The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has decided to allow advertising on VOD (video on demand) services, and it has opened the door to the use of new forms of advertising, including targeted advertising, in the VOD environment.
Conditions and negotiations apply, but the CRTC says that advertising should be permitted only in programming acquired directly from an unrelated licensed Canadian broadcaster or from a related broadcaster that has also acquired the linear rights to the program.
The CRTC says cable companies should negotiate with broadcasters to sell advertising on VOD, and decide among themselves how revenues will be distributed.
Despite such services' relative popularity, there has been no real VOD business model, considering the rights often paid for the content. New revenue streams for the cable based services can also come as old ads are replaced with new ads or more highly targeted ads, based on viewer demand and specific demographics.
For more information, see the CRTC document Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010-190, at http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-190.htm