CBC Television in Saskatoon To Be Eliminated

After television transmitters move from analog to to digital on August 31st, over the air TV viewers in Saskatoon will find the number of stations picked up with antennas has gone from four down to just two.  CBC is going to shut down the analog transmitters sending out the signals from CBKST (English television) and CBKFT-1 as mandated but will not be replaced with digital transmitters to take their place.  The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation considers the Saskatoon transmitters as rebroadcasting the signals that originate from CBKT and CBKFT from Regina and not actual TV stations as the reason for eliminating the Saskatoon transmitters. That will leave CFQC (CTV) and CFSK (Global) as the only two over the air TV stations that serve the Saskatoon market.

Cable providers that will mean making arrangements to bring in an alternative CBC feeds to replace the English and French channels that are being terminated. Most likely that will mean bringing in CBKT and CBKFT from Regina.  For the homes that only use over the air signals for television programming, even though it's a small percentage in a coverage area of over 300,000 people that means 20,000 or more will not have access to CBC's most popular programming, Hockey Night in Canada.  Is that something the National Hockey League would care about?

The cost of upgrading would be high, that cost would be recovered quickly due to the lower power requirements of digital television broadcasting.  Any attempt to blame the elimination of CBC television in Saskatoon on not getting the carriage fees from cable and satellite providers is yet another red herring, since CBC television gets both advertising revenue and taxpayer support.  Losing CBC television has nothing to with funding, it's all politics.


CBC's official announcement: "CBC will not be installing a digital transmitter in Saskatoon"

Why Canadians Should Care About DTV

Last week's changeover to digital television broadcasting in the United States went off with very few problems. This at least negates some of the excuses that Canadian TV stations give for sticking to analog only with just two years before the Canadian deadline to shut down analog. The only TV stations in Canada that have begun broadcasting in Digital are those in southern Ontario and in BC with densely populated areas close enough to the border with access to American over the air DTV signals. For the rest of us in the rest of Canada are restricted to analog only, no access to DTV converter boxes and plenty of analog only TV's still on store shelves this is not a very good sign.

The Canadian broadcasting companies claim that it would be too expensive to buy and operate digital transmitter for the 9 percent of TV households that depend solely on over the air broadcast signals. They don't factor in the households where there is at least one TV set with an antenna because people don't like paying fees for extra outlets or renting additional set top boxes. What TV station operators need to realize is that the sub-channels that broadcasters can send out with DTV can be used as a source of revenue for broadcasters. Digital Television allows TV stations better reach viewers who currently receive such poor reception that they are cable or satellite subscribers because of poor over the air reception.

Canadians are known for hating their cable, satellite and the telephone providers, so any new competition will be very welcome, switching to DTV will free up radio frequencies to allow for wireless broadband and advanced services such as VOiP and IPTV using WiMax or other wireless technology. Digital television is bringing an exciting new world but most Canadians are being held back. Start calling your local TV stations to start asking about DTV they will need to start providing answers sooner or later.

Why Won't The CAB Won't Answer Questions About DTV?

A month ago I e-mailed the Canadian Association of Broadcasters with a few questions about the transition to digital television broadcasting coming in August 2011. After that month, still no reply.

The Questions I put to them were:


1.) The deadline for over the air television stations to convert their over the air transmissions from analog to digital is in 2011, but in the United States the deadline for making the same transition is on February 17 2009, less than two months from now. Why is it taking an extra two years to make the transition in Canada?

2.) In Regina the local over the air television stations haven't even started transmitting digital signals along side their analog transmissions. When can I expect to see local digital over the air signals in Regina?

3.) With millions of TV sets with analog tuners still being used with over the air as the sole source of programming. Will the converter boxes that are on the market in the United States that receive digital over the air TV signals and converts them to analog be available in Canada, and if so when will the be available in stores.

4.) Many households where over the air is the only source of television programming fall under the poverty line. For many those who fit in to this category, buying a television set with a digital tuner or subscribing to cable or satellite service isn't an option. Will there be a voucher program similar to that in the United States that subsidizes the cost of converter boxes be offered in Canada?

These questions simple, not critical of the broadcasting industry, so why didn't they answer? Their silence has already said so much!

My Original Article about DTV in Canada

CRTC Gets One Right, For Once

Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission stated to a television industry conference that their industry isn't taking the transition to digital seriously. Television stations in Canada have to be transmitting in digital and shutting down analog transmitters by 2011 two years behind deadline their American counterparts have to meet.

Out of the hundreds of television stations operating in Canada only a couple of dozen have began transmitting digitally. While about ten percent of households receive their television exclusively with an antenna, Cable and Satellite providers still obtain signals from broadcast stations mainly over the air. The foot dragging by television stations means most people will see and hear inferior picture and sound quality compared to other channels.

While Television broadcasters are afraid of investing in digital over the air broadcasting, the competition from Digitally broadcast TV stations from south of the boarder received over the air or delivered through digital cable or satellite is something that Canadian stations will not be able to survive as long as they continue to hold on to analog broadcasting.

The lesson for Canada's broadcast industry is go digital or go out of business, It looks like we can already see which path they are choosing.