Commercial radio stations must air more Canadian jazz, blues and concert music, the Canadian Radio-Television Commission has ruled.

Under the CRTC ruling, the requirement for broadcasting jazz and blues will rise to 25 per cent of the broadcast week, up from 10 per cent.

The requirement to air Canadian concert music -- including opera, operettas and musicals -- will rise to 20 per cent from 10 per cent.

The federal regulator also says it will almost double the amount of money it collects from radio stations in order to support home-grown talent; and ask stations to make "specific commitments to provide airplay for and to promote emerging Canadian artists."

In a news release, the CRTC says it considered the possibility of increasing the minimum level of Canadian popular musical aired on commercial radio from 35 per cent to 40 per cent.

However, it "determined that such an increase would not be appropriate at a time when the commercial radio industry must respond to the challenge of competing with new unregulated sources for the delivery of audio programming."

These "unregulated sources" include MP3 players, iPods and other personal media devices, Internet music services and radio streaming, such as streaming over wireless broadband, podcasting, peer-to-peer file sharing and downloading, cell phone radio and satellite radio.

The levies for the support of Canadian talent had been based on the size of the market served by each station, but now the CRTC plans to vary the levies according to revenues.

Stations at the low end, with revenues of $625,000 or less, will pay a flat $500; those who make between $625,000 and $1.25 million will pay a flat $1,000 fee; and the biggest moneymakers who bring in more than $1.25 million will play $1,000 plus 0.5 per cent of revenues over $1.25 million.

The CRTC says if the new system were applied to the 2005-2006 broadcast year, total contributions from radio broadcasters would have risen by between $3.5 million and $4 million, compared to the $2.83 million collected the year before.

CRTC Chairman Charles Dalfen said the radio industry faces a key challenge to remain relevant in a marketplace undergoing "rapidly changing technology and consumer behaviour."

"We are confident that the measures announced today will enable commercial radio broadcasters to contribute effectively to the achievement of the objectives set out in the Broadcasting Act, while operating efficiently in an increasingly competitive environment," Dalfen says in the news release.

"The establishment of a new approach to Canadian content development (CCD), financed by the contributions of broadcasters, will place an emphasis on the creation and promotion of audio content for broadcast through the development of Canadian musical and spoken word talent, including journalists. This approach should help to increase the amount of high-quality Canadian music and spoken word material, and promote emerging Canadian talent."

The ruling comes a day after the CRTC warned that "quick action" was needed to hold new, emerging technologies outside the regulatory realm at bay.

The CRTC predicts that Canadians' rising use of electronic platforms like mobile networks and the web will have an increasing effect on regulated broadcasting, and that these shifting patterns, while marginal so far, need to be addressed within three to seven years or it may be too late.

The report, "The Future Environment Facing the Canadian Broadcasting System," urges the "detailed and ongoing monitoring of developments in the evolution, contribution and impact of audio-visual technologies,'' saying it is essential to the formation of informed public policy.

The report says Canadians still receive the vast majority of programming through regulated broadcasts.

But acting on order from Heritage Minister Bev Oda, the agency that regulates and supervises broadcasting and telecommunications has begun three years of regulatory framework review of radio, TV and broadcasting distribution, focusing on the role of technological change.

"The CRTC will continue to seek ways to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden to ensure that our measures are as effective and efficient as possible," it said in a statement Thursday.