- paterson1
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Re: Call Letters Question
It looks like this has never been enforced at all and has been on the books for a long time. And who has the responsibility, Industry Canada or CRTC or some other government body? However once per hour is too much, not necessary in my opinion. Maybe every 3 or 4 hours. TV, and CBC, I still think it may have something to do with network owned and operated stations.
Why does the document also talk about the holder of a Broadcasting Certificate for a Broadcasting Station or Network that originates programming shall identify at least once every day. In that case if just once per day possibly most radio stations are doing this. Also the call letters often show on new radios, especially in the car. Virgin Radio here in town shows as both Virgin and CFCA 105.3. Same with Magic FM in Guelph, shows both Magic and CIMJ 106.1. Maybe this is why it doesn't seem to be a big concern or brought up much?
- RadioActive
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Re: Call Letters Question
My guess is that most people really don't care and that's why you never hear about it. It only came up here because a friend was asking about it. Otherwise, it's rarely a topic even on a board like this. I would think even twice a day (say at 6 AM and 6 PM) would be more than enough. But they don't even do that.
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Thread Starter- RadioActive
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Re: Call Letters Question
Well, I have to give the folks at Industry Canada credit - one of them not only answered my original email but took the time to address a follow-up. What he has to say shows that the vast majority of local TV stations appear to be in breach of the rules laid down by the government. But I don't expect anything will ever come of it. It would be interesting, though, if someone challenged them on it, so we might once again hear "CFTO" or "CBLT" actually said on air.
The rep seems to feel that the rules ARE being followed. Does anyone here think that's true?
Here's the email exchange:
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- Are there any penalties or warnings given for not obeying these rules (airing IDs with complete call letters?)
- Are they ever enforced? I can tell you unequivocally that almost none of the TV stations do what is stated in your email. I’m not an expert, but according to the rules you outlined, they clearly are not following the edicts.
- Does your department intend to do anything about this? I realize it’s not a big deal overall, but I would love to know what, if anything, might be done about this?
All broadcast stations must comply with ISED Canada’s applicable Acts, Regulations, Policies, Standards and Procedures.
Where these requirements are not being met, which is rare in my experience, cases of non-compliance are usually resolved by communicating and working with the party to identify solutions and bring them into compliance. In some cases, written notices may be issued advising the party of the need to come into compliance with the requirements set by ISED Canada. There are provisions in the Radiocommunication Act which lays out offences and punishments, as well penalties for violations of the Radiocommunication Act.
All broadcast stations must comply with ISED Canada’s applicable Acts, Regulations, Policies, Standards and Procedures, including the requirement to identify station call signs. In the case of TV stations, section 2.2 of BETS 11 states in part “In the case of a television broadcasting station, the voice announcement may be replaced by a visual announcement of not less than three seconds in duration that identifies the call sign assigned to that station and the principal city or community that is served by that station.”
The department expects all broadcast stations to comply with all of ISED Canada’s Acts, Regulations, Policies, Standards and Procedures, including the requirement to identify station call signs.
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Thread Starter- Hansa
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Re: Call Letters Question
RadioActive wrote:
The one station that has basically never used its call letters is TVO. The one exception I'm aware of is from when they signed on in 1970, they showed a video of that during one of their anniversaries that verbally stated CICA-TV. I've never seen it at any other time on TVO.
That's probably because at the very beginning there WAS no TVO per se. There was only CICA, Channel 19, and I remember John Delazzer used to be the voice on the IDs. Once it became an Ontario network, the CICA call letters disappeared, seemingly forever.
They might have been known on air as CICA at launch but they were branded OECA (Ontario Educational Communications Authority) until 1974 and still are OECA legally.
They had possibly the scariest on air ident ever created. A bit counterproductive for an educational channel to have an ident that would cause children to run, screaming from the living room 
Of course, WGBH, which produced much of PBS' programming in the 1970s, wasn't much better.
"Can't sleep, educational TV will eat me".
Last edited by Hansa (March 3, 2021 7:28 pm)
- paterson1
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Re: Call Letters Question
Maybe I don't understand this (I don't understand many things). Are stations supposed to have an official ID every hour or once per day. Reading through the rules they seem to say both. And the person from Industry Canada gives the impression that most TV stations are doing what they are supposed to do. Which in my mind would be once per day, and likely when nobody is watching or doesn't notice.
Love the two idents Hansa. The OECA id is scary, or was it trying to portray the "deep depths of knowledge"? It could also have been the intro to a Count Floyd Monster Horror Chiller Theatre movie. Dr. Tongue's Evil House of Pancakes was a personal favourite! Could also pass as a CBS id that smoked a lot of pot. And the ident for WGBH, which is truly a heritage PBS station, to me seems to say that they are a busy place.
Last edited by paterson1 (March 3, 2021 9:05 pm)