The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition on the eve of the Super Bowl, the CRTC has announced that starting in 2017, broadcasters will be banned from using "simultaneous substitution" for the big game. The Globe's Susan Krashinsky and James Bradshaw write the "simsub" system allows networks such as CTV, City and Global to ask cable and satellite TV providers to swap in their own signals (and commercials) into American broadcasters' feeds, when the same show airs at the same time. Because advertising prices are based on audience numbers, the guarantee that Canadian viewers won't be lost to American channels generates between $250-million and $400-million in annual revenue. Regulations require that some of that money is used to fund Canadian programming. The new ban applies to Super Bowls and specialty channels, including lucrative sports rights on TSN and Sportsnet, such as the World Series, Wimbledon and golf's Masters. At a major hearing into the future of television last September, the CRTC mulled scrapping signal swapping entirely. In an interview Thursday, CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said he believes simsub's relevance "will dwindle over time" as viewers migrate to new technologies.