Editing Canadian content (section)

===Talk radio and American syndicated programming===
Unlike music radio, the rules on talk radio are more ambiguous. The vast majority of Canadian commercial English-language talk radio stations operate with local talk for most of the daylight hours, with the exception of two nationally syndicated Canadian talk show hosts: news/talk personality [[Charles Adler (broadcaster)|Charles Adler]] and sports talk host [[Bob McCown]]. The lone restriction is that the station must have a working studio within the region it broadcasts, which prohibits the use of entirely satellite-operated stations (which are commonplace in the United States).

Syndicated programming from the United States invariably airs after 7:00&nbsp;pm local time in virtually all markets, and usually features non-political programs such as ''[[The Jim Rome Show]]'' and ''[[Coast to Coast AM]]''. More political American shows, although the now defunct [[CFBN (AM)|CFBN]] aired [[Dennis Miller]] and the ''[[Glenn Beck Program]]'' on tape delay in the evenings for a few months, from April through November 2007, when CFBN stopped broadcasting over the air, and ''[[The Phil Hendrie Show]]'' aired for many years on [[CKTB]], even during the period when it focused on political content. Miller also aired on [[CHAM (radio station)|CHAM]] for two years from 2008 to 2010. No rule prevents American political talk shows from being aired on Canadian radio stations; such programs are simply not carried because their focus on American politics limits their relevance to Canadian radio audiences, especially given the high rights fees top American hosts such as [[Rush Limbaugh]] charge their affiliates.

As in the United States in the 1980s, the trend for [[AM radio|AM]] stations in Canada in the 1990s was to apply for an [[FM radio|FM]] broadcasting license or move away from music in favour of [[talk radio]] formats. (Since the late 2000s, AM radio in North America has been declining as stations have shut down and moved to FM.)  The total amount of Canadian-produced content declined as broadcasters could license syndicated radio programs produced in the U.S., while the Cancon regulations were conceived to apply to music only, and not to spoken-word programming. This became particularly controversial in 1998 when stations in [[Toronto]] and [[Montreal]] started airing ''[[The Howard Stern Show]]'' from New York City during prime daytime hours. Stern was forced off the air not because of Canadian content, but because the [[Canadian Broadcast Standards Council]] reprimanded the stations broadcasting Stern numerous times for Stern's comments, which prompted the two stations to drop him in short order. Stern would later move exclusively to satellite radio.

American shows that combine talk and music, such as [[Blair Garner]], [[Elvis Duran]], [[Delilah Rene|Delilah]] and [[John Tesh]], usually have special playlists for airing in Canada to assist in meeting Canadian content requirements. Because of the different requirements, American syndicated [[oldies]] programs are widely popular in Canada, such as ''[[Classic Countdown|American Gold]]'', [[Wolfman Jack]], and ''[[M. G. Kelly]]'s American Hit List''. These shows usually do not substitute Canadian songs, due in part to a fairly large library of Canadian musicians already in rotation in the format (such as [[The Guess Who]], [[Gordon Lightfoot]], [[Paul Anka]], [[Terry Jacks]] or [[R. Dean Taylor]]). In other formats, an American syndicated program sometimes is supplemented with an all-Canadian program; for instance, [[CKMX]] will broadcast ''[[Country Countdown USA]]'' and ''America's [[Grand Ole Opry]] Weekend'' along with the Canadian syndicated programs ''Canadian Country Spotlight'' and Hugh McLennan's ''Spirit of the West'', the last of which is also carried by several U.S. stations. American syndicated series are usually played in "off peak" and weekend hours.

A notable exception to the majority-Canadian spoken word programming came in 2012 when [[Astral Media]] introduced [[CKSL]] and [[CHAM (radio station)|CHAM]], two stations in southern Ontario, as full-time affiliates of [[24/7 Comedy Radio]], a service of the U.S.-based [[Cumulus Media Networks]]. CHAM meets its studio requirement by maintaining a locally based interstitial host.