Letter to the editor (not published)
The CRTC has mandated that Over-The-Air (OTA) TV broadcast transmission in Canada must switch from analogue (NTSC) to digital (ATSC) by September 1, 2011. This deadline is only two months away but only a few local stations have so far taken the step to broadcast digital programming over the air; notably CBC/Radio Canada and OMNI.
Candian broadcasters have been making "public service" announcements about the change, presumably they are required to do so by law. However, with few exceptions, these announcements provide little additional information about their future plans. TV Ontario (TVO) has indicated it will make the switch over in mid August 2011. Notably CTV and "A" Cannel (owned by Bell Media) and Global (owned by Shaw) have not indicated exactly how or when they will switch over. Neither have they disclosed what their channel allocations will be for digital broadcasts.
Local CTV, channel 13, has run a public service announcement {advertisment?) from Bell that refers viewers to the bell.ca web site. This site provides a list of products available from Bell shops and encourages people to subscribe to their satellite TV services. Little or no information on their plans for the digital transition is provided.
The CRTC does not appear to be issuing public service announcements on the mandated transition and one has to wonder how serious the broadcasting authority is on sticking to the mandated transition date. The switch over to digital TV will provide viewers who depend on OTA transmissions with much improved local TV reception at no cost, there than perhaps to buy a new antenna. Currently OTA analogue reception is notoriously bad in many areas of the city and the digital transition will result in high quality reception, including High Definition (HD) for most OTA viewers. Of course this is not necessarily in the business interests of cable and satellite service providers in the area. It is time for the CRTC and TV broacasters to be clear with the public about their plans.
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