Broadcasting Distribution Regulations

27 (01) Except as otherwise provided under a condition of its licence, if a licensee elects to distribute community programming under paragraph 19(f) or if a community programming undertaking is licensed in the licensed area, the licensee shall distribute the community programming as part of the basic service.

(1) If a licensee elects to distribute community programming under paragraph 19(f), except as otherwise provided in subsections (2) and (3) or under a condition of its licence, the licensee shall not distribute on the community channel in a licensed area any programming service other than

• (a) community programming;

• (b) a maximum of two minutes during each clock hour of announcements promoting broadcasting services that the licensee is authorized to provide;

• (c) a public service announcement;

• (d) an information program funded by and produced for a federal, provincial or municipal government or agency or a public service organization;

• (e) the question period of the legislature of the province in which the licensed area is located;

• (f) an announcement providing information about the programming to be distributed on the community channel;

• (g) a commercial message that mentions or displays the name of a person who sponsored a community event or the goods, services or activities sold or promoted by the person, if the mention or display is in the course of, and incidental to the production of, community programming relating to the event;

• (h) an oral or written acknowledgement, that may include a moving visual presentation of no more than 15 seconds per message, contained in community programming that mentions no more than the name of a person, a description of the goods, services or activities that are being sold or promoted by the person, and their address and telephone number, if the person provided direct financial assistance for the community programming in which the acknowledgement is contained;

• (i) an oral or a written acknowledgement contained in community programming that mentions no more than the name of a person, the goods or services provided by the person and their address and telephone number, if the person provided the goods or services free of charge to the licensee for use in connection with the production of the community programming in which the acknowledgement is contained;

• (j) a still image programming service as described in Public Notice CRTC 1993-51, entitled Exemption Order Respecting Still Image Programming Service Undertakings, if the service is produced by the licensee or by members of the community served by the undertaking and does not contain commercial messages, other than commercial messages contained within the programming service of a licensed radio station; or

• (k) the programming of a community programming undertaking.

(1.1) At least 75% of the time for promotional announcements broadcast in each broadcast week under paragraph (1)(b) shall be made available for the promotion of the community channel and for the promotion, by Canadian programming undertakings other than related programming undertakings, of their respective services.

(1.2) A maximum of 25% of the time for promotional announcements broadcast in each broadcast week under paragraph (1)(b) may be made available for the promotion of the services of related programming undertakings, discretionary services and programming packages, cable FM service and additional cable outlets and for the distribution of information on customer services and channel realignments.

(2) Whenever a licensee is not distributing community programming on the community channel in a licensed area, or is distributing on that channel community programming that has no audio component, the licensee may distribute on that channel the programming service of a local radio station, other than an educational radio programming service the operation of which is the responsibility of an educational authority.

(3) Whenever a Class 2 licensee is not distributing community programming on the community channel in a licensed area, the licensee may distribute in that licensed area the programming services referred to in Public Notice CRTC 1985-151, entitled Complementary Programming on the Community Channel.

(4) If a licensee provides time on the community channel in a licensed area during an election period for the distribution of programming of a partisan political character, the licensee shall allocate that time on an equitable basis among all accredited political parties and rival candidates.