After being allowed to choose between Canadian commercials or the much-touted U.S. commercials for three Super Bowls, Canadian viewers will only see their country’s feed this winter after a ruling by the country’s Supreme Court.
Canadian cable and satellite providers carry U.S. broadcast networks in addition to Canadian channels. The high court ruling is a result of “simultaneous substitution” rule that requires providers to substitute a local station over the U.S. feed when both channels are carrying the same show at the same time.
The simsub requirement had applied to the Super Bowl until a 2016 decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission banning simsub for the game. The Supreme Court ruling in a case brought by CTV owner Bell Media said that the CRTC overstepped its authority.
After Thursday’s ruling, the CRTC updated its simsub page to suggest that Canadian broadcasters could pass through the American commercials (rather than selling their own).
Regionally, the move the signals of CTV affiliates CKY (Winnipeg) or CKPR (Thunder Bay) will be substituted for FOX affiliate KMSP (Minneapolis) during the game. Satellite viewers will see a CTV affiliate in place of their normal U.S. FOX affiliate, which varies by provider.
For more information on Canada’s TV system, see the article “Why Canadian TV is Fascinating.”