CRTC RULES
U.S. Super Bowl ads may be seen in Canada
Canada’s broadcast regulator has officially changed its rules to prevent broadcasters from swapping out U.S. commercials for local ads during the Super Bowl despite an ongoing legal dispute over its right to block Canadian advertising during the country’s mostwatched television event.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued a distribution order Friday to stop simultaneous substitution during the National Football League championship event as of 2017. Simsub, as it’s known, temporarily replaces the signal of an American channel rebroadcast in Canada with a local channel showing the same program and is used to show local commercials.
This could mean Canadians will be able to watch U.S. ads — the CRTC dubbed these an “integral element of the event” — during the Super Bowl for the first time next year. The CRTC first announced plans to get rid of simsub during the Super Bowl in 2015 citing consumers’ desire to see the flashier American ads. The rule only applies to rebroadcasts of U.S. stations, so Canadian stations playing the event can continue to play Canadian ads.
But it’s not clear whether the CRTC’s new rule will last until the big game.
Bell Media and the NFL challenged the simsub ban in Federal Court of Appeal, which is expected to rule on the matter in the next few months.
Bell and the NFL argued the CRTC doesn’t have the jurisdiction to single out the Super Bowl, which attracted 10 million Canadian viewers last year including the half time show. The CRTC only receives about 100 complaints annually about not being able to see U.S. ads.
Bell owns CTV stations across the country as well as broadcast distribution operations. It paid “tens of millions” for an exclusive licence to broadcast the Super Bowl in Canada until 2019 and uses simsub during the Super Bowl to sell ad space to Canadian companies that want to get ads in front of a massive Canadian audience. American companies will now get that exposure without paying an extra dime, it argued, adding Canadian companies won’t reach their audience and Canadian consumers won’t see advertisements for products and services they can actually buy.
Bell also noted that advertising revenue for the Super Bowl has contributed millions to Canadian programming, all of which could be lost under the new rules.
Bell appealed the decision before it was official since it starts selling ads months before the program airs. The court heard the case in June.
When asked why it didn’t wait for the court’s ruling before issuing an order, the CRTC said Canadians have wanted to see the U.S. ads for years.
“The CRTC considers that not allowing simultaneous substitution during the Super Bowl is in the public’s interest,” a spokesperson wrote in an email. “The CRTC will respect the court’s decision when it is issued.”
Bell, too, awaits the judge’s ruling.
“At this time we are looking forward to the decision of the Federal Court on this,” a spokesperson said in an email.