The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) says it will give “immediate consideration” to Corus Entertainment’s application to amend its broadcast licence.

On Thursday (Oct. 19), the Commission published a letter from the broadcaster requesting urgent amendments to the conditions of service for its English-language television channels and discretionary services.

The proposed changes include restoring its programs of national interest (PNI) expenditure requirements to the 5% mark set in the CRTC’s initial 2017 licence renewal decision, and to extend its PNI expenditure repayment deadline to beyond the end of its licence term. PNIs include primetime genres such as drama, comedy and awards shows. Corus’ current PNI expenditure requirement is set at 8.5%.

The amendment requests are part of an initial filing from Corus that was sent to the CRTC in November 2022. In the letter, Corus argued that “meaningful changes” within its operating environment have occurred since that application was filed, citing the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes’ impact on its premium content deliveries, as well as inflation, which has affected operating costs and advertising revenue.

Corus also said its debt ratio has increased “to unacceptable levels” due to lower profitability and a 61% year-over-year decrease in free cash flow.

The CRTC responded to Corus’s plea by saying it is “of the preliminary view” that amending the conditions of service for Corus’ English-language channels would be “in the best interest of the Canadian broadcasting system as a whole.” The Commission has set Nov. 3 as the deadline for interventions, with Nov. 8 as the deadline for replies to the CRTC and intervening parties.

The broadcaster has made a number of cuts to its workforce over the last year and this week announced significant changes to its executive leadership structure.

Corus Entertainment’s EVP content and strategy, Colin Bohm, is exiting the company and his role is being rolled up under Troy Reeb, who takes on an expanded role as EVP networks and content on Nov. 1. Reeb will now be responsible for Corus’ studio content, in addition to his existing oversight of the company’s broadcast networks, news and audio. The new structure was implemented to “streamline” Corus’ programming operating model, according to a news release from the company.

This article originally appeared in Playback and has been modified for Media in Canada