In a startling announcement that looks ahead to this spring’s licence renewal hearings, the CRTC said it is poised to shorten licence terms for the country’s over-the-air broadcasters to just one year, down from the traditional seven, and that it may require English broadcasters to spend the same amount on domestic shows as on foreign.

The CRTC said ‘at first blush [it] finds a lot of merit’ in imposing a 1:1 ratio on spending as a condition of licence on English-language television outlets, a move that, if implemented, could drastically change the look and economics of Canadian television, funneling much more cash to domestic producers.

Pointing to the lagging economy, the switch from analog to digital transmission and other factors, the CRTC said it would be ‘extremely difficult’ to issue seven-year licences for the likes of CTV, Canwest, Rogers and TVA.

Instead, it favors narrowing the scope of the hearings and reducing the terms to one year, looking to revisit the issues in the spring of 2010. Further, the commission indicated that in 2010 it will assess licence renewals by ownership group, rather than by sector, in a bid to address ‘the increased consolidation’ in the broadcasting sector.

Unions, including the Writers Guild of Canada and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, warned that the shorter hearings must continue to be fully transparent and protect the interests of Canadians.

‘Given the economic circumstances, this is the best possible solution,’ concedes Maureen Parker, exec director at the WGC. ‘[But] we’re still disappointed that this won’t be a full hearing with full discourse,’ she adds.

Parker does not know what to make of the 1:1 ratio and wonders whether it would include all Canadian programming such as sports and lifestyle shows. ‘We’d like to keep the conversation focused on drama,’ she says, noting that broadcasters spend nine times the amount of money on foreign drama versus Canadian.

The guild is applauding the regulator’s decision to move to group licence renewals in 2010, which will include over-the-air broadcasters and specialties. ‘Maybe business isn’t as booming on the OTA side, but certainly it is still doing very well for them on the cable side,’ Parker offers.

The licence renewals are set to start on April 27.