is all together — radio, television, French and English? Mr. Shortliffe: No, I’m speaking specifically of television. Senator Simons: I’m not talking about television. I’m talking about radio. Mr. Shortliffe: On radio? Senator Simons: Do you happen to have the numbers handy? Mr. Shortliffe: I can get you the numbers.

Answer In its 2013 decision regarding CBC/Radio-Canada, the CRTC required, by condition of service, the French-language radio station CBEF Windsor to broadcast a minimum of 15 hours of local programming per week. The same requirement was reapplied in its 2022 decision. For all the other ICI Première and Radio One stations, the number of hours of local programming has been high enough that conditions of service are not necessary. Exchange #2 Senator Simons: I’m curious to know if those numbers have diminished over the last 20 or 30 years.

To say they are exceeding their targets without telling me what their targets are is not helpful. When you relaxed the standards, were they only relaxed for television, or were they relaxed for radio as well? Mr. Shortliffe: They were only relaxed for television and only for major metropolitan areas. Senator Simons: What happened as a result? Mr. Shortliffe: In major metropolitan areas, where the expectations were relaxed, it was that they would produce 14 hours of local programming a week. Their standards are between 14 hours and 45 minutes and 16 hours.

Senator Simons: That is 14 hours of all local television: News, current affairs, feature programming? Mr. Shortliffe: Yes. Senator Simons: Fourteen hours is not a lot of hours. Mr. Shortliffe: It was the standard that existed. Senator Simons: It is two hours a day. Mr. Shortliffe: It was the standard that existed for the previous ten years, so we did not —

Senator Simons: What was the standard before that? Mr. Shortliffe: I am sorry. I would need to research that. Answer In its 2013 decision, the CRTC required that:  French-language television stations in each market broadcast at least five hours of local programming per week;  English-language television stations broadcast at least 14 hours of local programming per week in metropolitan markets, and  at least seven hours per week in non-metropolitan markets. In those metropolitan markets, at least one hour per week must be devoted to local programming other than news.

The English-language metropolitan markets are Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto, as well as the English-language official language minority community (OLMC) in Montreal. Exchange #3 Senator Downe: I’m wondering if you could send the committee members the ratings for the CBC if you have them for the larger cities in Canada and Prince Edward Island. My understanding is that where there’s heavy competition in places like Vancouver and Toronto, CBC is far down the ratings scale, but in Prince Edward Island, where there’s no other locally produced TV news, they’re extremely high and people watch it.

That’s why we were even more dependent on them in the pandemic than other areas. Answer We are unable to provide data on CBC/SRC audience shares for Prince Edward Island (PEI), as Numeris sends Portable People Meters (PPM) across the country, but since there is not enough representation in all target groups in PEI, there is not specific data on this market. Nevertheless, using the most recent aggregate data, from the 2022-2023 broadcast year, we can share the following results: Radio

For the 2022-2023 broadcast year, CBC/SRC's English- and French-language stations achieved, on average, 25.4% of audience share as measured by logbooks in the 22 main markets provided by Numeris. These 22 main markets are as follows, and include audio, community and campus, ethnic and aboriginal, private commercial:  Barrie  Halifax  Hamilton  Kelowna  Kingston  Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo  London  Moncton  Ottawa-Gatineau (English market)  Ottawa-Gatineau (French market)  Québec  Regina  Saskatoon  Saguenay  Sherbrooke  St. Catharines-Niagara  St.

John’s  Sudbury  Trois-Rivières  Victoria  Windsor  Winnipeg Television In the 2022-2023 broadcast year, the audience shares in the English-language market in Canada (defined by Numeris as all of Canada, excluding the Quebec market) are as follows:  CBC/SRC's French-language conventional and discretionary services* captured 0.3% of audience share.  CBC/SRC's English-language conventional and discretionary services garnered 6.5% of audience share.  For a total of 6.8% in Canada's English-language market.

During the same broadcast year, audience share in the French-language market in Canada (defined by Numeris as the Quebec market) was as follows:  CBC/SRC's French-language conventional and discretionary services* garnered 19.8% of audience share.  CBC/SRC's English-language conventional and discretionary services captured 0.5% of audience share. For a total of 20.3% in Canada's French-language market. *Examples of CBC/SRC's traditional services are:  CBCT-DT Charlottetown  CBHT-DT Halifax  CBOT-DT Ottawa Examples of discretionary services offered by CBC/SRC are:  CBC News Network  ICI ARTV  ICI Explora