CTV Globemedia Has To Put The Grey Cup On CTV

My blog is about technology and impact it has in Canada, but I do write about technology and Canadian media. For once I will write about Canadian media and my weekend passion, football.  For the forth year in a row many fans of the Canadian Football League, including my parents who only subscribe to a basic cable package which doesn't include TSN will not be able to watch the Grey Cup (or any other game from the previous four seasons).  Despite owning both TSN and the CTV network, CTV Globemedia chooses to air the No Fun League from south of the border on CTV for all Canadians to see and punt the CFL onto their cable sports channel.

The nine percent of Canadian homes that use antennas as the only source of television signals combined with the larger proportion of homes that subscribe to cable and satellite packages that don't include TSN, leaves about one in five households with no access to the CFL on TV.  The potential lost ratings and advertising revenue has to be something that somebody at CTV Globemedia or the Canadian Football League has to be at least aware of. 

Undoubtedly CTV Globemedia would argue the carriage issue revolves around access to CFL games in High Definition, If Canadians from coast to coast with high definition service could watch on an HD feed from CTV (CFTO Toronto) through their digital cable or satellite service wouldn't generate as much revenue as viewership on TSN.  Since cable and satellite providers pay for the TSN signal, versus not having to pay for CTV.  It clear how much CTV Globemedia only sees revenue from the cable and satellite providers and not to mention the already big revenue TSN makes from advertisers, they don't see the 20 percent of Canadians who would watch CFL if they could.  Including that 20 percent by moving the CFL to CTV would generate far greater advertising revenue for CTV Globemedia.

DTV Canada Transition Update: Saskatchewan

Broadcast television is set to make the big switch from analog to digital in the Great White North in less than 10 months the stalling tactics on the part of the broadcasting industry are going to make the transition messy that will make the American version of the DTV transition a year and half ago organized and orderly.   With rebroadcast relay transmitters staying on analog and some stations changing the channel they send out their signals on, without massive public education those who depend on over the air signals to get their television will wake up after the 31st of August and have nothing to watch.  For my home province of Saskatchewan: here's how things will shake out on August 31st.

Regina:

CKCK (CTV) Analog on channel 2 ends, and digital on channel 8 begins
CFRE (Global) Analog on channel 11 ends, and digital 11 begins
CBKT (CBC English) Analog on channel 9, digital 9.1:
CBKFT (CBC French) Analog on channel 13, digital 13.1:

Saskatoon:

CFSK (Global) Analog on Channel 4 ends, and digital on channel 42 Begins
CFQC (CTV) Analog on Channel 8 ends, and digital on channel 8 begins
CBKST (CBC English) Analog on Channel 11 ends, station gets eliminated
CBKFT-1 (CBC French) Analog on Channel 13 Ends, station gets eliminated

CBC has stated that digital transmitters for Regina and Saskatoon will not be ready for the analog shutoff deadline on August 31st, 2011 because of a funding shortfall.  CBC has August 31st 2012 as the target date to have digital transmitters operational.  Under the current regulation that will leave over the air viewers without CBC service up to one year.  While CBC has applied for an extension to keep the Analog transmitters operating it is unlikely that the CRTC will approve.

Why Does Sasktel Still Hate Android

In a previous blog entry I pondered why Sasktel was apparently one of the last cell carriers (MTS being the other) not to offer Smartphones running Android.  In one of the comments to that entry the commenter said that Sasktel couldn't offer Android phones because of operating a CDMA network at the time.  Despite mentioning in the blog entry multiple times about the CDMA Android phones offered in the United States by Verizon and Sprint. 

Since then Sasktel launched a new UMTS/HSPA network that will expand province wide and eventually will replace the older CDMA network.  With a new network come new phones and one of them is the Samsung Galaxy S which does run Android, but that's the only Android phone they sell.  Sasktel sells Blackberries for both UMTS and CDMA like they are going out of style (That's because Blackberries ARE going out of style) 

Even MTS that telco to the east that still is CDMA only offers more Android Smartphones than Sasktel does.  MTS offers the HTC 6250 and a CDMA version of Motorola's Milestone, the same one that Verizon calls the Droid.  Not bad for a network "the couldn't support Android"

It's not just a surprising lack of hardware running Android that shows that the telco that believes that Saskatchewan is some kind of magic kingdom has some kind of chip on their shoulder towards Google and their smartphone operating system.  Mobile Apps from Sasktel for looking up phone numbers are available for Blackberry and oddly enough the iPhone considering that Sasktel hasn't been able to sell iPhones because Apple won't sign a distribution deal with Sasktel which isn't expected to change anytime soon.

As Saskatchewanians start looking for alternatives to their Blackberries as cellular service contracts expire, they will start to look for Android phones, iPhones, and even Windows Phone 7 handsets, to get those phones they will start looking for an alternative to Sasktel