CBC and Digital TV

[jon]

CBC’s switch to digital TV transmission will leave some viewers without access
KATE TAYLOR
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Jul. 10, 2011 7:26PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Jul. 11, 2011 11:26PM EDT

For example, CBC-Radio Canada will be turning off the French-language analog service in many English-speaking cities including Calgary, Windsor, Ont., and Halifax, and the English-language analog signals in most Quebec markets – except for Montreal and Ottawa/Gatineau. That move has annoyed some francophones because, in French, NHL games are only available on the specialty sports channel RDS. Quebeckers who want to watch the games without paying for cable or satellite rely on the English-language CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.

“No more free hockey on Saturday night. This is unacceptable,” Quebec City resident José Breton writes on his blog protesting the proposed cut. “In principle, public television is supposed to be free. People pay taxes for Radio-Canada for both the French and English. So, citizens of Quebec City will not have a service for which they pay.”

The CBC, however, argues that maintaining over-the-air signals for small numbers of viewers is not an efficient use of the broadcaster’s $1.1-billion parliamentary subsidy.

It is only replacing the transmitters in places where it has a television station that originates programming: London, for example, does not have its own station; the signal is a retransmission from Toronto, while Saint John, although it is the larger city, receives a retransmission of the Fredericton signal. (Moncton, meanwhile, will only keep the French service.)

“It is difficult to justify given the small number of people,” said Steven Guiton, the CBC’s VP and Chief Regulatory Officer, pointing out most Canadians subscribe to cable or satellite. “The transition to digital is going to be a challenge for us; we’ve always said this ... We are sorry we can’t continue with technology that is used by a small minority.”

He said going digital in all mandatory markets would cost the CBC another $50-million, but he hopes the broadcaster might work out a plan with the CRTC to keep analog transmitters running. However, CRTC spokesman Denis Carmel said the CBC has not made any applications to maintain analog signals.

Commercial broadcaster CTV said it will be ready with 23 transmitters for its mandatory English-language markets on Aug. 31, while Global said it will be setting up 85 digital transmitters, including 19 in mandatory markets.

Neither the CBC nor the commercial broadcasters have received any government funding to replace transmitters, although the spectrum they are freeing up – by moving to signals that take less space on the airwaves – is expected to earn the federal government billions when it is sold off to mobile providers in 2012. The last spectrum auction, in 2008, raised $4.25-billion.

“If you took $100-million from that money you could subsidize all the broadcasters, not just the CBC, with the costs of going digital,” said Ian Morrison, spokesman for the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, a lobby group that argues the CBC’s plan does not uphold its public mandate.

Readers can check the status of their over-the-air CBC coverage at http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/dtv.

With files from Susan Krashinksy

[jon]

I'm not sure how much of this is "New News" and how much is people finally waking up to what the CBC said a year ago about how they would handle "The Digital Transition".

[Howaboutthat]

And of course it's not just CBC, it's any ota broadcaster.
The same thing happened down in the states, people waited until the last minute, after about 3 years of notice and then complained that they were going to lose their shows.
Go back to your iPod , you shouldnt be handling complicated things like rabbit ears!

[drmusic]

I know on some other message boards people in eastern Canada, from places like London, have been kicking up a fuss, calling city councillors and that kind of thing, which is probably why this is becoming more of an issue now. I'm also guessing that this will be more of an issue in southern Ontario, where more people have opted to do without cable since there are so many stations available over the air. In Alberta and Saskatchewan, where American stations can't be received, cable, satellite, and IPTV have probably achieved near-total penetration, making this a very minor issue.

[PMC]

“If you took $100-million from that money you could subsidize all the broadcasters, not just the CBC, with the costs of going digital,” said Ian Morrison, spokesman for the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, a lobby group that argues the CBC’s plan does not uphold its public mandate.

This guy has a point... call your MP and encourage others to do the same.