The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has approved Corus Entertainment’s request for regulatory flexibility, reducing its programs of national interest (PNI) requirements.

The decision, issued Monday (June 13) will see Corus’ required PNI investment decrease from 8.5% to 5% of the previous year’s gross revenues. Programming that falls under the CRTC’s definition of PNI include scripted drama and comedy, long-form documentaries and certain awards shows.

The CRTC also granted Corus’ request to extend the deadline to catch up on its underspend on Canadian programming expenditures (CPE) beyond the end of the licence term.

In a news release, the CRTC said the decision will not change the overall amount Corus is required to spend on Canadian programming, but it will grant Corus “more flexibility to choose the type of Canadian programming it invests in, while ensuring continued support for news programming.”

“The application was important for the CRTC to consider because losing the contributions made by Corus to the system would greatly reduce the options Canadian viewers have for content. Corus is a vital source of local news and local expression through the Global Television Network, and is also the largest provider of independent programming in Canada. The loss of Corus’ contributions would significantly impact the Canadian broadcasting system, which would affect audiences and creators,” read the release.

The 8.5% PNI requirement for Corus was set in 2018, after industry uproar led the Department of Canadian Heritage to send back a decision from the CRTC to set the PNI requirement for English-language broadcast groups to 5%.

Intervenors to the flexibility request argued that reducing Corus’ PNI requirement would run counter to the Order in Council decision that led to the 8.5% requirement. However, the CRTC deliberated that the order was not binding and therefore not relevant to the proceeding.

“This is the most substantive move toward regulatory change that our company has seen in years,” said a spokesperson for Corus in a statement to Playback Daily. “We are hopeful this is the first step toward long overdue broader changes to the decades-old regulatory regime. Time is of the essence for Corus and the industry.”

The Commission also issued a letter in regards to requests from Corus, Bell Media, Quebecor Media and Rogers Sports & Media to amend their broadcast licences around CPE requirements. In the letter, the CRTC said these requests will be considered as part of phase two of its overall regulatory plan to modernize Canada’s broadcasting framework. As a result, the applications were suspended.

In a statement to Playback, the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) said it is “currently reviewing today’s broadcasting decision in detail, but at first glance it is alarming.”

“Corus is a significant commissioner of independently-produced programming in Canada – particularly kids programming. This is a genre that is already in crisis, and by reducing Corus’s PNI obligations, the almost certain result is less new independently-produced programming for Canadian kids. This decision risks contributing to the hollowing out of Canada’s kids’ production sector,” continued the statement.