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- A Category C service is the former term for a Canadian discretionary specialty channel which, as defined by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, operates under the conditions of license for "competitive Canadian specialty services operating in the genres of mainstream sports and national news". Under previous policies, these services were intentionally unprotected from competition by other Category B services of the same genre (as per the now-discontinued genre protection policy), but are still "protected" from competition by other discretionary services. In other words, if someone wants to launch a competing service, they must do so by committing to the same obligations, including common requirements for the exhibition and funding of Canadian-produced programming, as others. Discretionary services, by contrast, may not devote more than 10% of their monthly programming to live professional sports. Most mainstream news channels are subject to a form of must carry rules; they must be offered on a packaged or standalone basis, but not necessarily on the lowest tier of service, by all digital television providers. Category C sports services are not subject to must-carry rules; distributors must negotiate directly with their operators for carriage. (en)
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