What's the CRTC even doing?

The CRTC, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, last year convened a hearing called “The Path Forward”. The commission appeared to acknowledge, finally, that radio in Canada needs help. And the great and good of radio went to talk to the CRTC - at their invitation.

One year later, how are things going?

“One year ago today, I appeared before the CRTC during “The Path Forward” hearings to plead for the modernization of content regulations at Canadian radio. One year later, absolutely nothing has happened. Not minor progress. Nothing.” - Steve Jones, the President of Stingray Radio, is angry at the CRTC for literally doing nothing in the past year.

Pattinson Media’s CEO, Rod Schween, agrees, in an op-ed for Broadcast Dialogue. “How long does it take to build a house? Because from where many broadcasters sit, we’ve been watching construction for too long. The challenge is that radio doesn’t have the luxury of waiting for the perfect house. We aren’t asking for the Taj Mahal, just for a quality built Canadian structure.”

Kevin Desjardins, the CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, is also “increasingly worried” that the CRTC appears to have done little to move forward.

In 2019, I warned the CRTC that things needed to change. Speaking at Canadian Music Week, with (apparently) a CRTC Commissioner in the room, I showed a picture of the CRTC’s headquarters, and said:

This is the headquarters of the CRTC. It was built in 1978, and for the CRTC, I don’t think it’s just the building that is stuck in 1978.

In 1978, it was absolutely right to regulate stations based on format. Because the only competition radio had back then was that people had to go to the local gas station and buy this to enjoy instead (I showed a cassette of Gordon Lightfoot’s Greatest Hits). But, CRTC, things have changed. So stations should be able to change to best serve the Canadian public.

In 1978, 35% of Canadian content makes sense. But CRTC, things have changed. Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music have no cancon target to hit. And the music industry might want to more new and emerging artists to be played, rather than the same old songs. The Maple rules might make sense to include some credit for breaking new music.

In 1978, it might have made sense for monthly hearings, except in January and in June, and for it to take 6, 8, 9 months for one company to buy a radio station from someone else. But, CRTC, things have changed. 9 months of uncertainty is no way to treat Canadian workers, and Canadian radio listeners. It’s also no way to run effective Canadian businesses.

In 1978, it might have been right to be cautious about allowing more choice onto the air: and for interventions and economic tests for new licences that can take years to complete. But, CRTC, things have changed. Listeners now have infinite choice online. This caution and delay harms Canadian businesses and means less choice for the Canadian public.

In short, I think the CRTC is regulating radio as if it’s still 1978. But, CRTC, things have changed. In 1978 your prime minster was a guy called Trudeau, whereas today… oh.

Now I’m not saying anything you don’t know. It is clear to me, as an outsider who’s worked in Canadian radio in the past, that there’s only one set of people to blame for Canadian radio’s shrinking figures - both revenue and audience.

It’s not the CRTC.

It’s you. The Canadian radio industry.

You know the CRTC is no longer fit for purpose in terms of radio regulation. But you also run TV channels, cable networks, mobile phone services. Let’s not rock the boat. Best not jeopardise those, eh?

My advice is - take a look at the UK, where radio is strong and healthy, and has consistently been reducing regulation since the 1970s. They have a strong lobby group called Radiocentre, and they’ve succeeded in reducing regulation from Ofcom, and also changing the law about small print for financial advertising to make it better for radio, and working with record companies to get a better deal for podcasting and streaming.

Or take a look at Australia, one of the most successful commercial radio markets in the world. They have a strong lobby group called Commercial Radio Australia, and they’ve been successful in all kinds of pieces of lobbying to Parliament, including achieving better research, working with ad agencies to make better ads, lobbying for significantly relaxed ownership laws, and driving through DAB+ and a strategy to fight Facebook and other online competitors.

A strong lobbying group for all of Canadian radio would ensure that radio businesses can put pressure on the CRTC to modernise. The federal government have already said they want to review the Broadcasting Act. And clearly this puts some of you in a difficult position with your other business interests. So the answer is an effective lobbying group for Canadian radio. One body, working on behalf of all of radio.

And, at Radiodays North America in 2025, I made speaking notes that said:

Bell Media said in Feb last year that they were selling 45 stations. It took more than a year to get regulatory approval from the commission. More than a year of Canadians working for radio stations with no clear future. More than a year for Canadians to see their local radio station have no investment in programming, and unmotivated staff. In any other industry that sale would have happened in two weeks. And this isn’t just one thing - this is a pattern with the CRTC. As we all know, sales of stations can take more than a year of putting people in limbo. The commission is bad for radio, and bad for Canadians. It’s not a responsible regulator for our industry, but nobody says so, because Canadian radio owners also own tv and telcos. It’s a bad situation.

In 2022 after another Canadian Music Week, I noted a conversation I’d had:

I heard a wonderful story of a program controller who’d been kept on for many, many years despite never bringing in the numbers, being a poor manager, and universally disliked by their staff. On enquiring why this person was still in a job, senior management shrugged and said that this person “knew the CRTC rules better than anyone else”. Which, perhaps, says it all.

And, earlier this year, I noted that the CRTC Commissioner at the FWD Conference in Kelowna BC appeared to lack any urgency at all.

Commercial radio in Canada is already in poor health. It isn’t just the CanCon rules - it’s everything else that the CRTC does to stifle the industry and harm media plurality.

Yet, I still get the feeling that much of Canadian radio is doing nothing about it. Rogers isn’t going to kick up a fuss. Nor will Bell. Their relationship with the CRTC is too important to put in jeopardy just because of their small ailing radio businesses. They’ve got telco businesses and television networks to worry about.

If the CRTC continues sitting on its hands, it won’t be the regulator of Canadian commercial radio: because there won’t be any Canadian commercial radio left. Is that a future that the Commission wants? It seems so.