It was a good news/bad news day at the CRTC for CHCH. The Commission renewed the station's licence, which is no surprise. 

But it turned down an urgent request to reduce its Canadian content obligations from 30% to 25%. CHCH claimed the uncertainty in the industry and downturn in advertising forced it to make the precautionary move. The station insists it wanted to get this done before it had to come before them again in far more desperate straits.

But the Commission denied it. Why? Here's the explanation:

"The Commission notes that CPE (Canadian Program Expenditure) contribution requirements are based on a percentage of the previous broadcast year’s revenues. As such, although the licensee pointed to a fluctuation in revenues and funding support...as rationale for its request, any decline in CHCH-DT’s revenues would translate into a decrease in its CPE requirement (in absolute dollars), relative to the previous broadcast year’s gross revenues."

So if they makes less, they'll have to pay out less. Request denied. 

Still, it's a sign of how nervous they are at the independent, which does not have a big network cushion to fall back on for its shows. And I can only wonder if they'll be back soon, asking for the very same thing as the TV business continues to decline. 

CHCH Decision