You may never watch them and they cost a fortune, but now most of the major Canadian TV networks will have to shell out ever bigger bucks to keep the parade of Canadian made shows coming. The CRTC made the new requirement public on Thursday, and while making all the usual politically correct statements about keeping the industry north of the border strong and ensuring Canadians see themselves represented on screen etc. etc., the bottom line, is, well, how it will affect the bottom line. 

According to the new rules, Bell's CanCon spending goes from 5% of its total revenues to 7.5%. 

Corus, already in financial straits, has to fork out 8.5% instead of 5%.

And Rogers, whose books are hardly in the red, for some reason gets to stay at 5%.

There were also new amounts announced for French TV networks, which most of us will never see here. The new rules start this September and go to 2022.

I can only wonder how this is being greeted in the various corporate boardrooms, although I'm sure they knew it was coming. And how much it might increase your future cable or satellite bills, which you may not have known was coming.

CRTC Decision