Yesterday, the CRTC denied an application from Videotron to add an adult channel from France to its list of available channels. Sorry, no link from me to that channel – I’ll leave it to the creative among you to find XXL TV.
The CRTC noted that Canadian broadcasters are required, as a condition of licence, to have an internal policy for adult programming and adhere to it. Such policies include, among other things, requirements that all adult programming be screened prior to broadcast. Heck of a job, don’t you think?
However, the CRTC recognized that not all jurisdictions apply similar requirements or have similar community standards.
… the Commission notes that non-Canadian services are generally targeted at their home markets or, in some cases, to international markets. Consequently, they are not necessarily influenced in their programming choices by standards that generally prevail in Canada. Further, with respect to non-Canadian services, the Commission does not have at its disposal the full range of enforcement mechanisms applicable to Canadian licensees, such as the imposition of a mandatory order to ensure compliance with conditions of licence or regulations.
Continuing to preserve sovereignty over domestic issues under its jurisdiction. Do parallels apply to other areas under the CRTC’s jurisdiction?